Do Fuad Stephens

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Tomb of Tun Fuad Stephens in the Sabah State Mausoleum

Tun Haji Mohammad Fuad Stephens SMN , PSM , SPDK , PNBS, until conversion to Islam Donald Stephens (born September 14, 1920 in Kudat , British North Borneo , † June 6, 1976 in Kota Kinabalu , Sabah , Malaysia ) was the first Prime Minister in the state of Sabah in Malaysia. He played a fundamental role in connecting Sabah to the Malaysian Federation in 1963. He remained Prime Minister until 1964 and for a second term until 1976. Shortly after his re-election in 1976, he died in a mysterious plane crash on June 6, 1976 in Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah. His remains were buried in the statemausoleumat the Sabah State Mosque in Kota Kinabalu. He was also the first Huguan Siou , the supreme leader of the Kadazandusun ethnic group.

background

Donald Aloysius Marmaduke Stephens was born on September 14, 1920. His father, Jules Stephen Pavitt, was half Kadazan and half British , while his mother had Japanese and British parents. For several years, Donald Stephens was the Malaysian High Commissioner in Australia .

Political career

Tun Fuad founded the United National Kadazan Organization (UNKO) party in August 1961 . Together with Tun Mustapha of the United Sabah National Organization (USNO) and Tunku Abdul Rahman , who later became Prime Minister of Malaya , he played a key role in the negotiations on Sabah's independence and the establishment of Malaysia. The establishment of the state of Malaysia was finally achieved on September 16, 1963, which is celebrated annually as Malaysia Day . He also became Sabah's first prime minister.

In 1964 Tun Fuad resigned as Prime Minister of Sabah as he was the first Sabah politician to be appointed to the Prime Minister's Cabinet. He was succeeded by Peter Lo Sui Yin of the Sabah Chinese Association . As a minister, Tun Fuad was on the Prime Minister's government team and was responsible for all Sabah-related matters.

On January 5, 1971, Donald and his entire family converted from Catholic to Islam and changed their name to "Mohammad Fuad".

In 1973 he was appointed Yang di-Pertuan Negara , the governor of Sabah. He held this position until 1975. In that year Tun Fuad founded the BERJAYA party together with Harris Salleh . With BERJAYA they won the 1976 elections in Sabah against Tun Mustapha's USNO. Tun Fuad became Sabah's fifth prime minister. 44 days later he died in a plane crash.

Death from plane crash

On June 6, 1976, Tun Fuad and several cabinet members were on a flight from Labuan to Kota Kinabalu . About 2 km from Kota Kinabalu International Airport , the Australian-built GAF Nomad crashed; all occupants on board were killed in the aircraft accident known as the Double Six Tragedy . Immediately after the accident, conspiracy theories about the cause of the crash began to emerge.

The place of the crash is marked with the Double Six Monument , a memorial in the form of a stone obelisk, which was erected shortly after the accident. The site is located in the Sembulan district within the Grace Garden building complex in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, on Jalan Pantai Sembulan.

Private life

The Islamic politician was married to Hajah Rahimah. His adopted son John Benedict, called Johari, also died in the plane crash on June 6, 1976.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Sabahan: The Life and Death of Tun Fuad Stephens Paul H. Kratoska: Southeast Asian minorities in the wartime Japanese empire . Routledge , 2002, ISBN 070071488X , p. 132.
  2. ↑ malaysiana1: What's In A Name? ( Memento from September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ Bela C. Maday : The Area Handbook for Malaysia and Singapore . American University , Washington, DC Foreign Areas Studies Division, United States Department of the Army , 1965, p. 386.
  4. ↑ a b c Granville-Edge, PJ: The Sabahan: The Life And Death of Tun Fuad Stephens 1999, ISBN 978-9834011406 .
  5. ↑ Malaysia: Who's Who Constitution Government & Politics , Edition 2011, page 896, Kusuya Management Sdn Bhd, Kuala Lumpur 2011, ISBN 978-983-9624-07-6
personal data
SURNAME Stephens, Tun Fuad
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Harris bin Mohd Salleh
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Malaysian politician, Prime Minister of Sabah
DATE OF BIRTH September 14, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Kudat , British North Borneo
DATE OF DEATH June 6, 1976
Place of death Kota Kinabalu , Sabah , Malaysia