Bintulu

Bintulu is a coastal town and one of the 28 districts in the state of Sarawak. Bintulu has its humble beginnings as a fishing village, growing the thriving coastal town that it is today, thanks to the discovery of oil and gas reserves!

As it is strategically located, Bintulu is accessible by land, air, and sea, from all over the state including neighbouring Sabah and Brunei. The partially completed Pan Borneo Highway connects Bintulu with Miri and Sibu. Public transportation like taxis and express buses are available to take you into Bintulu. Within Bintulu, you can rent a car, take the local bus or hail a taxi to get around. Bintulu can also be accessible by flight and is served by Malaysia Airlines (MAS), MASWings and Air Asia, from domestic destination within the state as well as direct flights from Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu. Bintulu is also reachable by express boat from the district’s interior areas.  Meanwhile, Bintulu Port, the busiest in the state is an important port for imports and exports.

Bintulu’s economy is dominated by the oil and gas sector, wood-based industries, plantations, and light industries, being complemented by other smaller industries and businesses. As such, Bintulu offers abundant job opportunities particularly those in the industries mentioned above. It also offers exciting investment opportunities for businesses to set up their operations here.  Furthermore, Bintulu is home to Petronas’ Malaysia LNG (MLNG) Plant as well as its Floating LNG (FLNP) in offshore Bintulu, a Shell Middle Distillate Synthesis plant – the world’s first,  and a Bintulu combined cycle power plant.  The town is a gateway to Samalaju Industrial Park. Within Bintulu, notable industrial areas include Kemena Industrial Estate and Jepak Industries Estate (for wood-based industries), Kidurong Industrial Area and Kidurong Light Industrial Estate (for medium and light industries) and Bintulu Light Industrial Estate (for light industry).

Bintulu is an exciting place to live and work as it offers a mixture of different lifestyles that blend in with the local culture and ways of life. As a thriving town, Bintulu offers a host of amenities including prominent schools, medical care, recreational activities, shopping and many more.

Several clinics and hospitals serve the healthcare needs of the people. Bintulu Hospital, the 200-bed government hospital has been in operations since 1968. Columbia Asia Hospital and Bintulu Medical Centre are both private hospitals that are also available to serve the medical needs of its residents. For minor illness, residents can opt for treatment at the Community Health Centre as well as privately own clinics like Klinik Lau, Klinik Sentral and others that are spread out all over town.

University Putra Malaysia (UPM) has a branch campus in Bintulu deemed the oldest in Sarawak had been operational since 1974 although it closed briefly in 1992 and subsequently re-opened in 2001 and its sprawling 715-hectare campus can accommodate up to 2000 students, is 13 km away from town.  Other than that, there are several reputable schools available to serve the education need of the community such as SMK Bintulu which is the oldest school in town, Sekolah Kebangsaan St David, Kai Dee Middle School, and SK Kidurong II as well as the only international school Bintulu International School (formerly Kindurong International School). For higher education, there is the Kolej Vokasional Bintulu and Sedamai College.

Since the town is relatively small, it is easy to get around especially when it comes to getting essentials. Wet markets to visit include  Pasar Ikan Bintulu for fresh seafood, Pasar Utama Bintulu for fresh produce and Pasar Tamu Bintulu, a farmers’ market where one can usually find jungle produce. If you prefer the comfort of the supermarkets head to Tai Kwong Supermarket, Farley Bintulu and New World Mart, which carry a sizeable stock of imported and local brands. Meanwhile, Bintulu offers an array of shopping options with malls such as Times Square Megamall, Boulevard Shopping Mall, The Spring Bintulu, Medan Mall, and City Point Mall, which offers a variety of retail brands, eateries, entertainment, and other services for the entire family.

Being a coastal town, it is no doubt that there are many recreational activities that the community can partake in. Amongst them are Similajau National Park, Tumbina Park, Tanjung Batu Beach, Tua Pek Kong Temple, Kuan Yin Temple, Assyakirin Mosque, Kidurong Tower and Jepak Village where one can witness the production of belacan, sago,cencaluk, and native handicrafts. Golf enthusiasts can play a round of golf at the Bintulu Golf Course.

Although the community is predominantly Christians, the community is free to practice their own religious beliefs and there are numerous places of worship. Amongst the notable ones are Bintulu Mosque ( Masjid Assyakirin), Masjid Jepak, Tua Pek Kong Temple, Eng Kwang Methodist Church, and St Thomas Church.

One will be spoilt for choice when it comes to food as Bintulu offers a good range of eateries serving local street food to high-end establishments. Sarawak Kolo Mee, Mee Sapi, Sarawak Laksa, Fried Midin, Cencaluk, Umai and a range of local native delicacies are some of the unique food to try in Bintulu and for that matter in Sarawak. Popular food establishments in Bintulu include Mid Valley Seafood, Farley Food Court, Niku Japanese Kitchen, and Garden Street Food amongst others.

There are many properties in Bintulu for investment and own stay purposes and most of the properties here are leasehold and has a median price of approximately RM 270 per sq feet and an average selling price of RM 400,000. Currently, there are 93 projects available in the Bintulu area which include The Peak @Paragon Bintulu, Taman Jasmine, Bukit Orang Park, Taman Tinggi, and Taman Kemena Sutera.

Buying, selling, or investing property is a very big decision. Even moving to your desired location can sometimes be very emotional. Using data from more than 15 listings in Bintulu, PropertyGuru aim to help you make the right decisions on selecting property, by providing you helpful news and property statistics such as median and growth in the area, but also our opinion on local neighborhood area.