Tun Datu Mustapha

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Tun Mustapha
3rd Chief Minister of Sabah
In office 1967 – 1975
Preceded by	Lo Sui Yin
Succeeded by	Mohammad Said bin Keruak
1st Yang di-Pertua Negeri (Governor) of Sabah
In office 1963 – 1965
Preceded by	None
Succeeded by	Tun Mohd Hamdan
Died	January 2, 1996 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
Political party	United Sabah National Organization, United Malays National Organisation
Religion	Islam

Tun Datu Haji Mustapha bin Datu Harun or Tun Mustapha for short, was the first governor of the Malaysian state of Sabah. He was also the third Chief Minister of the state from 1967 to 1975, and was the president for the political party United Sabah National Organization (USNO). He is considered by some to be one of the founding leaders of Sabah and was an inportant party in the negotiations leading to the formation of Malaysia on September 16, 1963.^[1]

He has been accused of allowing illegal immigrants from southern Philippines to enter Sabah en masse in order to secure phantom votes, as well as to create a Muslim majority state.^[2] He also succeeded in converting a significant number of non-Muslim indigenous people in Sabah into Muslim, mainly by sponsoring mass conversion drives, by way of offering certain monetary and other benefits in return.^[3] The state government recently renamed the Sabah Foundation Building to Tun Mustapha Tower, as a token of appreciation for his contributions to the state.

Tun Mustapha is of a Suluk-Bajau origin.^[4]

[edit] Political life

Tun Mustapha was not born in the Philippines as many had suspected. But he is a distant relative of the Sultan of Sulu. He was born in Kampung Limau-limauan, Kudat, according to some sources. During World War II, he was wanted by the Japanese forces because of the rebellions he led against them, mainly in Kudat. But when they could not find him, they caught his younger brother and eventually killed him because he (his brother) would not reveal where he was hiding.

He is known to some as the "father of Sabah's independence" and also the "father of Sabah's development".^[5] However, he is also considered by many Sabahans as a dictator who misappropriated huge sums of money from the state's coffers (primarily through timber concessions) to support his lavish life style. He had two private customisedBoeing 707 jet aircraft (which was technically owned by Sabah Air) and he owned mansions in England and Australia.

Mustapha founded the party United Sabah National Organization, better known by the acronym USNO. He, together with Donald Stephens, are often credited as important figures in Sabah in bringing forth Sabah's independence and in the formation of Malaysia in 1963. When Malaysia was formed in September 16, 1963, he became the first Yang di-Pertua Negeri (governor) of Sabah. In the 1967 state election, USNO won, and Mustapha became the third Chief Minister of Sabah.

When he was Chief Minister, his relationship with the Malaysian central government was not very good. Although the central government, represented by the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, was a partner of USNO, they were worried about certain stance taken by Mustapha, in particular, his intention or threath to secede Sabah from Malaysia. Mustapha also refused to sign an oil agreement with the federal government which stated that only 5% of Sabah's oil revenue will be given to the state. Mustapha demanded at least 30%.^[6]

Following from this, in 1975 USNO secretary-general Harris Salleh left the party to form BERJAYA. This party was backed-up by the federal government.^[6][7] In the 1976 state election, BERJAYA won and Mustapha was ousted from power.

During his Chief Ministership, he was accused of intentionally bringing in immigrants into the state, resulting in the population of migrants to multiply. In defence he argued that he allowed the immigrants/refugees into the state due to the appeal by the United Nations and did not issue the 'illegal immigrants' with Identity Cards, it was during the tenure of Datuk Harris Salleh, as the Chief Minister of Sabah.^{[citation needed]}

Mustapha remained active in politics, leading USNO and contesting in four subsequent state elections (1981, 1985, 1986, and 1990). Although they never won again, they still managed to win several seats in the state assembly. They also remained a partner of BN at the federal government level (as opposed to the state level.^[8] After the 1990 state election, he teamed up with Harris Salleh again, after BERJAYA themselves were ousted by Parti Bersatu Sabah. This resulted in a merger of USNO and BERJAYA to create the Sabah chapter of the peninsular-based United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). Mustapha became its first chief of UMNO Sabah.

Aside from his involvement in politics and religion (Islam) his also made contributions in the education of Sabah. He mooted the idea of forming Sabah Foundation (Yayasan Sabah) and was responsible in setting up the first university - Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Sabah Campus and also the setting up of ITM (Institut Teknologi Mara).

He was also the Deputy Head of PERKIM, when the late Tunku was the President and also the time of Datuk Patinggi Taib. He was also the head of United Sabah Islamic Association (USIA) and a member of RISEAP.

[edit] Death and legacy

He passed away on January 2, 1996 at Sabah Medical Center, Teluk Likas, Kota Kinabalu, at the age of 76. He was buried at the Muslim cemetery in Kamoung Ulu Putatan which was formerly used as a fortress by the late Paduka Mat Salleh and the State Government has named the cemetery as "Taman Memorial Tun Datu Haji Mustapha". His memorial is not in Tambunan. The Tun Datu Mustapha Memorial in Tambunan is meant for the distant uncle, Paduka Mat Salleh.

During the 8th Convocation Ceremony of UMS (Universiti Malaysia Sabah) held on the 2-3rd September 2006, he was conferred the Honorary Degree-Doctor of Philosophy (Social Development)^{[citation needed]}

In December 2007, his 21 year old grandson, Datu Azlan Amir Kahar died of a heart attack. However, prior to his death he had a fight with his fiance Rosinah Chai, in which he sustained multiple injuries to his body. There was some speculations that Chai was responsible for Azlan's death, but post mortem results indicated that injuries inflicted upon Azlan did not cause his death.^[9]

[edit] References