De Fontaine Memorial

De Fontaine Memorial
Tugu Peringatan De Fontaine
	5°46′22″N116°01′04″E / 5.77278°N 116.01778°E
Location	Kinarut
Height	2.5 m
Dedicated to	Captain De Fontaine along with several other members

Last updated October 14, 2024

The De Fontaine Memorial (Malay : Tugu Peringatan De Fontaine) is a monument built by the North Borneo Chartered Company to remember an incident on 12 May 1885 that led to an ambush attack to the North Borneo Armed Constabulary, in which five members of the police force were killed. The monument stands in the village of Kawang in the Malaysian state of Sabah.

History

Captain A.M. de Fontaine was, prior to his recruitment as chief commissioner of the British North Borneo Constabulary, a member of the police forces of Singapore. In May 1885, he led an expedition known as the "Puroh Expedition" to search for a Murut Chief, Kandurong, who was known as a cattle thief and head hunter. Under his arrangement, G. L. Davies (Resident of the West Coast), Dr. Donald Manson Fraser, R. M. Little (Resident Assistant) and J. E. G. Wheatley arrived at a village in Kawang on 10 May 1885 along with a detachment of police. As there was a shortage of baggage carriers from the Dusun people to carry items into the mountainous regions of Crocker Range,^[1] the Bajau headmen of Kawang were asked to supply them with 30 people. The Bajaus showed little desire to comply with the request by saying that "the carrying of heavy loads is hard for them". Then, the British Resident warned the Bajau headmen that their village would be fined if they did not follow what had been requested. The fight between the resident and the village leader became stronger as a porter from a neighbouring district discovered a stolen water buffalo in the village of the Bajaus. The Bajaus surrendered the water buffalo to the British resident, but the situation remained tense on 12 May as more porters were requested from Papar. The inhabitants of Kawang felt threatened with the request.^[2] While all of the British were waiting along with some Indian Constabulary and policemen under a tree, two Bajau men approached them with guns and began a seemingly friendly conversation with the group. Suddenly, without any warning, one of them fatally shot Dr. Fraser at point-blank range. Seven more Bajaus came with spears, running amok and killed three of the Indian Constabulary while wounding eight policemen. Little took up his revolver and gunned down three Bajaus, while another Indian Constabulary managed to seize the Bajau's gun, killing another three Bajaus and wounding two others. Seeing many of their friends been killed, the Bajaus retreated to an open plain and disappeared into the jungle. De Fontaine was severely wounded by spear during the attack and he succumbed to his injuries on 17 May 1885. De Fontaine was buried the next day in a European cemetery of Sandakan.^[1]

Creation of the monument

The attack seemed to be forgotten as in 1911, according to the "British North Borneo Herald", J. W. Wilson was probably the only British North Borneo resident who remembered the incident.^[3] The tree where the incident occurred has been regarded as the site for the memorial and known as the "Government Tree". However, as the tree had fallen, the Resident at the time proposed erecting a small pillar on the site and fencing it in as a perpetual memorial.^[3] An obelisk was built later in September 1912 on the location where Captain De Fontaine was attacked.^[4]

Description

The monument is in the form of an approximately 2.5 metre high obelisk on a simple stepped square base. There is a slight error on the inscription for the name of Dr Fraser. The memorial inscription on the front reads:

This Obelisk is erected
in Memory of
Captaine de Fontaine
Dr. W. Manson Fraser
Jemadhar Esa Singh
Sergeant Major Narnin Singh
and
Private Ganda Singh
who, whilst proceeding with
a party of Constabulary
on an expedition to the
village of a Murut Chief
Kandurong were treacherously
attacked and killed at this spot
by the Inhabitants of
Kawang Village
on the 12th May 1885.

Related Research Articles

Labuan, officially the Federal Territory of Labuan, is an island federal territory of Malaysia. Its territory includes Labuan Island and six smaller islands, off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capital is Victoria and is best known as an offshore financial centre offering international financial and business services via Labuan IBFC since 1990 as well as being an offshore support hub for deepwater oil and gas activities in the region. It is also a tourist destination for people travelling through Sabah, nearby Bruneians and scuba divers. The name Labuan derives from the Malay word labuhan which means harbour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Bulmer Johnson</span> British Army officer & VC recipient (WW1)

James Bulmer Johnson VC was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Tawau, formerly known as Tawao, is the capital of the Tawau District in Sabah, Malaysia. It is the third-largest city in Sabah, after Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan. It is located on the Semporna Peninsula in the southeast coast of the state in the administrative centre of Tawau Division, which is bordered by the Sulu Sea to the east, the Celebes Sea to the south at Cowie Bay and shares a border with North Kalimantan, Indonesia. The town had an estimated population as of 2010, of 113,809, while the whole municipality area had a population of 397,673. The municipal area had a population of 372,615 at the 2020 Census.

