The Story Of Modern Rebellion In Sabah

It is with the greatest appreaciation to a friend, Hj Mustapha Kula who is a retiree that I got this story of a rebellion in Weston on December 8, 1962, he could still remember this story as his family was preparing a wedding which was later cancelled. The rebellion in Negara Brunei had influenced some people in Weston, the relatives of one of the leaders in Brunei. On that day they were well prepared and in the the army uniform and came to the police station that only had one policeman, whose name was Awang Tengah, taking his rifle. He had to give in as he was the only one. The rebellion did not succeed.

Weston will always be remembered as the place that used to have a jetty and a rail line linking it to Beaufort and later Papar and Gantisan in Jesselton, build by the British East India Company that had wanted to use Weston as the place to export rubber and other produce but later found the water not deep enough for ships, but the line succeeded in opening up the Interior land up to Tenom and Melalap.

There is no more railway line now and Weston is missed by the road users from the South who travelled to the north to Kota Kinabalu, the State Capital. Weston is just a fishing viallage that has good dried prawns.

Jesselton 1911

What is so special about Kota Kinabalu,formerly known as Jesselton in 1911? There used to be a railway line right up to Tg Lipat where the Port now lies from Tenom, a district in the Interior Residency of Sabah, formerly North Borneo.

Kota Kinabalu City old name was Api Api after the Malay word for Fire after the town was burnt by none other than Mat Salleh, the Bajau chieftan and rebel at that time in 1897 including the island fronting Kota Kinabalu called Gaya Island.

1911 saw the reconstruction of Jesselton, some 14 years after tStar Cityhe town was burnt down.

The village that you saw called Kg Air is no more there and there lies Asia City and Star City and of course Kg Air the Town.

Kawang War in 1885

The Kawang War called 'Amok' happened well before Mat Salleh burned down Jesselton on 1897, a time difference of about 12 years in 1885, again the result of a misunderstanding between the local Bajau Community and the British Chartered Company Resident and the Police Chief De Fontaine. 1885 therefore was the earliest time that the local community had risen against the British Chartered Company who had wanted to catch the Murut Chief in Tenom but was unsuccessful.