by Oliver Lalor
By May of 2005 the town of Miri will come of age and attain the status of a city. It has beaten Sibu in the race to become the second city in Sarawak after Kuching. Miri is a progressive town in which there always seems to be something happening. The entrepreneurial spirit is fuelled by the large Chinese population who make up 55% of the total of about 220,000. The Malays, Ibans, Indians and many indigenous groups add to the cosmopolitan flavour of the town. It is exchanging the old soubriquet of ' Oil Town ' for the new title of ' Resort City '. It is a favoured destination for Bruneian shoppers because of the range of very fine shopping complexes in the town.
The first port of call for the visitor to Miri should be the Visitors' Information Centre (Ph: 085- 434180) close to the Park Hotel and bus terminal. It is open from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday, from 8am to 4pm on the 2 nd and 4 th Saturdays and from 9am to 3pm on the 1 st and 3 rd Sundays and Bank Holidays. Not far from the Information Centre is Miri ' Old Town ' between High Street, China Street and Jalan Bendahara. There are several shops in Miri selling handicrafts but the Miri Heritage Centre opposite the Pacific Orient Hotel is a good place to start.
The first large shopping complex one meets on the way in from Brunei is The Boulevard Shopping Complex with its Hypermarket and Departmental Store. Further along the road one passes The Grand Palace Hotel. Behind this over a toy shop is the very fine Belle's Bookshop. Further again along the same Miri-Pujut road is Bintang Plaza which has Parkson Grand as the anchor tenant. It also has Popular Bookstore. One of the major landmarks of Miri is the tall Imperial Mall & Court. The anchor tenant here is Ngui Kee Department Store & Supermarket.
Miri City Fan was built as part of the plan to transform Miri into a city by 2005. It is a superb social, educational and recreational centre in the heart of town. It is worth getting out of your car and exploring it on foot. If you want to go jogging with the locals then head for Bulatan Park near to the roundabout before Boulevard Shopping Complex or try Taman Awam Miri on the airport road. Head out past the ParkCity Everly Hotel and Rihga Royal Hotel to Luak Bay Esplanade for a walk along the beach with a refreshing breeze blowing in off the South China Sea .
Miri has a lot more to offer but after you have familiarized yourself with the main landmarks it is wonderful to drive up onto Canada Hill to see them from this elevated vantage point. A good time to go is at dusk when the lights of the town are just coming on. Up on Canada Hill you will find The Grand Old Lady, Miri Oil Well No 1. This was the first oil well in Malaysia and is a protected site central to the Miri story. Currently there is a new development nearing completion with walkways and seats. To get to Canada Hill pass Bintang Plaza (with Parkson Grand) on the road in and turn to the left at the next set of traffic lights. When you get to the top of the steep climb turn to the right for The Grand Old Lady. By turning back to the left on the newly surfaced road you will also find some vantage points from which to view Miri from on high.
See also: http://www.hornbill.bizland.com/PhotoDowntownMiri.htm
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