Peter Mojuntin

Datuk Peter Joinod Mojuntin ADK PDGK (10 October 1939 Kampung Hungab, Penampang – 6 June 1976 Sembulan, Kota Kinabalu) was a politician in the Malaysian state of Sabah and Minister of Municipal Administration in the government of Tun Fuad Stephens. He died along with other politicians in the Double Six Plane Crash in Kota Kinabalu.

Life

Peter Joinod Mojuntin was born on 10 October 1939 the third child of the rice farmers Mojuntin Matanul and his wife Minjaim Lim in Kampung Hungab, Penampang. After his education at St. Michael's School in Donggongon and the Sacred Heart School in Jesselton in 1958, he began his professional life as a teacher at St. Michael Elementary School. After working at the newspaper North Borneo News, he worked as Managing Director of Co Nabahu Snd. Bhd. On 9 May 1964, he married Nancy Mary Mobijohn. The couple had five children - three boys and two girls. Throughout his life, Mojuntin was active in various organisations of the Kadazan. First, he was the president of the youth organisation Youth Association United Sabah Kadazan, then from 1965 to 1974, he was President of the Kadazan Cultural Association (KCA) and in 1975 became their patron.^[1]

Political career

Mojuntin's political career began in 1962 as General Secretary of the United National Kadazan Organisation (UNKO). From 1963 to 1964, he was a member of the Malaysian Parliament. In 1967 he managed the collection as a deputy in the Legislative Assembly of Sabah, he retained his seat there continuously until his death in 1976. From 1972 to 1973 he was Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Industrial Development Sabah. With the election of Tun Fuad Stephens in April 1976, he became the Minister of Municipal Administration in Sabah. Forty-four days later he died in a plane crash.

Death

On 6 June 1976, Peter Mojuntin together with Tun Fuad Stephens and several cabinet members aboard a flight from Labuan to Kota Kinabalu were killed in the Double Six Crash about 2 km from the Kota Kinabalu International Airport. Immediately after the disaster there were conspiracy theories about the cause of the crash because of how loud the crash was.

The location of the crash is commemorated with the Double Six Monument, a memorial, marked with a stone obelisk that was erected shortly after the accident. The monument is located in Sembulan district near the Grace Garden building complex in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah Jalan Coastal Highway leading to Sutera Harbour Resort. Peter Mojuntin was buried in the churchyard of St. Michael Church, Kota Kinabalu.

Legacy

Mojuntin belonged to the political opponents of Tun Mustapha. The expulsion of missionaries and church personnel in the course of Islamisation Sabah was strongly criticised by him. Against the raids, arrest, harassment, and deportation of the priests, he personally protested to Prime Minister Razak. Mojuntin's position is documented in the published biography of Bernard Sta Maria. For the alleged defamation of the then Chief Minister of Sabah, Tun Mustapha, the book was banned by the Malaysian Home Ministry in June 1978.

Mojuntin and his life is commemorated in a statue in Donggongon, Penampang. Additionally, the SMK Datuk Peter Mojuntin, a secondary school located in Dongongon, Penampang district was named after him.

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