De Fontaine Memorial

If you drive just a few kilometers south towards Papar from Kota Kinabalu City you will reach a small town called Kawang and there lies the De Fontaine Memorial. De Fontaine was the Police Chief during the British Chartered Company of North Borneo who came with the Resident to catch the Murut Chief in Tenom. They stopped in Kawang to request for 20 additional people which was misunderstood as a form of slavery by the local Bajau Community. What transpired was the fighting between the British police force assisted by the Sikh policemen and the Bajau community and 7 of them were killed. This memorial marked the encounter De Fontaine and entourage with the local community at a site where there was a mango tree.