Sabah This Week #12 - 17-30 Sept 2026
Malaysia Day was yesterday, and the fortnight it sits in is the busiest stretch Sabah gets all year. Welcome to the free weekly list of what is actually on.
This weekend you can walk into a cosplay convention for nothing, catch the last three nights of the film festival, or wander thirteen art installations on the Segama boardwalk. There is also a correction further down, about a trail race whose date we got wrong.
Daniel
This Week & Weekend
Turn up in costume, or just turn up and look A cosplay convention with competitions for adults and kids, live song and dance, and booths for arts, toys, games and cards. Walking in costs nothing. · 19-20 September 2026 · Karamunsing Event Hall, Kota Kinabalu
Thirty films from eleven countries, and only a few nights left The film festival screens its CINEBALU programme nightly, around thirty films from eleven countries, at RM15 a ticket. · 12-19 September 2026 · City Cineplex, City Mall, Kota Kinabalu
Thirteen installations built out of what we throw away An outdoor art trail you walk through rather than a gallery you queue for, with thirteen installations made from recycled material on plastic pollution and climate themes. · 16-20 Sep 2026 · Dataran Segama, Kota Kinabalu
A thousand native species, and a fun run through the middle of them Flower and fruit displays across a 500 hectare agricultural park, with orchids, fishing ponds and cycling, costume and rocket competitions. Our sources disagree on whether it closes on the 20th or the 21st, so check before a long drive. · 12-20 September 2026 · Taman Pertanian Sabah, Tenom
Travel fair season, and 150 booths of it The travel fair returns with more than 150 booths from travel agencies, hotels, tour operators and community tourism outfits, plus a contest for visitors who spend RM100 or more. · 18-20 September 2026 · Sabah International Convention Centre, Kota Kinabalu
A Bajau festival where the sea is the whole point A celebration of Bajau cultural heritage and the sea it grew from, with music and dance performances, boating activities and conservation talks. Neither the organisers nor the news coverage says how the public gets out there or whether you can simply turn up, so treat this as one to ask about rather than set off for. · 19-20 September 2026 · Pulau Mantabuan, Tun Sakaran Marine Park, Semporna
Four bands, one afternoon, forty ringgit with a drink in it Live music from The Jembangans, Singgah, Suistereo and The Alif, with a break for prayers between the afternoon and evening sets. Tickets are RM40 and include one drink. · 20 September 2026, doors 3pm · Kinarut Record Station, Pekan Lama Kinarut, Papar
A 28km trail race that is now a spectator event A trail race over 28km and 10km with an early morning flag-off inside a rainforest park. Entries have already closed, so this is one to watch rather than enter. · 20 September 2026 · Tawau Hills National Park, Tawau
The book fair is back, with more than a hundred exhibitors An international book fair with over a hundred exhibitors from Malaysia and abroad and more than fifty activities, including colouring competitions, storytelling, forums and book talks. A new best book award is handed out for the first time. · 23-27 September 2026 · Sabah International Convention Centre, Kota Kinabalu
A half marathon that flags off at three in the morning A 21km half marathon in open and veteran categories with a 5km fun run following later. The ticket page puts the flag-off at three in the morning, not four as some listings have it. · 27 September 2026, 3:00am flag-off · Lahad Datu Sport Complex, Lahad Datu
Save the date
- Ritma Kinabalu, Rhythms of Kinabalu 2026 2-4 Oct · Padang Merdeka, Kota Kinabalu
- STELLArian Fun Run 2026 Sat 3 Oct · SM Stella Maris, Kota Kinabalu
- 31st Merdeka Day Regatta 2026 9-11 Oct · Kinabalu Yacht Club, Tanjung Aru
- UMS Alumni Homecoming Dinner and Fundraising 2026 Sat 10 Oct, 7pm · Hilton Hotel, Kota Kinabalu
- Timpohon Run 2 Sat 17 Oct · Kinabalu Park, Kundasang (entries have closed)
- Mt Kinabalu International Climbathon Sun 18 Oct · Kinabalu Park, Kundasang
- MAD SABAH live stand up comedy Sat 24 Oct, 8:30pm · Financial Park Labuan
- Sabah PlayVerse 24-25 Oct · Sabah International Convention Centre, Kota Kinabalu
- Borneo Safari 2026 Flag-off Sun 25 Oct · Sabah Tourism Board 0KM, Kota Kinabalu
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The Sabah Roundup
Correction: we gave the wrong date for Timpohon Run 2.
