Agnes keith, an American writer, lived in Sandakan,
Sabah (then British North Borneo) with her English husband between the end
of 1934 and the beginning of 1952. during those years she wrote a trilogy on
her experience in this exotic land. The first was LAND BELOW THE LAND (first
published 1939), a book on those halcyon pre-war days. It was followed by
THREE CAME HOME (1947), which focused on hardships suffered in the Second
World War, and was subsequently made into a Hollywood movie, and the third
book was WHITE MAN RETURNS (1951), which tells of her life in Sandakan after
war.
The house where Agnes Keith used to live
has recently been lovingly restored and turned into a museum as a tribute to
her by the Department of Sabah Museum under the supervision of MS Stella
Moo-Tan. It is located, in Keith’s own words, on the finest hilltop in
Borneo, with a magnificent view of the harbour of Sandakan. The original
house was destroyed in the war by the Japanese, and the present house,
modelled largely after the war. Keith’s husband, Harry, was the Conservator
of Forests. After the Keith’s departure in 1952, the
house was occupied by mainly officers in the civil service until the early
1990s, when rumours of the house being haunted frightened away all occupants
except the homeless. So for some years the house was neglected and became
derelict, and it remained so until at the turn of the 21st
century, when the Sabah Museum authorities decided to restore it.
To get to the house, visitors should turn
uphill into Jalan Istana just before reaching Sandakan town on the main
road. The house is on top of the hill, about half a kilometer from JCI clock
tower in a roundabout.
The most noticeable feature of this
double-storey timber house is its numerous long French windows, which
according to Keith, were flung open in the fine weather to let the beauty
in. faithful to the one that the Keiths used to live, the house was
repainted cream with green trimmings. In fact compared with an illustration
of the house by Keith in WHITE MAN RETURNS, many features of the house
remain intact-its basic design, the lawn in front, all of them are still
there.
The Keiths planted several trees and
numerous flowers in the garden,
suc
h
as the fragrant frangipanis, the mauve
orchids, and Agnes’s favourite, the bougainvilleas. She told
her readers that she would never tire of the
bougainvilleas, and in her garden were bougainvilleas of cerise, copper or gold. Many of these have been replanted
in the present garden, while some trees could have been around since the
days of the Keiths.Agnes loved her
beautiful house, and she said people from far and near came to see it, and
have their pictures taken outside the house.
The front door is on the left hand side of
the house under a charming porch with a ceiling fan. The living room is on
the right, and the dining room on the left with an antique refrigerator.
There are altogether 11 long French windows downstairs, making the place
airy and comfortable. A board wooden staircase in the middle leads up to the
book-room, which to the Keith was a place to work in. on the left is the
vast bedroom, with a bed in the middle of the bedroom floor, so as not to
intercept any breeze according to Agnes. Her dread of the tropical heat is
understandable, and her bedroom has 7 long windows plus another shorter one.
The small bathroom is on the inside right corner of the bedroom, and even in
there Agnes could take her bath with a view of the Sulu Sea throuhh its
windows.
To the right of the book-room is now an
audio-visual room, where films on Agnes Keith are shown to visitors.Pictures of Agnes Keith , her husband
Harry, and little son George are on display in the house, and numerous
editions of her books are shown within glass cases. Agnes loved batik, the colourful local fabric. Several of the dust-jackets of her books are of
batik designs Various memorabilia on Agnes Keith and her family are also on
display.
The kitchen, which Keith called the
cookhouse, stands several metres away from the bungalow. And down the slope
below the house are the servants quarters with there rooms. Her servants
include her housekeeper Ah Yin, whom she was very fond of, other Chinese
amahs namely Ah King, Ah Kau, and the Murut houseboy Arusap.
Out of various writers on Sabah in the
past, Agnes Keith perhaps earned more respect and affection from Sabahans
than the others. Unlike many writers from the West whose books on the region
centred mainly on expatriates, the locals have starring roles to play in
Keith,s books. And she wrote of them lovingly, without any condescension.
Years later in 1972, Agnes Keith published
her fourth book on sandakan, BELOVED EXILES. That book is a novel, but many
readers believe that in the book she revealed her secrets. Keith actually
atarted the book when she was still in Sandakan, but found this only fiction
book of hers difficult to finish until some 30 years later. She died in
British Columbia, Canada in 1982 when she was 80 years old.
All her books, including 3 others on
Phillippines, Libya and Japan, were originally published by little, Brown &
Company in Boston, and published in London by Michael Joseph. More recently
her books on Sandakan have been reprinted by Natural History Publications,
and are available in local bookshops. Those who intend to go and see the
Agnes Keith’s house in sandakan will find their visit much more meaningful
if they have read her books. If you love her books, a visit to her house is
a must, for words just fail to describe its character and ambience. But even
if you don’t bother to read her books, the spectacular view Sandakan from
her house will more than please you.
