Population changes in Sabah, 1960–70
Lee Yong Leng (1978) examines the demographic transformation of Sabah during the 1960–70 intercensal period, a decade in which the territory’s population grew at an unprecedented rate, the Chinese share of the total population declined for the first time since 1911, and the long-standing pattern of indigenous out-migration from the interior was arrested. The article argues that the construction of major highways, government land settlement schemes, and the influx of foreign labour into east coast timber and plantation industries fundamentally restructured Sabah’s demographic geography, shifting the centre of growth from the west coast to the east.
Summary
The article analyses the 1970 Census for Sabah in comparison with the 1960 Census and earlier intercensal periods, addressing the demographic consequences of Sabah’s entry into the Malaysian federation in 1963 and the expansion of the timber and plantation economies. The core argument is that 1960–70 represents a structural turning point: the Chinese population grew more slowly than the national average for the first time in the census record, the indigenous population became spatially more stable, and the east coast districts outgrew the west coast for the first time. The author traces how these shifts were driven by the interaction of infrastructure development, agricultural policy, and foreign labour flows rather than by natural increase alone.
A central thread of the analysis is the reversal of internal migration patterns. Before 1951, the dominant dynamic was indigenous out-migration from the interior highlands to the west coast plains, where estate work and social amenities drew Kadazans and other hill peoples. By the 1960–70 period, this flow had been checked and partially reversed: the building of the interior trunk road and the East-West Highway, combined with government irrigation and settlement schemes in districts such as Keningau and Labuk, created new agricultural opportunities that attracted both indigenous and Chinese farmers inward. Simultaneously, the east coast experienced a different dynamic entirely, driven by the arrival of Indonesian, Filipino, and other foreign workers seeking employment in the timber and estate sectors, which diluted the previously dominant Chinese proportion in those districts.
The article also examines the occupational and spatial differentiation between ethnic groups—indigenous peoples concentrated in subsistence padi cultivation, shifting hill agriculture, and coastal fishing; Chinese in cash-crop smallholdings (rubber, coconut) and urban commerce—and how these patterns shaped district-level growth rates. The author draws on census tabulations, district-level population tables, and his own earlier intercensal analyses to construct a comparative narrative that situates the 1960–70 decade within a longer demographic history stretching back to the Chartered Company era.
Key Findings
- Total population rose from 454,421 (1960) to 651,304 (1970), an increase of 43 per cent at an annual rate of 3.5 per cent, compared with 36 per cent (2.9 per cent p.a.) in the preceding decade (p. 63).
- The Chinese proportion of the total population fell from 23.0 per cent to 21.3 per cent for the first time since 1911, while the “Other Indigenous” group (Kedayans, Bruneis, Malays, and other Muslim coastal peoples) surged by 82 per cent, the highest growth rate of any category (Table 1, p. 64).
- Keningau district registered an 80 per cent increase, reversing its earlier population decline; the growth was driven by in-migration of Kadazans and Chinese farmers attracted by the Keningau Development Scheme and the all-weather road link from Tenom (p. 69).
- Tawau district grew by 221 per cent over the twenty years 1951–71; the “Others” component (mainly Indonesians and Filipinos) rose from 17 per cent to 42 per cent of the district population, while the Chinese share fell from 60 per cent to 36 per cent (p. 71).
- Kota Kinabalu town grew by 88 per cent between 1960–70, but this was largely a boundary effect; combined with the new Penampang district and the rural area, the whole zone grew by 72 per cent (p. 70).
- No interior district recorded a population decrease in 1970, a marked reversal from the 1951–60 period; even Pensiangan and Tambunan, which had previously lost population, registered increases of 17 per cent and 21 per cent respectively (p. 73).
Conclusion
Lee’s definitive historical takeaway is that 1960–70 marks a structural demographic transition in Sabah: the century-long pattern of indigenous out-migration from the interior has been arrested and partially reversed, the Chinese population has stabilised relative to the national total, and the east coast has become the primary engine of growth through foreign labour inflows. The author notes that while overall population density remains low and considerable arable land—particularly in the Labuk valley, the Semporna peninsula, and the upland plains—remains uncultivated, the concentration of growth in a few districts and the continued influx of unrecorded foreign migrants present both opportunities and challenges for future settlement planning.
Context
- The article draws primarily on the 1970 Malaysian Census tabulations (Chander, 1972, 1976) and the 1960 North Borneo Census report (Jones, 1962), supplemented by the author’s own earlier intercensal analyses (Lee, 1962, 1965, 1968).
- Historiographically, the piece extends Lee’s longitudinal demographic series for Sabah and provides the first systematic district-level comparison of the 1960–70 period, situating the territory’s demographic transition within the broader context of Malaysian federation and post-war economic development.