Breakfast & Dinner in Quaint Little Sematan Seaside Town · Forgotten Bauxite Mining in Kuching Division Sarawak 三马丹

We visited Sematan, a small coastal town in the western end of Sarawak during day 5 and 6 of our 6 day Kuching self drive holiday. 

Kuching is just over 100 km from Sematan, so it is a popular drive away for city folks. Sematan is also a day trip destination for visitors on driving holidays in Kuching Division.

The rain had reduced to a light drizzle when we drove from Lundu into Sematan, a quiet fishing village facing the South China Sea.

The sun was setting by the time we arrived, and Sam Chai Seafood was the only eatery opened at that time.

We ordered a lot of food for three people - the total bill came to slightly less than RM300 which was within expected range. The quality of ingredients and cooking were also alright.

The sun had set behind the hills as we left Sematan, its golden orange glow like fading embers reflected in the woolly blanket above.

We stayed the night at Roxy Villa, Sematan. The room was clean, spacious, and basic amenities were comprehensive. For basic accommodation at RM260 a night, I felt it was good value.

Good morning from Roxy Villa. It had started to rain again 🌧

From Roxy Villa we returned to Sematan town for breakfast before heading for Kuching city. The pair of shophouses here were at least a century old.

There were two coffee shops, this one 陵峰 at the northern end of the wooden building. Known as Sematan Kopitiam.

Beside the coffee shop, there was a quaint little shop with the same signboard and also a blue one which says Teck Huat.

The solid wood construction, the thick iron rods and these heavy window boards that open horizontally caught our attention first.

We wandered inside.

The little provision / sundry shop was like a little museum. No, it's not that the shop stocked any antiquities.

But, the goods that madame 曾 was selling were such old stock that the shop felt very nostalgic with old items going back to an era I've not seen for a long time.

Madame 曾 showed us a precious old photo album with old photos of the building.

An old photo of the two rows of shophouses taken from a boat in the sea. In the background is Gunung Gading mountain.

Sematan was a Malay fishing village and these shophouses was the Chinese trading post.

The earliest Chinese settlers were miners who escaped from conflict with the Dutch in the Sambas area of Kalimantan in the 1830s. Most settled at Maw San while some came here in Sematan (and became farmers).

The first Chinese traders from Fujian, set up shop here in the 1880s.

In this old photo, we can see the heavy wooden window doubled up as a trading table (supported by foldable legs). The trader can do business from behind the thick iron rods, without opening his shop door.

In 1957, the British colonial government permitted the set up of a bauxite mine here operated by Swiss, Canadian and Japanese owned Sematan Bauxite Limited. Bauxite is the raw material for aluminium. It brought money and put Sematan on the map, which was otherwise a remote, idyllic fishing village.

Giant conveyers loaded the bauxite ore from the mines directly into barges.

These barges transferred the bauxite to waiting ships which sent the mineral out of Sematan to the world.

Shinnihon Line ships sent the bauxite to Japan for customers such as Nippon Light Metal Company which made aluminium for Japan's burgeoning car industry at that time.

It was Sematan's financial heyday in the early 60s.

Unfortunately for the miners, the bauxite mine shut down when the Konfrontasi (war between Malaysia and Indonesia) broke out in 1963 (till 1966). Sematan receded back to being a fishing village.

Today, the Sarawak state and federal governments no longer issue approvals for bauxite prospecting or mining due to environmental concerns of the government and local residents.

The upper floors of the shophouses were once 中華公校 Chinese Public School of Sematan.

Grateful to madame 曾 for sharing with us the forgotten history of Sematan. One of the great rewards of travelling is to listen to the stories of local people who are glad to have their stories heard and retold.

The trading post today is still a centre of everyday living in Sematan.

At the other end of the building was Yat Lau Kopitiam & Seafood.

Yat Lau is run by the Lau sisters. The younger Ms Lau Qiong Yan had studied in culinary school in Kuching and had been following Johor Kaki for ten years! 😊🙏

Johor Kaki Blog has given me unexpected friendships and opportunities. Grateful 🙏

We had nice soft crunchy, lardy kolo mee.

Delicious Sarawak laksa. Breakfast of the gods, said Anthony Bourdain.

House baked buns with shredded coconut, red bean paste, and crushed peanut fillings to go with good Nanyang coffee.

In the evening, Yat Lau is a zhi char type seafood restaurant with many dishes. Hope to try them next time.

We enjoyed our time together and hope we shall meet again, in Singapore or in Sematan.

After breakfast, we were on our way back to Kuching. Passed by long house style Sematan police station.

We popped by Telok Melano which is 33 km from Sematan.

We were at KM0 or the western start point of the 3524 km long Pan Borneo Highway. The eastern terminal point of PBH is Serudong in Tawau, Sabah.

We love self drive holidays because it is an adventure. We love the fun of planning our own itinerary and the freedom to change it at anytime, depending on who and what situation we meet during the journey. 

We are able to cover long distances by sharing the driving load. Stop wherever we find something interesting, for example spend time to appreciate the food, look around historic buildings, speak with elders (e.g. here in Sematan), listen to their precious stories, and so much more other meaningful things to do.

Join us!

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Written by Tony Boey on 5 Apr 2024

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References:

Sarawak Gazette 31 Jan 1961

三马丹 excellent resource on Sematan pointed out to me by 蓝天白云数格子