History

A look at the flags used in Sarawak since 1841.

The successful discovery of offshore oil in the 1970s triggered a fresh development boom in Miri; luxury hotels were built, more houses constructed and new shopping centers and industrial estates established. Miri ranked as the second most important commercial town in Sarawak after Sibu town. The shift offshore began to show results in 1962 with the discovery of oil in two areas offshore Sarawak. Other finds followed in rapid succession well into the 1970s. When production levels reached 95,000 barrels a day, Petronas, the Malaysian National oil company, made Lutong the hub of oil production activities in Miri.

Another boom in the 1960s to 70s are the timber industry - exporting timber became a highly lucrative industry.

Tourism thrives; Miri came to be known as "Sarawak's Northern Gateway". In the mid-nineties, development plans for rapid changes and concentration on tourism to boost the commercial sector calls for the Oil Town to be elevated to a City status - the first city in Malaysia to do so.

Next: a Resort City Status

On August 1st, 1960, the Miri General Hospital, which had for long been operated by the oil company with financial assistance from the government, was handed over to the government; with it went the Miri Ferry that connects between the peninsular and town - and the hospital -, all the concession land on the Miri Peninsula south of the Miri Golf Course, and all the houses, roads and utility services within that area. Plans were also being made to hand over important sections of the company's oil field roads. Later in the year, the prototype of the Single Buoy Mooring (SBM) built in Holland arrived for experimental use in waters off Lutong.

For those who were mystified, the Managing Director's speech at the official opening of the oil company's head office on 22nd December may have provided a few clues to the company's rationale. Recalling the old pioneering days in Miri, he said, "Did they (the pioneers) realize what the discovery meant in terms of development, administration, politics, economics? In the event they came and came fairly swiftly. Industrial development was something new in Sarawak. The oil company of those days had perforce to set up, man and operate a world of its own; it was almost a state within a state. But not even in those, now rather remote days, did the company want to be in that position."

It was by such gently worded implications that the Managing Director, Mr. Linton sought to re-define what he called "the part of a modern industrialist in a developing state such as Sarawak", but the message was clear: after fifty years of direct involvement in the growth of Miri from a tiny fishing village into an oil town (creating Lutong in the process), the company was concerned to remind both public and employees alike that its rightful place was alongside all the other industrialists in the country. It was, of course, an inevitable process and would probably have developed faster if it had not been for the war and its aftermath rebuilding. As things were, it was only in the previous year that the oil company vehicles were re-registered, from C for company to M for Miri, thus obviating an old institution arising out of an agreement between the oil company and the government regarding the use and maintenance of some roads built by the company in Miri. And - strange to think how recent it was - the company had only in that year, 1960, come to an agreement with the government that its buildings in Miri should be liable to rates, thus enabling employees and others living in those houses to vote in District Council elections. The more perspicacious may have seen the signs as early as 1957 when the policy began of releasing areas of its land reserve no longer required for operations, but now the writing was clearly on the wall for all to see. As one wag put it, the oil company from now on was going to mind its own business. And that business, as the exploration efforts of the preceding year had shown, was going to take place more and more at sea. Proof of this was the arrival of the Orient Explorer, the first mobile drilling rig to enter Sarawak waters.

If 1960s was a turning point in the history of the oil company, then it must have seemed to many to be a distinct downturn. The following year a new panel room was installed at the Lutong Refinery but its beautifully modern meters recorded no increase of Miri crude. On land, wells continued to be either rehabilitated or abandoned, which was not so easy an operation as it sounds for some of the old wells, especially those on Miri hills, were difficult to get at. Cement, water, cutting equipment, everything had to be practically man-handled up and down the rather steep slopes and no doubt an engineer or worker paused in mid-push to take off his hat, not just to wipe sweat off his brow but more in tribute to those who had first drilled the wells and got them going in the days of few facilities and much jungle.

At sea, the Orient Explorer explored - off Baram Point in the north and off Bintulu in the south - and found no oil. The only activity that showed any sign of promise were the experiments with the SBM, and even here initial problems had to be ironed out and modifications made before this revolutionary idea in berthing and loading tankers could be put to full practical use at Lutong.

