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Fuad Stephens

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Yang Amat Berbahagia Tun
Muhammad Fuad Stephens
1st Chief Minister of Sabah
In office
16 September 1963 – 31 December 1964
Preceded byNone
Succeeded byPeter Lo Sui Yin
5th Chief Minister of Sabah
In office
18 April 1976 – 6 June 1976
Preceded byMustapha Harun
Succeeded byHarris Salleh
3rd Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sabah
In office
16 September 1973 – 28 July 1975
Preceded byPengiran Ahmad Raffae
Succeeded byMohd Hamdan Abdullah
Personal details
Born
Donald Aloysius Marmaduke Stephens

(1920-09-14)14 September 1920
Kudat, British North Borneo
Died6 June 1976(1976-06-06) (aged 55)
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Political partyUnited National Kadazan Organisation, BERJAYA
Spouse(s)Ida (married 1950; widowed 1957)[1]
Hajah Rahimah (Cecilia June Lutter)[2]
ChildrenJohari (John Benedict; adopted–1952–1976)[3]
Affendi (Richard Bernard; 1958–2009)
Asgari (James Denis; born 1960)
Faridah (Jean Heather; born 1962)
Fauziah (Elma; born 1964)[4]
Parents
  • Jules Pavitt Stephens (1896–1944) (father)
  • Edith Cope (1898–1976) (mother)

Tun Muhammad Fuad Stephens, (born Donald Aloysius Marmaduke Stephens; 14 September 1920 – 6 June 1976)[5] was the first Chief Minister of the state of Sabah in Malaysia, and the first Huguan Siou or Paramount Leader of the Kadazandusun community. He played a fundamental role in bringing the state of Sabah into the Federation of Malaysia in 1963. He held the chief minister post until 1964, and again in 1976. During his second term as Chief Minister he died in a controversial accident on 6 June 1976, in Kota Kinabalu, the state capital of Sabah. He was a passenger in an Australian made Nomad aircraft which crashed and killed everyone on board. His body was buried at the State Mausoleum near the Sabah State Mosque, Kota Kinabalu.

Early life

Stephens was born on 14 September 1920 in Kudat. His father, Jules Stephen Pavitt (later known as Jules Pavitt Stephens), was half-Kadazan and half-British, born and brought up in Akaroa, Canterbury, New Zealand who migrated to British North Borneo hailing from Papar district in the West Coast Division with paternal ancestry roots in Essex, England. His mother, Edith Cope, was ethnically half-Japanese, half-British and a quarter-Dusun (Orang Sungai) descent originating from the district of Kinabatangan, Sandakan Division.[6] Stephens had five siblings; two younger sisters and three younger brothers. Two of them, John and Martin died in infancy. A third, Leo Benedict was born in 1926, later became the President of the Dewan Negara between 1985–1988.[7]

Political career

Donald Stephens founded the political party United National Kadazan Organisation (UNKO) in August 1961. He played a key role in negotiating the independence of Sabah and the formation of Malaysia, together with Tun Mustapha of United Sabah National Organisation (USNO), and Tunku Abdul Rahman, the then Prime Minister of Malaya. The formation of Malaysia was finally achieved on 16 September 1963, which is today known as Malaysia Day. He became Sabah's first Chief Minister.

In 1964, Donald Stephens stepped down as Chief Minister to become the first Malaysian federal cabinet member from Sabah. He was replaced by Peter Lo Sui Yin from the Sabah Chinese Association. Stephens became the minister in charge of Sabah affairs under the Prime Minister's department.[8]

Stephens saw Malaysia as the federation of four countries - Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore - as equal partners, as opposed to the eleven states making up the Federation of Malaya, which had less autonomy.[9]

Following Singapore's exit from Malaysia, Stephens sought a review of Sabah's participation in the federation,[10] although he was not seeking secession.[11] However, this was rejected by the federal government, which feared that such a move would endanger the federation as a whole.[12]

In 1973, Fuad Stephens was appointed as the governor of Sabah, known as the Yang di-Pertua Negara (the post was later known as Yang di-Pertua Negeri).[13] He held this position until 1975. Later that same year, Tun Fuad Stephens together with Harris Salleh formed the new political party BERJAYA. They won the 1976 state election, defeating Tun Mustapha's USNO and becoming the new government of Sabah. Tun Fuad Stephens became Sabah's fifth Chief Minister. Forty-four days later, he died in a plane crash.

Plane crash

Main article: Double Six Tragedy

On 6 June 1976 ("Double Six"), Tun Fuad Stephens and several cabinet members boarded a flight from Labuan heading towards Kota Kinabalu. About 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from Kota Kinabalu International Airport, the plane crashed killing everyone on board.

The site of the plane crash is marked by a memorial constructed not long after the accident. The site is located in the Sembulan area near the Grace Garden housing complex in Kota Kinabalu across Jalan Coastal Highway from Sutera Harbour resort.

Personal life

Stephens converted to Islam in January 1971, and he adopted the name Muhammad Fuad, meaning soul or spirit in Arabic. Stephens was also encouraged to renounce his surname at the time of his conversion, but he had refused to do so.[4] For a number of years he held the post of High Commissioner of Malaysia in Australia.

Honours

Honours of Malaysia

Awards

  • Tun Fuad Stephens was posthumously granted the soubriquet Bapa Malaysia Dari Sabah (Father of Malaysia From Sabah) and Huguan Siou.

Places named after him

Several places were named after him, including:

References

  1. ^ P. J. (1999), p. 70, 77
  2. ^ P. J. (1999), p. 95
  3. ^ P. J. (1999), p. 78
  4. ^ a b c P. J. (1999), p. 218
  5. ^ Biodata Tun Haji Mohd. Fuad Stephens
  6. ^ P. J. (1999), p. 35
  7. ^ P. J. (1999), p. 37
  8. ^ malaysiana1: What's In A Name?
  9. ^ Sabah 25 years later, 1963-1988, Institute for Development Studies (Sabah), 1989, page 56
  10. ^ ASEAN Forecast, Volumes 5-7, Executive Publication Pte, 1985, page 12
  11. ^ Malaysia, 1965, page 24
  12. ^ Malaysian Federalism: Conflict Or Consensus, Mohammad Agus Yusoff, Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 2006, page 223
  13. ^ Granville-Edge, P. J. (1999). The Sabahan: The Life And Death of Tun Fuad Stephens. ISBN 978-983-40114-0-6.
  14. ^ "Semakan Penerima Darjah Kebesaran, Bintang dan Pingat".
  15. ^ "Senarai Penuh Penerima Darjah Kebesaran, Bintang dan Pingat Persekutuan Tahun 1975" (PDF).

Bibliography

Political offices
New creation Chief Minister of Sabah
1963–1964 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sabah
1973–1975 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief Minister of Sabah
April 1976 – June 1976 		Succeeded by
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