PENAMPANG: There are many attractions in Penampang that can become yet another tourism product for Sabah but did not receive attention due to the lack of promotional activities.
One of such attractions is the community museum at Kampung Pogunon, an old burial ground dating back to the Qing dynasty.
This is based on the large potteries containing skeletons which were unearthed while constructing a school at the site.
Three large pots and the skeletal remains are now being showcased at the small museum at the village.
The person in charge of the museum, James Dingon, explained that the museum was built in 2004 while the burial ground was gazetted in 2000 following the discovery.
There were several other pots found on site but due to size constraints at the community museum at Kampung Pogunon, they were sent to the State Museum for safekeeping.
“We hope to increase the size of this museum so that we can relocate the other pots here,” he said.
Aside from showcasing the pots, the museum at Kampung Pogunon also provides historical information concerning earlier Chinese communities who had come to Sabah, then North Borneo.
James said the Chinese buried their dead at the old burial ground and that stones from the river were taken to indicate the gender and age of the persons being buried.
“Stones with rough edges were used for males while those that were round belonged to females. Smaller tomb stones were used for the young,” he explained.
Aside from the ancient burial ground, Kampung Pogunon is also famous for the wars that happened between people from the village and the neighbouring village, he said.
A certain sword owned by a late Bobohizan is also the centre of attraction at the museum.
The custodian of the antique sword, Cecelia Kondokol, 83, said many people were killed with the sword.
The people killed included the Japanese during the Japanese occupation.
Visitors at the museum were told that countless skulls were found at the site andthese were burnt by the villagers.
“In the past, rituals had to be carried out to appease the sword,” Cecelia added.
Other attractions worth visiting are the weekly market or tamu that falls on Thursdays and Fridays in Donggongon, and the ‘Tapikung’ or Chinese temple is within close vicinity to the tamu ground.
The St Michael’s Church, also in Penampang, is also over a century old and is the oldest in Sabah’s West Coast.