coming to Kudat to experience traditional Rungus culture. In the early 2000s, Kudat underwent a period of rapid development. A raft of projects gave Kudat several new hotels, a sports centre, the Sidek Esplanade and a new road linking the town with the Pan-Borneo Highway. Additionally, the existing nine-hole course at the Kudat Golf Club was extended to a full 18 holes over 6080m. Today, the old nine-hole course is known as the 'second nines' while the newer nine-hole course is referred to as the 'first nines'. Culture Hakka Chinese community Kudat is home to a significant Hakka Chinese minority which is among the oldest Hakka communities in Sabah. Hakka involvement in Kudat began in the 1880s with Walter Medhurst's offer of free passage to British North Borneo to prospective migrants in southern China. The Basel Missionary Society in China was extremely supportive of this initiative, particularly a missionary named Rudolph Lechler who has been described as the 'godfather of Christian Hakka emigration'. He actively encouraged Christian Hakkas living in Guangdong province to take up Medhurst's offer. The first group of migrants to Kudat arrived in 1883 and founded the settlement of Lau San (Chinese: 老山; Pinyin: Lǎo Shān; literally 'Old Mountain'). In 1889, a new batch of settlers established themselves in the new settlement of Sin San (Chinese: 新山; Pinyin: Xīn Shān; literally 'New Mountain'). Later arrivals created new settlements further away from Kudat town. These include the villages of Pinangsoo (Traditional Chinese: 槟榔樹; Hakka: 'Bin long soo'; Pinyin: Bīnláng shù; literally 'Betel nut tree'), Tamalang and Sikuati (Chinese: 西瓜地; Pinyin: Xīguā dì). While the pioneer settlers were mostly Hakkas, some of the later arrivals were from the Hokkien, Cantonese and Hainanese dialect groups. The Company offered these early Hakka settlers free land and tools, as well as food rations for their first six months. In return, the settlers were required to clear the forests in their 10-acre plots of land, and to cultivate at least half of each plot with rice. The other half could be used for subsistence crops. Many of the Hakka settlers established vast coconut plantations, which remain the dominant feature of much of Kudat's landscape. At present, the total area under coconut cultivation in Kudat district is approximately 5,740 hectares; more than 3,000 families are involved in managing these coconut plantations. The Hakkas remain an integral part of Kudat's society. Most of the shops