SANDAKAN: Just a 15-minute boat ride from Sandakan, Pulau Berhala is home to a close-knit fishing community — where most men head to sea, and the women remain at home. But now, those housewives are learning to sew, build confidence, and earn their own income.
Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching said she was encouraged by what she saw during her first visit to the island, where a women’s community centre now runs weekly sewing sessions and skills training.
Teo said the availability of strong 4G coverage on the island presents a real opportunity to connect these women to the digital economy.
“I will continue engaging with the women here. If this initiative proves sustainable, I’ll explore the possibility of bringing in Shopee, Lazada or TikTok Shop to hold training sessions for them,” she said during her visit on Tuesday.
“This would give them a larger platform to market their products beyond this island.”
Teo was invited to the island by Sandakan MP Vivian Wong, who founded the women’s community centre in 2022 and has been sending volunteer teachers to conduct weekly classes ever since.
“It took two years to earn their trust. Every week, we send a teacher here to run the classes. And now, the women are finally producing their own handmade items and bringing them home,” said Wong.
Wong said the centre will soon introduce batik making classes to develop a local identity through “Batik Pulau Berhala”, giving the women a sense of cultural ownership and potential branding for future sales.
For Rina Ramio Abdullah, a housewife and mother living on the island, the centre has been more than just a place to learn — it’s a space for connection, purpose and growth.
“Most of us rarely leave our homes. Before this, we didn’t have much to do, and we depended entirely on our husbands. But now, I have something of my own,” she said.
Rina is now learning to sew traditional Bajau garments — a skill she says could one day help her earn an income.
“A full outfit can be completed in a day if you know how. Right now, we’re just practising and haven’t started selling yet, but I believe that time will come,” she said.
She hopes to see more training opportunities at the centre, especially in areas like cooking, baking, and making traditional kuih — skills she believes would benefit other women in the community who are still looking for a place to start.
“This initiative has really lightened the burden for many of us. It gave us something meaningful to do, and now, we look forward to learning more.”
Pulau Berhala, located in the eastern waters of Sabah, is not yet gazetted as a formal village and remains off the grid in many ways — but community-driven efforts are slowly opening up new opportunities for its residents.