It was not until September 1962, that the first bit of good news was received from the Orient Explorer: Temana was found to be not merely the favorite hunting ground of sharks (one driller claimed he sighted as many as 150 of this piscean species in one day.), but actually concealed some precious hydrocarbons in its dark and secret depths. But after two and a half decades of disappointment, no one was prepared to make promises only the usual cautious remarks about more wells drilled in the area proved less than hopeful, and soon the excitement of later events chased Temana out of most people's minds.

Ten years later, on 1st October 1972, the inevitable happened. The Miri Field was closed in. Production of the Miri field had never, of course, returned to pre-war levels. It had been obvious from the sharp drop in the figures between 1929 and 1935, from the five and a half to two million barrels, that the reservoirs were running down. In the post-war years only once, in 1964, did production pass the 500,000 marl. At the beginning of 1972, only 90 wells of the 623 drilled during the history of the field were still pumping. Production had fallen to 450 barrels per day, and was dropping rapidly. After 62 years of production, the oil reserves in Miri field were exhausted and Sarawak Shell had no alternative but to close it in. In the last month of operation, one of the wells still creaking slowly up and down was the same well that began the saga of Miri Well No.1. At the close, 'The Grand Old Lady' was still managing to produce 3 barrels of oil a day when finally stopped.

Next: The Oil Town

The other momentous event in 1957 was the decision made by the oil company to relinquish some 75% of the land concession in the hinterland of Sarawak after explorationary surveys had shown no indications of oil. These 36,650 square miles were in fact not due for relinquishment untill 1968. In Miri-Lutong the company had also released five sites from the Land Reserve - one for the open market, one for the slaughter-house on the Miri riverfront north of the town, one for a stone-crushing and storage plant south of Kuala Miri on the coast near the Chinese Middle School area, one for a municipal labor line on the east of Miri and one for a Roman Catholic church near pangkalan wharf, east of the Lutong housing area.

1958 saw the opening of the Miri Community Hall, towards which the company had contributed more than half of the cost. Soon after the opening a party from the Malayan Teacher's College in Penang paid a visit to Miri. The local Education Officer naturally took them on a tour of the new Hall, the pride of Miri. On reaching the storeroom he explained that the four lockers there were to be used for storing equipment belonging to various local organizations such as the Boy Scouts, Girl Guide, etc. To demonstrate, he pulled open the Boy's Scout lockers to reveal - beer bottles. Staggered but undaunted he tried the Red Cross locker and lo and behold! before him stood a row of unopened whisky bottles. It is reasonable to assume that he did not care to try the fourth. Subsequent investigation revealed that these lockers were temporarily being used by an organization that had nothing to do with those for which the lockers were intended, so community leaders in Miri could breath again.

In 1959 the quiet placidity of Miri was rocked by two royal visit. The first one was by Prince Philip and as Miri had not been so honored since the Rajah came before the War, the post was kept busy with frantic letters between the Government and company officials regarding program and protocol. And then, just to make sure nothing went wrong, a rehearsal drive through town and reception at the Community Hall was held, with a member of Senior Staff (still today addicted to Miri Amateur Dramatics) acting as Prince for the day. So well did he assume his princely role as he graciously acknowledge the cheers, salutes and salutations from the crowd that he must heave earned more than a few muttered curses from his colleagues and friends who had had to remain their ordinary commoner selves, albeit furbished in lounge suits for the men and long white gloves specially flown out for the ladies. He recalls how at the dress rehearsal "Official Reception", company officials and their wives lined up to shake his hand and answer his courtly queries after their health and life in Miri, walked past him with dignity and then rushed back to the end of the queue to do it again - like film extras used to swell. The real visit itself ended with a cultural show on the GCM Padang (field), fireworks on Canada Hill and an impromptu party at the GCM when the dinner jacketed gents and their white gloved ladies having a quiet drink at the bar were descended upon by Temenggong Gau and his men in full Kenyah warrior regalia, armed with several jars of vintage borak.

