Stephen R. Evans

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Datuk Stephen Robert Evans, SPDK, is a politician, public administrator and author from Sabah, Borneo.

Evans was born in Kampong Bariawa Laut, a small village in Keningau District, North Borneo (now Sabah). His father was Richard F. Evans, District Officer and later Resident of the West Coast for the North Borneo Chartered Company Government, which ruled North Borneo up to the 1942 Japanese invasion in World War II.

Evans studied in a Japanese primary school in Keningau during the occupation. After the war he was schooled at Roman Catholic Mission Schools at Sandakan, Jesselton (now Kota Kinabalu) and Kuching, Sarawak. He studied at universities in Britain, America and Australia, gaining B.Sc. and MA degrees in Public Administration and Diplomas in Journalism and Agriculture.^[1] In 1966 he was awarded a Columbo Plan Scholarship from the New Zealand Government to study Public Administration and Local Government.

Evans had a distinguished career as a politician in Sabah. He served as a Member of Parliament from 8 August 1974 to 1 June 1977, and a Senator from 15 December 1977 to 20 June 1978. He was re-elected as an MP from 15 July 1978 until 29 March 1982. In 1986 he was elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly, serving from 5 May 1986 until 26 June 1990.

Evans was awarded a PGDK, Commander of the Order of Kinabalu (second class Datukship) by the State Government in 1977 and in 1989 he was conferred the State’s highest award, SPDK, Grand Commander of the Order of Kinabalu (first class Datukship).

Evans also served as a Justice of the Peace, and is a life member of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and the Malaysian Parliamentary Association.

Evans has authored several books, and twice won the Borneo Literature Bureau’s Literature Competition. He is fluent in English, Malay, Kadazan/Dusun and Murut.

[edit] Bibliography

Guide for Sabah Native Courts (1967) Kuching: Borneo Literature Bureau
Further Folktales from Sabah (1977) Kuching: Borneo Literature Bureau
English for students preparing for the Malaysia Certificate of Education the Cambridge School Certificate and General Certificate of Education Examinations (1988) Keningau, Sabah: Stephen R. Evans
Sabah (North Borneo) Under the Rising Sun Government (1990, reprinted 1999) Singapore: Stephen R. Evans ('The Author's Profile' in this book has provided much of the material for this article)
The History of Labuan Island (Victoria Island) (1996) Stephen R. Evans, Abdul Rahman Zainal and Rod Wong Khet Ngee. Singapore: Calendar Print