 TUAN
YANG TERUTAMA TUN DATUK SERI PANGLIMA HAJI
MOHAMAD SAID BIN KERUAK, S.M.N., P.M.N.,
S.P.D.K. |
|
 DATUK
SERI PANGLIMA HAJI SALLEH SAID KERUAK |
|
TUAN
YANG TERUTAMA TUN DATUK SERI PANGLIMA HAJI MOHAMAD
SAID BIN KERUAK, S.M.N., P.M.N., S.P.D.K.
Mengenai Diri
Beliau
The
most prominent Keruak son was Tun Datuk Seri
Panglima Haji Mohamad Said Bin Keruak who was
born on 15th November 1926 in a small village
called Kampong Pirasan in the Kota Belud district.
Keruak died in 1930 when Tun
Mohamad Said was merely four years old. At the
age of seven, Tun Mohamad Said started his schooling
at the Sekolah Rendah Kerajaan Kota Belud where
he completed his standard five in 1941. Due
to his outstanding academic achievements, Tun
Mohamad Said was offered a place in the Kuching
Agricultural College (Maktab Pertanian Kucing)
in Sarawak, the neighbouring state to Sabah.
However, the Second World
War and the Japanese invasion of Borneo in 1942
interrupted Tun Mohamad Said’s education
and he was forced to return to Kota Belud. Tun
Mohamad Said did not while away his time during
the Japanese occupation though. Because of his
educational background, the Japanese appointed
him the Deputy Treasurer of Jesselton, now called
Kota Kinabalu, and it was then that Tun Mohamad
Said mastered the Japanese Language.
Tun Mohamad Said was also
keen to command the English Language, the language
of the colonial masters at that time and, in
1947 and 1948, he enrolled himself in night
classes. His qualification in agriculture and
being able to communicate in English was the
launching pad for Tun Mohamad Said’s career
in government and politics where he eventually
became Sabah’s Fourth Chief Minister and
later its Seventh Governor.
In fact, Tun Mohamad Said
had already demonstrated his management and
leadership skills and ability during the Japanese
occupation. Immediately after the end of the
War, the British Military Administration (BMA),
which recognised his ability and potential,
absorbed him into the Kota Belud District Office
in a clerical position.
In 1960, Tun Mohamad Said
tendered his resignation, probably due to frustration
that his career was not advancing after about
15 years as a lowly clerk in a district office.
The British, to coax him to stay on, appointed
him the first Secretary of the Kota Belud Local
Council. That same year, he was appointed an
Unofficial Member of the Legislative Council
(Ahli Majlis Perundangan Tidak Resmi). Tun Mohamad
Said’s meteoric rise can be regarded as
most impressive and an outstanding achievement
for a ‘native’ in an era when the
British were the colonial masters of this land
and locals were considered most unsuitable for
‘top’ government positions.
The British certainly recognised
this young man’s potential and probably
thought he was well suited for grooming to one
day head the state when Sabah would eventually
and invariably be granted independence from
Britain. Barely had he started work in his new
position, Tun Mohamad Said was packed off to
London to undergo training in administration
and management.
On his return to Sabah two
years later, Tun Mohamad Said became involved
in politics when he joined the United Sabah
Nationalist Organisation (Usno) headed by Tun
Datu Mustapha Bin Datu Harun.
Tun
Mohamad Said had, prior to that, shown a keen
interest in politics and it was a matter of
time before he plunged headstrong into the political
arena. Earlier, in November 1960, he had led
the Kota Belud delegation to attend Usno’s
First Annual Congress. He had to, of course,
first seek permission from the British Resident
of the West Coast of Sabah to attend the Congress.
Permission was granted on condition he attended
merely as an observer and not as a delegate.
Tun Mohamad Said not only defied the Resident’s
instructions to not attend the Congress as a
delegate but he also delivered an address, his
first public speech.
On his return, Tun Mohamad
Said was summoned by the Resident and reprimanded.
He was warned that if this ‘indiscretion’
were to be repeated, disciplinary action would
be taken against him. Tun Mohamad Said had had
his first taste of politics and he never looked
back thereafter. This was the beginning of a
long and illustrious career in Sabah politics
for Tun Mohamad Said.
They say politicians are not
born; they are made. Tun Mohamad Said, however,
was definitely destined to a life of politics.
In the next Usno Annual General Assembly the
following year, Tun Mohamad Said won a seat
in the Supreme Council and thereafter was appointed
the party’s Vice President. Politics was
now his life and in his blood.
Tun Mohamad Said was a superb
orator and he criss-crossed the length and breadth
of Sabah delivering speeches on unity, education,
the economy, culture as well as matters related
to the indigenous (Bumiputera) community. Tun
Mohamad Said was attempting to fan the sentiments
of nationalism in preparation for the first
elections due in 1963.
On 25th September 1963, Tun
Mohamad Said won the Usukan state seat and became
a Legislative Assembly Member (Ahli Dewan Undangan)
in the first general elections ever to be held
in Sabah. He was subsequently appointed Sabah’s
first Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries.
And that day saw Tun Mohamad Said’s civil
service career come to an end and he became
a fully-fledged politician. In Sabah’s
First Parliamentary Elections in 1969, Tun Mohamad
Said also contested the Kota Belud Parliament
seat and won while still retaining his state
seat of Usukan.
On 1st November 1975, Tun
Mohamad Said was appointed the Chief Minister
of Sabah after the resignation of Tun Datu Mustapha.
However, about six months later, on 15th April
1976, Usno was defeated in the elections and
so ended Tun Mohamad Said’s career as
Sabah’s Chief Minister. Due to this crushing
defeat, Tun Datu Haji Mustapha resigned as the
President of Usno in August 1976 and Tun Mohamad
Said took over the helm of the party as the
Acting President.
In August 1982, though, due
to age constraints, Tun Mohamad Said retired
from active politics. However, they would still
not allow him to totally retire and, on 1st
January 1987, Tun Mohamad Said was appointed
Sabah’s Seventh Governor. He died on 17th
November 1995, barely eleven months after retiring
as the Governor on 31st December 1994.
Tun Mohamad Said was
a keen sportsman and soccer was his forte. He
eventually went on to represent the Kota Belud
district football team at state level but his
football career was short-lived when he broke
his left arm during one of the matches. And,
just like his father before him, Tun Mohamad
Said was an avid horseman
