SANDAKAN: Tanjong Papat Assemblyman Alex Thien has welcomed the Sandakan Municipal Council’s initiative to promote LED lighting and illuminated signboards to revive the city’s “Little Hong Kong” identity, but insists that beautification efforts must be matched with urgent improvements to basic infrastructure, cleanliness, and public safety.
Acknowledging the need for bold branding in the social media age, Thien noted that tourists can quickly broadcast either the city’s charm or its flaws online—pointing to past videos that highlighted deteriorating conditions, which starkly undermine the nostalgic image Sandakan seeks to reclaim.
He cautioned against prioritising aesthetics over fundamentals, arguing that missing drain covers, damaged roads, leaking sewage pipes, and poor upkeep would render any lighting initiative superficial. Urban development, he stressed, is not about choosing between appearance and substance, but about enhancing both in tandem.
To genuinely revive its heritage identity, Thien urged the council to broaden the project into a comprehensive revitalisation programme that includes heritage-building conservation, street cleanliness, waste management, pedestrian walkways, drainage, and the regular maintenance of public facilities.
He further proposed expanding the nightscape effort into a genuine night-time economy, featuring designated night zones, themed streets, illuminated heritage sites, and pedestrian-friendly areas—combined with cultural activities and food scenes so that tourists have places to walk, see, eat, and experience after dark, rather than just bright signage.
Thien also called for a full inspection of town-centre public facilities, particularly in high-traffic areas, alongside a clear maintenance schedule and a reliable complaint-follow-up mechanism to ensure consistent oversight.
Concluding, Thien emphasised that while Sandakan possesses world-class natural and cultural assets, a truly competitive tourism city must be clean, safe, vibrant, and well-managed from arrival to departure. Good city management, he said, will ultimately determine whether the revitalisation succeeds—with lighting serving merely as the opening chapter. – James Leong
Alex cautioned against prioritising aesthetics over fundamentals.