The other royal visitor was the first Yang Di-Pertuan Agung of Malaya, who came to Miri on a one-day visit, the tail end of his tour of Sarawak. Most of the celebration took place in Miri and much to the disappointment of the local oil company employees, he did not tour the refinery.

Next: Coming of Age

On June 10, 1945, troops of the Australian 9th Division occupied Labuan Island. Within 11 days, they had landed on the mainland and liberated Miri and Seria. They were met by a scene of devastation-blazing wells, demolished buildings and wrecked installations. Amidst all this stood Kiat Siang's humble little petrol kiosk on River Road, almost totally intact. (It has since been lifted by a Company crane to the Malay School compound by the Miri Mosque and now serves as the school tuckshop). The main task then was to resume oil production.

Although hostilities ceased on the 2nd September, some of the Japanese forces, a few miles behind Miri, did not capitulate until much later. Nevertheless, work had to go, bringing the burning wells under control and clearing away the debris. Progress was handicapped by lack of equipment and material, especially of transport units and such items as welding sets.

The rehabilitation of the Miri and Seria fields was carried out with assistance of the Australian Army engineers. To blanket the flames, steam was rasied in some handy Japanese boilers, and played on the wells. In many cases, the Japanese had dug pits around the well-heads and these had filled with flaring oil, making it difficult to approach. Naturally many men were needed for the fire-fighting operations. Those Company workers who had remained behind during the war were obvious candidates for the job. After a hectic five years of doing office or oilfield work during the day, planting padi in the evenings, and attending daily physical training and Japanese language sessions, they were no doubt more than a little relieved to find out that now they no longer had to work more than six hours a day. They were paid 30 cents a day and spared the obligation to keep themselves physically and linguistically fit. Many Mirians had fled to the jungle - "pergi masuk hutan"; they were encouraged to come out by means of friendly aircraft dropping leaflets with news of the liberation.

By September 1945 all the fires were out. Attention now turned to clearing up the general mess, repairing the storage tanks, the main trunkline between Seria and Lutong and the sea-loading facilities. The only equipment available was borrowed from the army. However, by Novemeber that year the Army were able to evacuate the oilfield areas. The first storage tank in Lutong was satisfactorily repaired and tested, and on Decemeber 11, oil began to flow again in the Seria-Lutong pipeline.

It was not until October 1946 that any appreciable output was achieved. At the end of the month, nearly 6,000 barrels were produced. By the end of the year, the rehabilitation staff were looking back with satisfaction on twelve months of very substantial progress, inspite of the stark living conditions they had had to endure. Food was scarce and cigerettes, tabacco and drinks were supplied through army-ration basis. Tinned food was received in reasonable quantities from Austrialia, but was, for some time, a serious shortage of dairy produce. The health situation was never good, the incidence of malaria being quite high.

Not only was the field staff having to work with makeshift equipment, they also relied heavily on supplies of essential materials. Thus when a scheduled shipment of cement for drilling work failed to arrive in August 1946, the first serious setback in field operations occured and the regular programme had to be temporarily suspended.

By the end of August, 1946, the immediate programme of post-war reconstruction may be said to have been completed. The month previously, the first well drilled at Miri since the Japanese withdrawal, was completed at 3,346 feet with a regular production of 420 barrels per day. Having set the field back on its feet, it was now possible to allocate a little time to other work that had been given low priority during the rehabilitation period. The rebuilding of the Lutong refinery and the testing and replacement of sea-lines had of course, been going on concurrently with the resuscitation of the oil wells. Now, roads were repaired, accommodation for staff extended and workshops and repair shops re-equipped. Many difficulties had still to be contended with. There remained a shortage of labor which at times caused serious problems and the food situation, although greatly improved over the previous years, still left much to be desired. There were transportation worries, and deliveries were still far from regular.

However one major change to pre war days was the move from Miri to Seria of Shell's exploration and production headquarters from North West Borneo arising from the realization that Seria Field was a million barrel oilfield and the only one in North West Borneo, that the Miri Field was declining and that in spite of extensive and costly exploration, no new oilfields had been found in Sarawak. The refinery remained in Lutong as a facility for both Miri and Seria.

Next: Royal Occasions