Semporna: An Illusion Of Paradise
On a glossy postcard, Semporna, located on the southeastern coast of Sabah off the Celebes Sea, is sold as the ultimate bucket-list destination.
Hordes of tourists, particularly scuba divers and snorkelers, travel thousands of miles to experience the crystal-clear waters and vibrant coral reefs of the islands off Semporna town.
But step onto one of the five jetties on the mainland, and all that fantasy cracks. Beneath this booming tourism hub lies deep problems.
The salty ocean breeze smells like diesel. Below, the water is filled with drifting plastic. Best advice for navigating the sea off Semporna: close your eyes, get on the speedboat and head straight to the islands.
TRASH
For those working on the frontlines of Semporna’s tourism industry, the sea pollution is impossible to ignore. Aquila Chu, a 41-year-old scuba diving instructor, has been bringing international tourists to nearby world-renowned dive sites like Sipadan Island for years.
But the worsening filth at the mainland jetties leaves him deeply frustrated. He watches as the very ecosystem his clients pay to see is choked by domestic waste, prompting his grim advice to tourists to just “go directly to the islands”.
Yong Lip Khiong, a divemaster and programme director at the Sabah Diving Squad Club, said plastic bottles discarded into the sea have literally become makeshift homes for marine life.
These objects do not just tarnish the stunning views but cause irreversible harm to the fragile marine creatures that make Semporna famous globally.
More often than not, the undocumented and stateless Bajau Laut community dwelling in water villages off Semporna are blamed for the floating waste.
(A 2024 general survey by the Eastern Sabah Security Command showed that out of an estimated 28,000 members of the Bajau Laut community in Semporna, only 6,200 are recognised as Malaysian citizens.)
But Chu offers a harsh reality check that cuts through the scapegoating. How can anyone expect a neglected community to champion marine conservation when their most basic needs are lacking?
“The undocumented are not going to care about the environment when clean drinking water itself is already a problem for them. The crux of the issue here isn’t simply a lack of awareness… it is a complete absence of municipal infrastructure, there is no place for them to dispose of rubbish,” he said.
For fisherman Otoh Lasa, 68, who lives in Kampung Air here, the floating garbage is “not an option”.
“It’s a modern problem we never asked for and we’ve no tools or means to deal with it,” he said.
“People say we are dirty. But 50 years ago, everything we threw into the sea came from the earth – fish bones, tapioca peels, banana leaves. The sea would take it back… the modern world brought us plastic, but it did not bring ways to dispose of it. The sea does not absorb plastic.”
The authorities have issued stern warnings against dumping garbage into the sea. Pamphlets have also been distributed to raise awareness on proper trash disposal. But for Otoh and his Bajau Laut community, the solution is not lectures, but basic logistical support.
He said what they need is a “garbage boat” or municipal vessel that carries out scheduled daily waste collection from the water villages, similar to the garbage trucks that serve the mainland. They also need public bins placed at the mainland jetties.
Another thing they need is access to clean piped water. At present, without proper water supply, families are forced to rely on thousands of single-use plastic bottles for survival – bottles that ultimately end up choking the surrounding waters.
While stronger enforcement and intervention by the local authorities are essential to address Semporna’s waste problem, regular beach clean-ups organised by local non-governmental organisations play a meaningful role in reducing pollution.
Last October, youths from Skuad Anak Sabah made history by collecting a staggering 8,833.80 kilogrammes of trash in Semporna. It was recognised by the Malaysia Book of Records as the heaviest waste collection by an NGO in Malaysia.
STOLEN ECONOMY
Meanwhile, a federal minister has revealed another major issue related to Semporna’s tourism industry. The town is generating tourism revenue, but most of that wealth is not staying in Sabah. Instead, it is being siphoned away by foreigners.
In February this year, Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali told the media his ministry has received reports that 81 accommodation premises in Semporna are largely operated by foreign companies. Some of them are fully foreign-run, while others have strategic “collaborations” with locals.
“It is good that we welcome foreign investors, but we also need to look at and study what results we are actually getting,” he said, raising a red flag about the reality on the ground, especially the true economic benefit to Sabah.
“Maybe there is value in them (foreigners) having networks to bring in tourists from outside. But we must also look at that business chain.”
Armizan pointed out that such a system threatens to completely suffocate grassroots businesses, adding that “we must not let it reach a point where, in the entire business chain, there is no room for local micro, small and medium enterprises to thrive”.
A 45-year-old local charter boat operator, who wished to be known only as Azman, said Armizan’s warning is no exaggeration but a reality he faces every day.
He said his business has managed to stay afloat due to the overwhelming number of tourists flocking to Semporna. However, he stressed that local operators like himself are now up against an invisible barrier.
“We are simply surviving by relying on independent travellers, backpackers and domestic tourists. But the real money – large groups of international tourists generating lucrative returns – is beyond our reach,” he added.
Every day, he watches this “closed business network” operating right before his eyes.
“Tourists arrive at the airport (in Tawau) and are immediately picked up by foreign-owned vans (and taken to Semporna). They stay in accommodation booked by overseas ‘bosses’, dine at their designated seafood restaurants, and go diving with their own ‘imported’ instructors,” he said.
