Relatives share stories of Sabah fallen heroes
PETAGAS: The annual memorial service at the Memorial Park here every year on Jan 21 serves as a reminder of the sacrifices of the 176 fallen heroes of the State (then known as North Borneo) during the Japanese occupation.
One of the relatives of the fallen hero who was killed at the park on Jan 21, 1944, Michael Tan Sri Ben Stephens, 53, described the annual affair as something significant and good.
He added that his relative, Jules Stephens, was among those who were killed at the park on that fateful event.
“I have never met him but I’ve heard a lot about him from my father. I was told how great he was. These are good memories to keep,” he said.
Michael has been faithfully attending the memorial service for years now.
Jules was among the 300 young men that formed the underground guerilla organised by Albert Kwok, who also died there.
Another person, whose relative also perished at the park, was Abdul Hadi Diong, 53.
He described his late relative, Panglima OT Ali, as the village chief at Pulau Suluk during those days and that the latter had joined the guerilla to help protect the State and her people from the atrocities during the Japanese occupation.
“He died together with many others, here. I am proud that he died a hero,” he said.
Abdul Hadi said that he had made it a point to attend the memorial service on an annual basis to show his respects.
Sherimil Osuan, 27, who now works as an auditor in Sandakan, is also related to Panglima OT Ali.
When met at the memorial service yesterday, Sherimil said that she was there with a group of 10 people who were all related to the late Panglima OT Ali.
“It is the first time we are here.”
Her aunt, Pelsiana Haji Asal, 42, also from Sandakan, said that she heard about the fate of her grandfather from her mother.
“He had to surrender with the others because the Japanese soldiers had threatened to kill the women and children,” she said.
She added that the women and children from her family all escaped from the Japanese while her grandfather stayed on.
“Many family members died during the war. They were beheaded,” she said.
To make it for the memorial service, Pelsiana said that they arrived a day earlier so that they could attend the memorial service which began at 8am yesterday, which marked the 66th ceremony to remember the 176 war casualties who perished, here on Jan 21, 1944.
The event began at 8.30am and was graced by Deputy Chief Minister cum Infrastructure Development Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan, who was representing the Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Haji Aman.
Pairin, together with Deputy State Secretary Datuk Joseph Guntavid and City Hall Mayor Datuk Abidin Mandingkir, placed wreaths at the Memorial Park’s monument after the sounding of the last post.
Also present to honour the event were Federal State Secretary, Shawn Robert, representative of the former war victims, Michael Tan Sri Ben Stephens and State Police Contingent Commissioner representative, ACP Chandra Sehkaran AL Muthu.