Revisiting 1978: Where My Engineering Journey Began

The other day, 21.04.2026, while having yamcha with an old friend, Jeffrey Lo, we spent quite some time reminiscing about the past - from our university days to the very first jobs we landed after graduation.

I shared with him that soon after completing my studies at the University of Malaya in early 1978, I went to see the then Director of Jabatan Kerja Raya (JKR) at the JKR headquarters in Sembulan, the late Datuk K.S. Fung. To my surprise, the Director asked me to start work almost immediately. I was posted on secondment to the site office at Kota Kinabalu International Airport, where I worked alongside the British consulting engineers, Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick, who had been appointed to design and supervise the construction of the new taxiway and the new terminal building (Read here).

While on the subject of the construction of the KK International Airport terminal building, Jeffrey quickly recalled that the earthworks contractor responsible for constructing the taxiway and the preparation of the site for the new terminal building was Goh Brothers. I then remembered that this was, in fact, a joint venture between Goh Brothers and Syarikat Berjaya. However, he was unsure about the main contractor for the terminal building itself. After giving some thought, I recalled that Lim Kah Ngam (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, an established building contractor from West Malaysia at the time, was appointed as the main building contractor.

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Talking about my very first job, I can’t help but revisit those old photographs taken at the airport project site where I served as the Assistant Resident Engineer for the site supervision team. For a young engineer, witnessing a water-logged swamp - constantly influenced by tidal fluctuations - gradually transformed into a vast stretch of reclaimed land for a terminal building and taxiway was nothing short of magical. It was not only a memorable chapter of my early career, but also a powerful lesson in what engineering vision and teamwork can achieve.

I was recalled to work at JKR Headquarters in 1982, just before the new terminal building was fully completed. The terminal, located at the southeast end of the runway, was finished shortly thereafter and began serving the growing needs of air travel in Sabah.

With the steady rise in air traffic and the corresponding increase in passenger arrivals and departures over the years, the terminal later underwent a major upgrade and expansion between 2005 and 2009 to enhance its capacity, facilities, and operational efficiency.