Visitors eat more turtle eggs, say Sandakan folk

SANDAKAN – This district in the east of Sabah is infamous for selling turtle eggs in its town. Despite that, the people in Sandakan claimed that it is people outside of the district who are keeping the demand high. 

Contrary to what many may think, turtle eggs are not part of cultural or traditional dishes for the people here. 

According to 12 Sandakan locals who The Vibes have spoken to, all had eaten turtle eggs at some point in their lives before. 

But all said that it was more than 10 years ago. And it was before they were aware that turtles were endangered animals, and that it was illegal to buy turtle eggs. 

Describing the eggs as “slimy”, they said the most common way to cook turtle eggs is to boil them. But the product would be similar to half-boiled chicken eggs, it is best to be eaten with soy sauce and black pepper. 

“It is delicious, it tastes like chicken eggs, but has a tinge of a smell of the sea. It is tastier than chicken eggs when it is fried. But it is not something that I want to eat every day,” a respondent said. 

Another respondent said that she did not find the egg tasty and said one time was enough for her. 

As for Andy, he said his family have had them regularly when he was younger. 

“But my family stopped buying them once they found that it was illegal to buy them. I am fine with not eating turtle eggs for the rest of my life, but it's not fine for turtles to be gone forever,” he said. 

Sandakan turtle eggs are not for the people of Sandakan 

Many respondents said the same thing, that visitors from outside of Sandakan are more eager than the locals to eat turtle eggs. 

“We had friends from all over Malaysia – from Kota Kinabalu and Peninsular Malaysia – who visited Sandakan. They asked us where they could get turtle eggs. It is like turtle eggs is a must-try food in Sandakan. 

Some eat at their hotel rooms, some even managed to sneak the eggs back to West Malaysia, they said. 

Andy said that the illegal selling of turtle eggs is only happening because there is demand. 

“The demand is not even from the local Sandakan people. It is the outsiders who are buying them,” he said. 

No more turtle eggs now? 

For the past several weeks at Sandakan town, there has been no sighting of men showing the OK sign – which is a signal for selling turtle eggs. 

It could be due to the movement control order and travel restriction. It had made it tougher for the eggs to be transported from nearby Philippines islands. 

But another possibility is that the demand has stopped because there are no visitors from outside of the district here during the pandemic.  

It is also why turtle conservationist and Conservationist and Friends of Sea Turtles Education & Research president Alexander Yee questioned the source of alleged turtle eggs that went viral on Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin’s dining table when the borders are closed.  

Government’s efforts 

With most information now available online, Sandakan’s infamous image of having turtle eggs sold in public has become even more popular. 

Several media agencies including Channel News Asia in 2019 reported that a group of men were selling turtle eggs openly in Sandakan town, and they even seemed relaxed. 

But this has changed after various actions were taken by the government, including awareness campaigns by the Sandakan Municipal Council (SMC), setting up of CCTV in hotspot areas, and continuous integrated operations by the authorities to stop the smuggling and selling of turtle eggs. 

By 2020, one has to wait for about an hour to spot “the OK man”. 

The law 

Turtle eggs in Sabah are products of the green turtle species (Chelonia mydas) which is fully protected under Schedule 1, Part 1 of Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997. 

Possession of turtle eggs in the state is an offence under Sabah Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997. It is punishable with a maximum RM50,000 fine or two years' imprisonment or both upon conviction. 

While it is an offence to possess turtle eggs, is it an offence to consume them? 

According to Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) officer Mohd Soffian Abu Bakar even though the law does not state eating turtle eggs as an offence, one must first possess the eggs before he could eat them. 

“Possession here means ‘in control of’. So, when one holds the turtle egg and is putting it into his mouth, he is ‘in control’ of the item, so it is still against the law,” he said. 

Soffian said that is also why it is difficult for legal action to be taken against someone who is pictured with turtle eggs. There is no proof that the individual is in control of the item. – The Vibes, July 3, 2021