Jesselton revolt

Albert Kwok, the main leader of Kinabalu Guerrillas.

With the persistent harsh rule during the Japanese occupation, there have been some resistance against the Japanese especially on the west coast of North Borneo, where a revolt was led by Albert Kwok with the members comprising mostly Chinese and some indigenous peoples.[1][2] Kwok, a local Teochew Chinese from Kuching in neighbouring Sarawak had previously been working with the China Red Cross and serving under the Kuomintang of Chiang Kai-shek,[3][4] before returning to Borneo through Malaya in 1940.[5][6] During his time in China, Kwok was also a student of the Seventh-day Adventist Mission School in Canton. He arrived in Jesselton on 15 May 1941 and started a practice treating piles.[4][7]

In February 1942, Kwok wanted to establish contact with the Australians or Americans in eastern North Borneo but was unable to walk across the island jungle any further when he reached Pensiangan where he saw a large presence of Japanese troops.[3] He needed to establish relations with the Allied movements, especially the United States Forces in the Philippines (USFIP) as it was the sole armed resistance movement in the region at the time which were supplied with firearms.[8] After he managed to establish contact with the American forces in the Philippines with the help of a fellow Chinese businessman named Lim Keng Fatt,[8][9] a Muslim cleric (Imam) named Marajukim from Sulu who was part of the resistance movement in the Philippines approached Kwok in Jesselton where he hence departed to Tawi-Tawi for training.[10] From there, they travelled further to Sulu and met Lieutenant Colonel Alejandro Suarez and learned the activities of the resistance movement in the archipelago.[8][11][12]

In May 1943, Kwok returned to Jesselton with a high determination to liberate North Borneo. Once he arrived there, he first contacted the Overseas Chinese Defence Association (OCDA), with whose help he acquired medical equipment and cash donations for the support of the resistance in Sulu.[13] Once again, in June 1943, he travelled with Marajukim to the Philippines. Through the mediation of Suarez, he met with the representatives of the US army and was appointed Lieutenant on 1 July 1943.[14] The second time he returned to North Borneo, Kwok already had three pistols, a box of hand grenades and was promised to be given more weapons.[15] However, as he could not induce the guerrillas in the Sulu Archipelago to send more firearms, he was forced to launch a revolt with limited supplies.[16] A resistance group under his leadership was then established on 21 September 1943, with the group calling themselves the Chinese National Salvation Association (CNSA),[17] a branch of the OCDA.[16] With collaboration between the Chinese and indigenous peoples, the group were subsequently known as Kinabalu Guerrillas Defence Force.[11][18]

A plate commemorating the 324 fallen resistance members as well as victims of Japanese massacre in Petagas.

As the Japanese decree to seize any opposition towards the Japanese administration became closer, the resistance group were forced to launch revolt ahead of schedule. With much of his members armed with only parang, spear and kris,[19] the movement launched their attack from 9 October 1943 and temporarily retake Jesselton, Tuaran and Kota Belud, leaving around 50–90 casualties on the Japanese side.[20][21][22] Through a combined land and sea attack on the Japanese, most islands inhabitants around the coastal areas contributed ships to the movement. Native Bajau-Suluk leaders such as Panglima Ali (Sulug Island), Jemalul (Mantanani Islands), Orang Tua Arshad (Udar Island) and Saruddin (Dinawan Island) contributed mostly through sea attacks.[23]

Both Jemalul and Saruddin volunteered themselves from the Philippines to lead the Binadans of Mantanani and the Dinawan Islands.[24] From land, the movement been supported by native Dusun-Murut leaders such as Musah representing the Dusun community and Duallis for the Murut as well members of Indian Imperial Police led by Constable Subedar Dewa Singh.[23] While administration and police members of authorities of North Borneo mostly serving under the North Borneo Volunteer Force (NBVF) led by Jules Stephens and Charles Peter,[23] as well as Sergeant Bud Singh and Corporal Sohan Singh.[25]

After the successful revolt, the resistance movement under OCDA and NBVF jointly hoisting the flag of the Republic of China and Union Jack on 10 October 1943.[8] Most of the members under OCDA are loyal to the Republic of China while NBVF remained loyal to the United Kingdom although the NBVF are not even recognised by the British government.[8] While the Japanese reinforcement from Kuching are still in process, Kwok along with other members began to retreat into their hide-out and the OCDA celebrate the birthday of Sun Yat-sen, the founder of Kuomintang and subsequently the Republic of China by hoisting the national flag again and singing the national anthem of the Republic of China on 12 November 1943.[8]

The Petagas War Memorial built on the site of execution to honour the sacrifices of Kinabalu Guerrillas.

Following the arrival of Japanese reinforcement, the Japanese authorities subsequently launch a ruthless counter-offensive by bombing coastal settlements from Kota Belud until Membakut and machine-gunning people.[22][26] Almost all villages in the area burnt down with around 2,000–4,000 innocent civilians executed, mostly being the Bajau-Suluk civilians.[27][28] After threatening to kill more civilians if the leaders of the uprising did not turn themselves in, Kwok, along with several of his top members, finally surrendered. In all, Kwok and some 175 peoples who for the most part had nothing to do with the uprising are subjected to execution order of the Japanese on 21 January 1944 in Petagas, Putatan.[17]

After the war, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE) that was set-up in 1946 concluded that during the resistance movement that was led by the Chinese and indigenous peoples in North Borneo, the Kenpeitai were involved in the reign of terror by arresting, torturing and the massacre of hundreds of Chinese revolt members while doing an apparently systematic extermination of coastal population that was inhabited by the Suluk people.[29][30] The sacrifice of the movement was honoured with a memorial in Petagas.

• Maxwell, J. Hall (1965). Kinabalu Guerrillas: An Account of the Double Tenth 1934 [i.e. 1943]. Borneo Literature Bureau.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Brooks, Ronald J. (1995). Under Five Flags. Pentland Press. ISBN 978-1-85821-322-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Danny, Wong Tze-Ken (2006). "The Kinabalu Guerrillas in Local and National History" (PDF). Sabah Society Journal. Department of History, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Malaya. pp. 19–30. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 October 2017.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Danny, Wong Tze-Ken (2007). "The Petagas War Memorial and the Creation of a Heroic Past in Sabah". Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 80 (2 (293)): 19–32. JSTOR 41493694.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Ooi, Keat Gin (2010). The Japanese Occupation of Borneo, 1941–1945 (PDF). Routledge. ISBN 978-0-203-85054-1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 October 2017.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Daily Express (2013). "Granddaughter seeks apology for massacre". Daily Express. Archived from the original on 18 October 2017.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Lajiun, Jenne (2015). "Relatives share stories of Sabah fallen heroes". The Borneo Post.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Daily Express (2015). "Albert Kwok's daring raid". Daily Express. Archived from the original on 24 October 2017.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Daily Express (2017). "82-year-old recalls execution of hero dad in Petagas". Daily Express. Archived from the original on 28 October 2017.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Ralon, Larry (2019). "Man recalls how father, brother perished in war". Daily Express. Archived from the original on 22 January 2019.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)