SANDAKAN – The prominent JCI Sandakan Clock Tower along a main road to the centre of town here will no longer be “clockless”, as donations have been secured for a new four-faced solar-powered clock from Japan’s Seiko Holdings Corp.
The tower has four clocks facing in directions. It was built in 1972 by Junior Chamber International Sandakan, a non-profit young leadership development organisation, using community funds.
It is Sandakan town’s sole clock tower.
The clocks were replaced in 1983, also through donations from the same Japanese company, and officially relaunched in 1984.
After the clocks stopped working, the Sandakan Municipal Council (SMC) had them removed to avoid embarrassment over displaying faulty clocks, leaving the clock holes empty since 2015.
JCI Sandakan president Vanessa Lim said that the clock tower holds historical and sentimental value to Sandakan folk.
“It not only displays the time but also stands as a prominent landscape structure; a reminder of the past, and a bridge between the older residents and the young,” she said.
Lim said success in securing the donation from Seiko Holdings Corp is thanks to JCI Senator Datuk John Liaw Chee Shing, who initiated the project to restore the clocks. SMC also supports the restoration project.
However, Lim said JCI Sandakan will now have to bear the shipping costs of the clocks to Malaysia, estimated to be RM30,000 or more, and is asking the business community to make donations towards the cause. – The Vibes, January 14, 2021
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