Spooktacular Sabah: Agnes Keith House first stop in state’s haunt jaunt push

SANDAKAN – Those with an interest in the paranormal are encouraged to visit Sabah as state authorities are keen to promote “dark tourism”, beginning with the former British colonial residence, the Agnes Keith House, here. 

State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Jafry Ariffin said that the 74-year-old building can be a draw once the tourism sector is reopened.

“Right now, throughout the world, there is this kind of dark tourism especially for visitors and there are many who are enthusiastic about it.

“But it requires some level of courage, so those with a weak heart, better not (partake in such an activity),” he told reporters after visiting the Agnes Keith House today.

The idea for the Agnes Keith House to be a tourist spot follows a proposal by Sabah Museum’s assistant curator, Safinah Yusop.

Safinah, who currently supervises the maintenance of the house, said her many years in the job had given her the idea that some tourists would love visiting such spooky locations.

“One of the main attractions of the place is a booklet provided at the location that contains numerous stories about paranormal sightings in the house.

“The tourists would then tell their friends and family at home about this house, and the first thing that they would talk about are the ghost stories and the eerie feeling that they experienced here.

“Local visitors also love such experiences and would consider visiting the Agnes Keith House as ‘visiting a haunted house’ experience. 

“That is why we have planned for a programme, to offer visitors to spend a night, whether inside the house, or camp outside the house.

“The plan is to have group packages, and for those who stay in the house would have to sleep in a sleeping bag in order not to disturb our furniture and layout,” she said.

The proposal, she said, was supposed to be executed much earlier but was halted by the first movement control order (MCO) in March last year.

“But Datuk Jafry’s visit today showed that he was very positive about the plan, and we are very excited that the programme now has a shot to be realised,” she added.

Agnes Keith House’s ghostly history

The infamous house was named after Agnes Keith, the renowned author of several books including Land Below the Wind and Three Came Home, the latter which went on to become a Hollywood movie released in 1950.

Agnes, an American, along with her husband, Harry Keith, a British official assigned for forest conservation here, first built the house between 1946 and 1947 on the site of a destroyed home following the Japanese invasion several years earlier.

The couple had been living at another house since 1934 when it was destroyed during the war. In the aftermath, Harry chose not to rebuild the new house at its former location, but at the present location atop a hill as part of a British colonial government quarters.

They lived in the house for several years before ownership was passed on to several individuals over the years.

In 2001, following a period of unoccupancy, the house was then restored to its original state by the Sabah Museum Department along with the Federal Museum and Antiquities Department, and it finally opened as a public museum in 2004.

In her third book, White Man Returns, Agnes shared her experience living in the house.

“I don’t believe in ghosts. But every day, I see a tall gaunt woman telling her husband goodbye, taking her baby, and walking down the path alone, standing at the bottom of the path and looking back,” a paragraph read.

After the couple finally left Sabah, many other occupants and guests have claimed to continue seeing the apparition in the house.  

Sabah Conservator of Forests (1955-1967) G.L. Carlson, who took over Harry’s position, also wrote about a ghostly apparition in the bedroom, as seen and recounted by his wife Rosemary.

She wrote: “There was a figure standing, leaning over, and looking down at me. The figure appeared to be a female with a white bandage around her head. She was pale faced. She was dressed in what looked like a white, short-sleeved T-shirt or blouse with a wide-shoulder-strapped, dark-coloured pinafore dress.

“She was quite a short person of normal build, and I could not see the lower part of her body. At this stage, I must have passed out. When I came to, it was already dawn and I was alone.”  

Many occupants after that shared the same story of seeing a figure of a woman, who was short and of normal build, including a maid of another Conservator of Forests Tom Bayles.

According to a security guard at the Agnes Keith House, Sulpicius, there have been numerous sightings of the apparition over the recent years.

“We have seen sightings of the woman from outside the residence. She was always found standing near the window.

“Many visitors have also claimed to have witnessed the same thing, but such incidents only happen once in a couple of years.

“We are used to these kinds of events, but we were never harmed in any way, so we are not afraid,” he said.

Another security guard, Emmanuel, said he never personally encountered a paranormal incident at the house, but he attests to seeing many others who have.

“A few years ago, there was once a group of primary school children who visited the house during their school trip.

“One boy suddenly cried hysterically, claiming that he saw a woman standing near the window in the bedroom of the house.

“We also had other guards who had experienced being woken up after feeling that they were touched by someone, but no one was there,” he added.

While the Agnes Keith House is a heritage site packed with valuable historical value, would one be encouraged to visit it, knowing its haunted history? – The Vibes, June 27, 2021