Remembering Mat Salleh
A permanent tribute to one of Sabah's earliest freedom fighters
By Joseph Binkasan, and
Paskalis Alban Akim
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Tucked away in the middle of a paddy field at Kampung Tibabar in Tambunan, about 70km from Kota Kinabalu, is a concrete structure in memory of Datu Paduka Mat Salleh. Better known as Mat Salleh, he initiated nationalistic fervour and opposition to foreign rule. |
BETWEEN 1881 and 1941, Sabah, then known as North Borneo, was under the London-based British North Borneo Chartered Company's administration.
The locals were unhappy due to alleged exploitation and one man that stood up and led a rebellion against British rule was Datu Paduka Muhammad Salleh better known as Mat Salleh. To the British, he was a rebel but to locals, he was a warrior. He was killed in a gun battle with the British police on Feb 1, 1900.
Appropriately, in recognition of Mat Salleh as one of Sabah's earliest freedom fighters, the State Government built a permanent memorial fort in a garden at the exact site where he was killed at Kampung Tibabar in Tambunan. Also killed in the gun battle were about 1,000 of Mat Salleh's followers who fought from the neighbouring villages of Lotud, Tondulu, Piasau, Timbou, Kitutud, Kepayan and Sunsuron.
Under the care of the Sabah Museum, the memorial at Tibabar has Mat Salleh's photograph, some of his weapons and paraphernalia related to his battles with the British. Written information is on display at the fort-like building. A garden around the building adds beauty to the memorial. Outside the memorial, a monument with a bronze plaque with a citation reads:
"This plaque marks the site of Mat Salleh's Fort which was captured by the North Borneo Armed Constabulary on the 1st February 1900. During this engagement, Mat Salleh, who for six years led a rebellion against the British Charted Company administration, met his death."
Sabah Museum director Joseph Pounis Guntavid said the British had put up the monument in remembrance of their success in ending the reign of Mat Salleh's rebellion to their rule. "But a search and study on Mat Salleh's actions strongly indicated that he was not a rebel but a warrior who went against foreign rule, fighting for North Borneo's self-government," he said. He said it was for this reason that the State Government opened the permanent memorial on Sept 20, last year. He said exhibited inside the memorial fort was information about Mat Salleh's rebellion against the Chartered. Company's administration. It is said that the main cause of Mat Salleh's revolt was the controversial tax on rice and the intrusion of the British Chartered Company into areas of local jurisdiction. "Mat Salleh initiated patriotism that led the people to fight for self-rule until Sabah gained her independence through Malaysia on Sept 16, 1963, " he said.
Guntavid, who is also from Tambunan, said people usually came to know about the existence of the memorial fort when they chanced upon Mat Salleh's picture and history permanently exhibited at the Sabah Museum in Kota Kinabalu. "We (Sabah Museum) are also providing tour guides, on request, to tourists who are going to the memorial in Kampung Tibabar," he said. Kampung Tibabar is easily accessible by road.
State Youth, Culture and Sports Development Minister Datuk Rubin Balang said Mat Salleh and thousands of his followers were killed in their quest to free Sabah from foreign rule. And to the younger generation, the memorial reminded them of the importance of loyalty and love to the nation. Rubin said after Mat Salleh, there had been other warriors - Si Gunting in Kota Marudu/Bengkoka area (1904), Si Langkap in Tampasuk/Kota Belud (1903), Ontoros Antanom in Rundum Tenom (1915) and Albert Kwok in Kota Kinabalu during the Japanese occupation.
A war memorial now stands at Petagas in Kota Kinabalu in honour of Kwok and those killed during the Japanese occupation. Rubin said Antanom followed in Mat Salleh's footstep in fighting the British but was also killed in Rundum in 1915. The State Government is also planning to build a memorial for Antanom.
Reprinted from the New Straits Times, Thursday March 9, 2000
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