Pioneering Nature-Based Tourism for Sandakan

10 December 2025

SANDAKAN: Ninety years after their last expedition to Borneo in 1935, the legacy of pioneering Hollywood adventurers Martin and Osa Johnson continues to shape Sandakan’s heritage narrative. The couple, who first visited Sandakan in 1920, left behind an extraordinary archive of black-and-white photographs and film reels documenting life in Borneo during a bygone era.

According to Lai King Hang, Founder and Chairman of the Sandakan Heritage Trail, the Johnsons’ return to Borneo was noted by author Agnes Keith in her book Land Below the Wind. In the chapter beginning on page 68, titled “Visitors”, Keith recounts meeting the couple and describes their expedition to Abai, Kinabatangan, where they set up camp to record the local communities and wildlife.

Lai is currently being interviewed on the grounds of Agnes Keith’s House for an upcoming documentary, Jungle Adventure: The Lost Film, produced by Noreini and Norhayati Abdul Raham of Rye Production in collaboration with the Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum in Chanute, Kansas, USA. The project follows their earlier documentary, Saudin, the Orangutan Whisperer, launched in 2022 by Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Noor.

Lai expressed hope that the new documentary will revive interest in the heritage of Sandakan and Borneo as the nation prepares for Visit Malaysia Year 2026.

Agnes Keith’s House, listed as Stop No. 4 on the Sandakan Heritage Trail, remains a key attraction. Since June 2025, the trail’s popularity has grown significantly following its recognition by the Malaysia Book of Records as the country’s first Historical Tree Trail.

“A proposed Martin and Osa Johnson gallery, announced earlier this year and planned near Agnes Keith’s House, will further bolster Sandakan’s heritage tourism for both local and international visitors,” Lai added.