Part 18
First Prime Minister declared as Hero of Sarawak
Yang Amat Mulia Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj was born naturally as a prince in Alor Setar, Kedah on 8 February 1903, as the twelfth child of Sultan Abdul Hamid Halimshah, the twenty-fourth ruler of Kedah.
In 1951, Tunku Abdul Rahman became the President of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). He laboured to unite all the races in the country and courageously led the people of Malaya in the fight of independence from the British authority.
The proudest moment for Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj was on 31 August 1957 when he, as the Prime Minister of Malaya, declared the country a free and independent country. On 16 September 1963, he declared the federation of Malaysia, which included Sarawak, Sabah, Singapore and Peninsular Malaya as an independent country.
Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj was not only a Malaysia hero, but also the 9th hero of Sarawak when the Sarawak State Government declared him as one of the ‘Heroes of Sarawak’ on 27 July 1993.
First Sultan of Sarawak
Based on the history of Brunei, Santubong was Sarawak’s first capital in the late 16th century. It was when Pengiran Tengah Ibnu Sultan Muhammad Hassan, son of Brunei’s third Sultan became the first and the last Sultan of Sarawak in 1599.
On his way back from a trip from Johor, Sultan Pengiran Tengah was shipwrecked near the coast of Sukadana, where he married the princess of the Sukadana Ruler. However during his voyage home to Sarawak, Sultan Pengiran Tengah passed away at Batu Buaya and was buried in Santubong in 1641.
His mausoleum is located at the junction at Jalan Damai and Jalan Kampung Santubong in Kuching. Built at the cost of RM546,000 and constructed on 7 November 1994, it was completed in May 1995 and restored as a historical monument.
First recipient of ‘The Star of Sarawak’
Ong Tiang Swee O.B.E (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire), C.S.S. (Companion of the Most Excellent Order of the Star of Sarawak), was the first Sarawakian to be awarded by Rajah Charles Vyner Brooke with the “Most Excellent Order of the Star of Sarawak”. The award was presented on 26 September 1928 during the occasion of the Rajah’s birthday.
The decoration officially recognized the extraordinary high service of benefit to Sarawak and its people. ‘The Star of Sarawak’ was awarded alongside other decorations, which were of British origin up until 1963, when all state awards changed to be of Malaysian origin.
Born in Kuching in 1864, Ong was director of the Sarawak and Singapore Steamship Company at the early age of 23. He was elected President of the Chinese Court of Justice from 1911 until the Court was dissolved in 1920.
A significant figure in the state, he played important roles in the economic, political, cultural and social life, while holding important positions of leadership (elected and voluntary). He was also appointed by the Third Rajah as the only Chinese member of the Committee of Administration, which ruled Sarawak in the absence of the Rajah. On his death in October 1950, the State flag was flown at halt-mast for three days throughout the state.
First Pilot
A renowned businessman and politician, the late Tan Sri William Tan who lived to the ripe old age of 90, was Sarawak’s first pilot.
His romance with flying started after his voyages to Singapore, Europe and the US just before the Second World War. ‘Bill’ Tan who was also Speaker of Sarawak’s Council Negeri (now Dewan Undangan Negeri) also has the distinction of having flown solo from Boston to San Francisco, one year after receiving his pilot’s licence in 1938.
By achieving this, he is possibly the first Asian to fly solo from ‘east to west’ across the United States of America!
First Asian lawyer to practise in South Australia
Abdul Taib bin Mahmud (now YAB Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri (Dr.) Haji) was the first Asian lawyer to practise in the Supreme Court of South Australia.
He went to Australia in 1957 under the Colombo Plan scholarship to study law at the University of Adelaide, and graduated with a Bachelor of Law at the end of 1960. He was associate to Sir Herbert Mayo, Senior Judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia for a year before returning to Sarawak.
In 1961, he represented Islam at the World Religions’ Conference held in Adelaide Town Hall. It was on this occasion that he presented a thesis entitled ‘Peace and Unity’.
He is also the first Asian to receive a Doctor of the University (PhD) from the Adelaide University of South Australia.
(To be continued)
