A Carmelite Beginning in Sabah: Half the Price, Twice the Grace
The story of the Carmelite Monastery in Kota Kinabalu begins not with stone walls or grand plans, but with seven women of prayer. On Dec 18, 1930, seven Spanish Carmelite nuns arrived at the invitation of Msgr. August Wachter, the first Prefect Apostolic of North Borneo. Their names; Mother Josephine Mary of the Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Sisters Mariana of the Angels, Maria Teresa of the Virgin of Pilar, Mary Joseph of the Sacred Heart, Margaret of Jesus, Casilda of St Thérèse of the Child Jesus, and Novice Conception of the Most Blessed Trinity, read like a litany of devotion.
They landed in Jesselton, a colonial outpost on the South China Sea, and were housed in a rented bungalow on a hill fittingly called Mt Carmel. The owner, Joseph Yong Ah Hoi, was willing to sell, but not to bargain. His firm price: 20,000 Straits Dollars. It was far beyond the means of the mission, which had more faith than funds. Negotiations stalled. The dream of Carmel in Borneo seemed headed for the ‘impossible’ file.
Then came the nuns, and with them, their greatest resource: prayer. For three quiet weeks, they stormed heaven with psalms, petitions and trust. And then, something remarkable. On Jan 7,1931, just 21 days after their arrival, Yong suddenly relented. Not only did he agree to sell, but he cut the price in half to 10,000 Straits Dollars. A sudden, inexplicable change of heart. Coincidence, some might say, but for the Carmelites, it was divine providence. A quiet miracle, born of cloistered prayer.
Msgr Wachter wasted no time. That same day, he secured the purchase, declaring the land would one day be “a great asset to the mission.” And history proved him right. On those 11.3 acres rose the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception (1930), the Carmelite Monastery (1930), Kung Min School (later renamed Shan Tao in 1963), St Francis Convent Secondary School (1959), and most recently, the Catholic Archdiocesan Centre (2022). With further acquisitions, the Church now holds over 22 acres of green hills and foothills – an ecclesiastical campus and a green lung for the city.
Read full story in Catholic Sabah Vol 68 No 19 dated Oct 5 2025.
