Inner Wheel Garden plaque to be unveiled at Atkinson Clock Tower
KOTA KINABALU: After more than 56 years since it was first unveiled, the grounds surrounding the historic Atkinson Clock Tower at Signal Hill – named the “Ann’s Garden” – has been revived with beautiful tropical flowers and shrubbery.
While researching for articles at the Sabah State Archives in early 2011 for the Inner Wheel Club of Kota Kinabalu’s (IWCKK) 57th Installation Souvenir Magazine, the then President Lily Marimuttu and Inner Wheel member Gillian Lee were surprised to chance upon a newspaper article in the North Borneo News & Sabah Times dated 3 July 1961 headlined “Ann’s Garden Opened”.
In that article, it was stated that the Ann’s Garden (now renamed The Inner Wheel Garden) was established in 1961 by the ladies of the Inner Wheel Club of Jesselton (as Inner Wheel Club of Kota Kinabalu was then known). Over time, the garden became somewhat neglected and eventually forgotten.
So why was the garden originally known as the “Ann’s Garden”? In many Rotary Clubs throughout the world, wives of male Rotary members are affectionately called “Rotary Anns”, and prior to 1989, when Rotary generally prohibited women as members, another organisation known as Inner Wheel was established for the Anns (and daughters) of Rotarians who were keen to serve the community.
It was this surprising find among many other articles captured on microfiche by the State Archives that prompted a few ladies from the Inner Wheel Club of Kota Kinabalu to venture to the Atkinson Clock Tower one morning in December 2013.
Led by the then President Gillian Lee, past presidents Margaret Chin and Emmeline Tan wanted to see if they could locate the very spot where the Inner Wheel Garden once stood. They checked every inch of the area around the Clock Tower for evidence of the garden. After about two hours of searching and verifying the various spots depicted in the photographs in the aforementioned newspaper article, the ladies not only identified the location but also the spot where a plaque was apparently once installed. This was probably what Mr EJH Berwick was unveiling, as seen in one of the photographs therein.
At the December Club meeting a week later, the ladies reported their findings to the members. Clearly excited about the find, International Inner Wheel Past Board Director Datuk Nancy Ho volunteered to study the report in depth. Armed with the report, she later approached the various authorities in Kota Kinabalu to present the Club’s case to them. She also discussed with them the possibility of reviving the Inner Wheel Garden.
After several meetings with the officials from Kota Kinabalu City Hall (DBKK) and the Sabah State Museum, which now has jurisdiction over the Atkinson Clock Tower and the adjacent plot of land, plans were put in place to rejuvenate the garden. The ladies also learnt that the original garden was designed by a Mr Cross.
At the Club’s 60th anniversary celebration in 2015, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Deputy DirectorGeneral (Operations) Joannes Solidau, who represented the then Mayor Datuk Abidin Madingkir, Director Joanna Datuk Kitingan who signed on behalf of the State Museum Department and outgoing Inner Wheel President Tengku Adlina Marita Tengku Zainal Adlin who inked the agreement for the Club. This signing ceremony was witnessed by Assistant Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Datuk Pang Yuk Ming, IWCKK Past President Gillian Lee, Past President Tengku Puteri Marilyn Tengku Zainal Adlin and President Yvonne Mok, the newly installed club president for that year.
Under the agreement, DBKK consented to be responsible for planting, watering and maintaining the garden, while IWCKK was to provide the funds for the installation of piping works from the garden to the water mains situated at the foot of the slope atop which the Atkinson Clock Tower proudly stands. This is to facilitate the watering and maintenance of the Garden.
The Atkinson Clock Tower, which was completed in 1905 in memory of Mr Francis George Atkinson, the first District Officer of Jesselton, is today one of the many favourite spots for phototaking by tourists and visitors to Kota Kinabalu and one of the historical sites covered by the KK Heritage Walk.
It was the vision of Past President Gillian and the ladies of IWCKK not just to revive the Inner Wheel Garden, but to also create a beautiful garden where visitors to the Atkinson Clock Tower can enjoy themselves and capture beautiful memories of Kota Kinabalu. This is IWCKK’s contribution not only to the people of Sabah, but also for the visitors to this beautiful place we call home.
At a recent site inspection of the garden and its surrounding areas by members of IWCKK, the Museum and DBKK officials, it was decided that a new plaque will be reinstated at the original spot where the plaque was first installed. The unveiling ceremony of the Inner Wheel Garden Plaque will take place at 8am on January 10 in conjunction with International Inner Wheel Day, at the grounds of the Atkinson Clock Tower.
Among the many guests will be the Mayor of Kota Kinabalu City, Datuk Yeo Boon Hai, Sabah Museum director Mansur Haji Asun and the director of Sabah Archives, Tuan Haji Mohd Said Hinayat.