 Originally from the Cocos Islands, they settled on this area in the 1950s after being brought by the British.The number of those who participated in the first emigration is thought to be around twenty, but it increased when they expanded their settlement in Lahad Datu.Their culture is closely related to the Malay peoples in Malaysia and their current population in Sabah is around 4,000, about eight times larger than the population remaining in the Cocos Islands.