Tatau is a small town near Bintulu in Sarawak, Malaysia.
I was passing by the town in November 2012 en route Mukah, the Melanau country in Sarawak. Some unique (read: weird) names of places sometimes pulled me back to study more. Tatau is one of them. The town of about 30000 people of mainly Iban, Melanau, Malay and Chinese is about 40 km from Bintulu on Bintulu-Sibu trunk road. Tatau itself is the name of the ethnic once discovering and early settlers of this place. Their ancestors came from Kalimantan, Indonesia, and their numbers now are insignificant due to migration and mixed marriages. Foreigners are aplenty here, mainly Indonesians working in timber and agriculture business.
Like any other Sarawak towns, Tatau is located by the river. River transport are crucial for timber industry and provide links to upriver interiors. Pan Borneo road system to Bintulu and Sibu and the rest of Sarawak is good.
Driving down from Bintulu, this newly-opened petrol station greets you
Probably the biggest mall in Tatau
National Registration Dept -- Tatau Branch
A clinic in Tatau - Dr Kho probably is from Penang
Bugis Cafe at Tatau in Sarawak
Masjid Darul Ibadah at Tatau town in Sarawak
Like many other Sarawak towns, river system is vital to the economy.
Health clinic in Tatau, Sarawak
The only public school in Tatau, Sarawak
Main entrance to Pan Borneo Road from Tatau town in Sarawak
Pan Borneo Road near Tatau -- leading to Sibu