Within this closed-loop system, much of the tourist spending barely reaches Semporna’s local economy. Even when boats are needed for island-hopping activities, operators within the foreign network hire only from foreign-backed companies, sidelining Azman and other Sabah-based entrepreneurs.
“In the past, we used to be the service providers, but now we are slowly pushed to the edges and left to watch the ringgit flowing past without a single sen reaching the local community,” he lamented.
Although his income remains stable for now, Azman is concerned about the future of local entrepreneurs if this monopoly continues unchecked.
FOREIGN SCUBA INSTRUCTORS
This economic “hijacking” has also infiltrated the very core of Semporna’s appeal: scuba diving. In this regard, the Malaysia Scuba Diving Association (MSDA) has expressed deep frustration at what it describes as the “rampant influx of illegal, unregistered foreign scuba instructors”.
MSDA president Aminor Azmi Abdul Latip called out the “Ali Baba” culture which, according to him, is slowly suffocating the local diving industry. In such a setup, a local Sabahan would hold the business licence on paper, acting merely as a legal front to satisfy regulatory requirements.
Aminor Azmi claimed that foreign instructors and dive guides are actively working in Sabah’s waters without a permit, causing local scuba operators to lose their grip on the market.
Even as locals diligently earn their legitimate dive certifications through state-backed programmes like “The Island Host”, they find themselves pushed aside and undercut by illegal foreign operators who dominate the market. The very people who grew up swimming in the Celebes Sea are being reduced to being mere spectators and forced to watch outsiders earning lucrative incomes off their home waters.
Their frustrations were raised during an engagement session on March 4 between the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) Sabah office and local tourism associations, including MSDA.
Aminor Azmi said besides the dominance of foreign players in Semporna’s tourism industry, he also raised the issue of tourist safety during the meeting, citing compromised scuba training standards among some foreign instructors.
“This lack of control could lead to fatal diving accidents in the future,” he warned.
According to him, some tourism providers are operating without the KPL licence, which is issued by MOTAC to travel agencies and tour operators.
“It is baffling how these companies can operate without securing a KPL licence, even after the online jetty operation system was implemented by the state,” he added.
Commenting on the situation in Semporna, Sabah Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Datuk Jafry Ariffin made it clear that Semporna’s tourism industry “cannot be allowed to evolve into an ‘enclave economy’ where profits leave (the state) and local benefits remain minimal”.
ILLUSION OF SAFETY
He, however, said the matter must be assessed comprehensively, based on facts and the long-term economic interests of Sabah.
He said Sabah welcomes foreign investment as global networks and market access are important drivers of tourism growth.
However, the investment must deliver clear benefits to Sabah, strengthening local participation, creating jobs for Sabahans, and ensuring meaningful economic spillover to the community.
In his written reply to questions submitted by Bernama following news reports that 81 accommodation premises in Semporna are largely operated by external companies, Jafry said his ministry has already established a special Task Force on Semporna Tourism Industry Monitoring comprising relevant state agencies, local authorities, industry players and community representatives.
He said the primary objective of this task force is to resolve Semporna’s tourism issues comprehensively, and not reactively, through a systemic approach that aligns roles, jurisdiction and enforcement among relevant agencies.
He added that the ministry also takes seriously the issue of tourism premises and resorts operating without licenses in Semporna district.
At a task force meeting held at the Semporna District Council here recently, Jafry, who chaired the meeting, called for immediate actions to address unlicensed tourism operations in the district.
He said based on current records, a total of 190 tourism premises have been identified as operating in Semporna; however, only 45 premises hold valid licenses, while the licenses of 59 premises are still in the approval process. Eighty-six premises have been found to have taken no initiative to secure a valid licence or are facing various compliance issues, including failure to obtain the Certificate of Completion and Compliance or Occupation Certificate, as well as problems related to land status.
“Resorts without these certificates have no legally approved sewage system. Their luxury villas are effectively unregulated structures dumping raw waste directly into the sea, which is a root cause of Semporna’s environmental pollution,” Jafry said.
He added that enforcement action against the operators of these illegal resorts falls under the local municipal authorities, not the state tourism ministry.
For years, resort operators have bypassed strict state environmental laws by relying on temporary licenses issued by the relevant local council.
Jafry said the state government has ordered local authorities to immediately halt the issuance of temporary permits to premises that do not meet existing regulatory requirements.
“Illegal operators now have less than two months to comply with building and safety standards, or face forced shutdowns,” he said.
For Sabah Nominated Assemblyman Datuk Roger Chin, this crackdown cannot come soon enough, stressing that Semporna cannot survive on its natural beauty alone.
“Tourists are starting to wake up. If this blatant disregard for safety, hygiene and local laws continues, Semporna’s reputation will collapse completely, and the lucrative tourist wave will simply vanish,” he warned.
Will Semporna finally be reclaimed as a true haven or will the tide of greed just wash over it, leaving people like Otoh, Azman and the other locals to clean up the ruins of a broken paradise?
