Pekan Bongawan

📷 Credit to 4g Rox in TT

The END of old Pekan Bongawan in Papar, Sabah. Engulfed in flames at about 5AM on 10 June 2025. 

Bongawan was not my hometown, but it was a sad sight as I love old historical buildings. Especially when these shophouses were built pre World War II and actually the bombings during that war. 

I believe that some of these wooden shophouses were already built in the 1920s. 

I last visited Bongawan in 2019. I had visited Bongawan many times before but when I decided to visit in 2019, it was to photograph the village. It was such an old and tired village and this was what I was afraid the most. FIRE. 

Nobody pays much attention to this unattractive town. Nothing much to see here. Just blocks of old wooden shophouses that actually looked as though they might collapse any time. But old folks were still living here. Families were still around. Making a simple living. Living a simple life. 

These are my only photos of Bongawan.