Sarawak should accept policies from the federal government because Sarawak received a lot of money from the federal government. Without their assistance, we could never hope to progress so quickly.
– Tun Abdul Rahman Yakub, third chief minister
Sarawak may be the most democratic ‘country’ in the world but as the Malay saying goes, we suffer from a ‘mudah lupa’ (easily forgetful) attitude.
We flatter ourselves with personal achievements, self-praise and glory but give little recognition to some of our founding fathers.
I would like to focus on an unlikely anti-colonial Melanau pair — an uncle and a nephew — who were among the first native lawyers.
The uncle was Tun Abdul Rahman Yakub whom I would rate as one of the most charismatic politicians I’ve met, followed by his nephew, the present Governor of Sarawak Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud.
Eight years younger, Abdul Taib said Rahman Yakub not only guided him as a youngster, but also helped him in his fledgling years.
Together with four former governors — Tun Abang Openg, Tun Tuanku Bujang, Tun Salahuddin and Tun Ahmad Zaidi — they were involved in laying the foundations of Sarawak’s political development.
My opportunity to write about Rahman Yakub whom I have known for 50 years, came recently when his nephew Abdul Taib commissioned me to write about his uncle’s life.
Since I have written his unpublished story I will share Rahman Yakub’s story in a different vein.
A down to earth ‘Kampung Boy’ Rahman Yakub was born on January 3, 1928 in Kampung Jepak in Bintulu to Wan Ya’kub Wan Yusuf and Siti Hajar Mohd Tahir from Kelantan.
Rahman Yakub attended the Anchi Malay School in Miri before continuing his education in an English medium school.
After the Second World War, he completed his primary education and secured a job as an oil tester with Shell in Lutong in Miri.
Rahman Yakub learned to speak Mandarin as well as the other local dialects.
After his short stint in Shell, he worked as a Student Native Officer and First Class Magistrate in 1952.
In 1953, Rahman Yakub went back at St Joseph’s School in Kuching to complete his Senior Cambridge and a year later, he left for England to study law at the University of Southampton as well as Lincoln’s Inn, London.
Rahman Yakub returned to Kuching in 1958 with an honours degree and worked as a barrister-at-law and Deputy Public Prosecutor and Crown Counsel.
In 1961, he became the Melanau-based BARJASA’s legal and political advisor.
Just before the formation of Malaysia, he resigned from government service to contest in the 1963 local council elections in a predominantly-Chinese constituency.
After his loss, he was appointed a member of parliament and taken under the wing of Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman.
From 1963 to 1965, he served as assistant federal minister for rural development, assistant minister for national and rural development and assistant minister for justice. Between 1965 and 1969, Rahman Yakub served as minister for land and mines before becoming Malaysia’s minister of education for a year.
He contested in Sarawak’s first direct elections (1969-1970) as an Alliance candidate, winning the Payang parliamentary seat and securing the Kuala Rajang state seat.
On July 7, 1970, he became the third chief minister of Sarawak, succeeding Datuk Tawi Sli from PESAKA.
One of his first assignments as chief minister was to look into the security of Sarawak as the communists were still a menace.
After the end of Confrontation, the Sarawak Communist Organisation (SCO) which had ties with their Indonesian counterparts, returned to Sarawak and launched a guerrilla war.
While the security forces sought out the insurgents, many campaigns were launched to win over the communist sympathisers. As the Third Division (now Sibu and Kapit Divisions) was a ‘black area’ the region was accorded special security status with the formation of the Rajang Security Command (RASCOM) on March 25, 1972. Eventually, the government managed to convince the SCO to lay down their arms with the signing of a ‘memorandum of understanding’ under Operations Sri Aman.
On March 4, 1974, 482 communist guerrillas representing 75 per cent of the insurgents under its leader Bong Kee Chok, left the jungles, thus ushering in a new era of peace and stability.
As chief minister of Sarawak, Rahman Yakub initiated the abolition of the primary six common entrance examinations to enable all primary school students to continue their education at secondary level.
The management of primary schools, formerly under the Local Councils, was also taken over by the government. Rahman also initiated the establishment of the University Pertanian campus and a Mara Institute of Technology branch in the state.
To help the poor and underprivileged students, he established the Sarawak Foundation (Yayasan Sarawak), an organisation with provides educational loans and scholarships. Rahman Yakub pioneered the establishment of the Sarawak State Planning Unit (SPU), the first in Malaysia, as well as other statutory bodies to accelerate development in the state.
During his tenure as chief minister, the state’s five divisions were reorganised and increased to seven, to achieve more efficient administration and equitable distribution of development to reach the remotest corners of Sarawak.
The 20-year ‘Petra Jaya Masterplan’ — a project to develop the left bank of the Sarawak River directly opposite Kuching town proper — was also his brainchild. Since then, the northern quarter of Kuching region reaching Santubong has seen tremendous growth and development that the government decided to form a municipality to cater for the township.
Rahman Yakub also moved the state government administration to Petra Jaya and sited them at the 22-storey Wisma Bapa Malaysia. A State Legislative Assembly was built next to the State Secretariat with an adjoining ‘lapau’ (investiture ceremony hall).
In May 1975, Rahman Yakub built Sarawak’s longest bridge, the RM6 million Jambatan Datuk Patinggi Haji Abdul Rahman Ya’kub, connecting Petra Jaya to Old Kuching (Kuching proper).
Since then, two other bridges have improved the accessibility to Kuching Division. Today, Kuching City has two administrations with two mayors in Old Kuching and Petra Jaya.
Rahman Yakub resigned as chief minister on March 26, 1981 and was succeeded by Abdul Taib. On April 2, 1981, he became the fourth Yang Dipertua Negeri of Sarawak.
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.
