The Chinese community maintained schools. The Roman Catholic Church was later established in 1922 and provided the only English primary school. Mosques were unostentatious. The District Office was headed by expatriate district officer and assisted by a chief clerk and court interpreter, Mr. Lim Ong Tun. In the community, a highly respected figure was OKK Abu Bakar. The Chinese "Kapitan" was Mr. Stephen Tan (who was later killed by Japanese invaders). A letter from Tawau to Sandakan could take above nine days to arrive and to reach Singapore took nineteen days. Since it took many days from the locals to receive mails and newspaper, they tended to rely on radio to keep themselves informed of world news - for the wars in Europe, China etc. Even then, a few people could afford a radio set. The best station, apparently, was Manila Station.

For 3.5 years Tawau and the rest of the country remained under the Japanese occupation until final liberation by units of North Australian Division, who landed in Labuan on 10 June 1945. The British Military Administration for North Borneo found the colony in a state of appalling devastation. Like all other major towns in the colony, Tawau was destroyed or damaged by bombing or fire.