Issue #10 listed it for Saturday 26 September. The organiser, Sri Pelancongan Sabah, has it on Saturday 17 October at Kinabalu Park, Kundasang. It is a 9.8km trail race, the prelude to the Mt Kinabalu Climbathon, and entries have since closed. Apologies if you put the wrong date in your calendar. (Sabah Tourism Board)
Sabah’s 40 per cent entitlement goes beyond the RM1.5 billion interim grant.
Mustapha Sakmud, the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department for Sabah and Sarawak, says the entitlement is not limited to this year’s RM1.5 billion interim payment, which keeps the bigger claim under Articles 112C and 112D open rather than settled. (BusinessToday Malaysia)
Sabar is asking the public for RM500,000 to fund its court case.
The Sabah Action Body Advocating Rights wants at least RM500,000 in donations for a High Court challenge to four federal acts covering the continental shelf, petroleum development and territorial sea, with a hearing set for 1 December. (Daily Express Malaysia)
Building materials got dearer in Sabah while the peninsula got cheaper.
Department of Statistics figures for August put steel bars in Sabah up by between 0.1 and 3.4 per cent and Kota Kinabalu sand up 7.7 per cent, while peninsular steel fell, so a renovation quote here is moving the wrong way. (BernamaBiz)
Sabah wants a bigger share of the marine tourism money.
Tourism board chairman Joniston Bangkuai points to more than 2.2 million visitor arrivals from January to July and 19 cruise ships carrying 27,080 passengers in the first half, with a single visiting yacht valued at around RM300,000 a year. (Daily Express Malaysia)
India is getting a consulate general in Kota Kinabalu.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim conveyed Malaysia’s agreement to Narendra Modi at the BRICS summit, which would mean consular and visa paperwork handled here rather than in Kuala Lumpur. (BusinessToday Malaysia)
The Federal Constitution is to be amended to give Sabah and Sarawak more MPs.
The Prime Minister says the ratio of representation for the two states together should be higher than it is now, with the Election Commission handling the seats. No number and no timetable have been given. (ConstitutionNet)
Twenty four divers pulled 110kg of waste off Pulau Sepanggar.
The Sabah Diving Squad Club marked Malaysia Day underwater, and the ghost nets they removed are the kind that foul propellers and trap fish just outside Kota Kinabalu. (The Star)
Sabah moved its own Malaysia Day celebration indoors.
State tourism, culture and environment minister Jafry Ariffin shifted the event from Padang Merdeka to the convention centre for about 3,000 people, citing unpredictable weather and easier safety monitoring. (Borneo Post)
RM155 million is allocated to the state scholarship scheme this year.
Azrul Ibrahim, the Chief Minister’s chief political secretary, gave the BKNS figure while saying student concerns raised by the Universiti Malaya Sabah Students Association had been passed upward for consideration. (Daily Express Malaysia)
🚌 Getting Around
New university students can claim RM500 towards a flight
The Prime Minister announced a one off RM500 payment for domestic flight tickets for every eligible new public university student with an intake this September or October. It is a federal scheme covering travel between the peninsula, Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan, and the 7,095 students quoted is the total across all of them, not a Sabah figure. No administering ministry was named. (Malay Mail)
Fuel: petrol went up 35 sen overnight, East Malaysian diesel has not moved
For the week from 17 September: RON95 RM4.37 and RON97 RM4.85, both up 35 sen, with diesel in Sabah and Sarawak unchanged at RM2.15 and the BUDI95 rate held at RM1.99. These took effect at midnight and run to 23 September. The open data set had not published them when we went out, so these come from the Ministry of Finance statement. (Paul Tan)
Did You Know?
Sipadan is Malaysia’s only oceanic island. Sabah Parks describes it as rising 600 metres from the seabed, formed by living corals growing on top of a volcanic cone. It was declared a bird sanctuary as far back as 1933 and was gazetted as a marine park in 2004.
Keep reading
A district-by-district guide to Sabah. What each corner of the state is actually known for.
Sabah by the numbers. The data behind the state, handy if you run a business here.
How many tourists actually visit Sabah?. The running numbers, updated as the state publishes them.
Quotables
“Sedikit-sedikit, lama-lama jadi bukit.” Little by little, in time it becomes a hill. Small efforts add up. (Malay proverb)
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