Who says Tawau doesn’t have style? We recently had the opportunity to interview the founders of Tawau’s Volkswagen Beetle Fans’ Club. As you all know, Volkswagen Beetle is the most popular and iconic car ever made in the history of automobile.

The two founders of this club are Mr. Jon and Mr. Daniel Wong. The following are the excerpts from our “virtual” interview with Mr. Jon. We would like to thank them both for agreeing to be featured on DiscoverTawau.

So how did everything started?

The club started way back in 1998, when I first got my Beetle. Back then there were about 15 cars but we never took the initiative to get it registered. We joined Kelab Volkswagen Kinabalu in 1999 with the intention of a unified Sabah club. But as our (Tawau) members grew, we decided to register our own club.

The club logo

We were made to understand that there is another person who is also managing this club?

When Daniel (Wong) came along in 2007, he motivated us to get the club registered. By then most of the original members have stopped and/or sold their Beetles. However, their sons continued on! I’m now one of the seniors! We submitted our registration form sometime in November 2008 and was officially registered in March 2009.

Mr. Daniel Wong and his beloved Beetle

What is the official name of the club?

The original name for this club was Tawau Volkswagen Club. But when we applied to the Registrar Of Society, they insisted it to be in Bahasa Malaysia, with the name of the State. “Not everybody knows where Tawau is?!!!” Hence the official name “Kelab Peminat Volkswagen Tawau, Sabah” (Tawau Volkswagen Fans’ Club, Sabah).

So, anyone can join this club?

As the name suggests, you don’t need to own a VW to join.

How many members do you have so far?

Officially registered – 24 March 2009. Currently – 25 members. There are about 30-40 classic beetles running around Tawau. We also have a group on Facebook and we currently have 245 members there now.

Any events organised?

Tawau Bug Fest 2009 which was held at Sabindo Plaza car park in March 2009. About 70 cars attended this event and it was held the second time in Tawau.

Special section for the club during the Tawau Car Carnival at the old Tawau airport

Here are some photos from the group. Credits to all members of Tawau’s VW Beetle Fans’ Club.

Beetle owners are fun people!

This one belongs to Mr. Ho, a senior member of the club

Members of the club

Weekend drive at Tinagat Beach, Tawau

Beetles at Jalan Pesiaran (or coastal highway) in Sabindo, Tawau

They can be contacted through email at: tawauvw [at] yahoo.com