The North Borneo Chartered Company (NBCC), also known as the British North Borneo Company (BNBC), was a British chartered company formed on 1 November 1881 to administer and exploit the resources of North Borneo. The territory became a protectorate of the British Empire in 1888 but the company remained involved with the territory until 1946, when administration was fully assumed by the Crown colony government.

The Mat Salleh Rebellion was a series of major armed disturbances against the British North Borneo Chartered Company administration in North Borneo, now the Malaysian state of Sabah. It was instigated by Datu Muhammad Salleh, a local chief from the Lingkabo district and Sugut River. He led the rebellion between 1894 until his death in Tambunan in 1900. The rebellion then continued on for another five years until 1905.

Semporna is the capital of the Semporna District in the Tawau Division of Sabah, Malaysia. Its population was estimated to be around 35,301 in 2010.

The Ranau District is an administrative district in the Malaysian state of Sabah, part of the West Coast Division which includes the districts of Kota Belud, Kota Kinabalu, Papar, Penampang, Putatan, Ranau and Tuaran. The capital of the district is in Ranau Town. The landlocked district bordering the Sandakan Division to the east until it meets the Interior Division border. Ranau sits 108 km (67 mi) east of Kota Kinabalu and 227 km (141 mi) west of Sandakan. As of the 2010 Census, the population of the district was 94,092, an almost entirely Dusun ethnic community.

Papar is the capital of the Papar District in the West Coast Division of Sabah, Malaysia. Its population was estimated to be around 124,420 in 2010, which is divided between Bruneian Malay, Kadazan-Dusun, and Bajau. There is also a sizeable Chinese minority, predominantly of the Hakka subgroup, as well as smaller numbers of other races. The town is located 38 kilometres south of the state capital of Kota Kinabalu, with the Papar railway station in the town becoming one of the main stops of the Sabah State Railway.

Kinarut is a town in the state of Sabah, Malaysia. It is located about 20 kilometres south of the state capital, Kota Kinabalu, and Kinarut railway station is one of the stops on the Sabah State Railway. Kinarut is under the administration of the Papar District.

Nicholson's Obelisk, or Nicholson's Memorial, is a monument in Pakistan, erected in 1868 in honour of Brigadier-General John Nicholson, a famous military figure of the British Empire.

The history of Sabah can be traced back to about 23–30,000 years ago when evidence suggests the earliest human settlement in the region existed. The history is interwoven with the history of Brunei and the history of Malaysia, which Sabah was previously part of and is currently part of respectively. The earliest recorded history of Sabah being part of any organised civilisation began in the early 15th century during the thriving era of the Sultanate of Brunei. Prior to this, early inhabitants of the land lived in predominantly tribal societies, although such tribal societies had continued to exist until the 1900s. The eastern part of Sabah was ceded to the Sultan of Sulu by the Sultan of Brunei in 1658 for the former helping a victory over Brunei enemies, but many sources stated it had not been ceded at all. By the late 19th century, both territories previously owned by Sultan of Brunei and Sultan of Sulu was granted to British syndicate and later emerged as British North Borneo under the management of the North Borneo Chartered Company. Sabah became a protectorate of the United Kingdom in 1888 and subsequently became a Crown colony from 1946 until 1963, during which time it was known as Crown Colony of North Borneo. On 16 September 1963, Sabah merged with Malaya, Sarawak and Singapore to form Malaysia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mandor rebellion</span> 19th-century rebellion against Dutch East Indies government

The Mandor rebellion in 1884 and 1885, also called the Third Kongsi War, was an uprising of ethnic Chinese, helped by the Dayaks, against the Dutch East Indies government.

The Rathcormac massacre, also known as the Gortroe massacre, was an incident during the Tithe War in Ireland which took place on 18 December 1834 near the village of Bartlemy, County Cork close to the town of Rathcormac. Approximately 250 Irish tenant farmers confronted a group of roughly 100 British Army soldiers and Royal Irish Constabulary policemen who were escorting a distraining party attempting to collect tithes owed to a Church of Ireland rector. The farmers attacked the soldiers and policemen who responded after forty-five minutes by opening fire on the farmers, killing between 12 and 20 people and wounding roughly 45.

The North Borneo War Monument is a monument that was erected on 8 May 1923 by the North Borneo Chartered Company in Bond Street, Jesselton, British North Borneo. Originally, it was a memorial for the fallen British soldiers in World War I but later extended to include the Australian soldiers in World War II. The monument stands today in the city park of Kota Kinabalu, the capital of the Malaysian state of Sabah.

The cross border attacks in Sabah are a series of cross border terrorist attacks perpetrated by Moro pirates from Mindanao, Philippines, in the state of Sabah, Malaysia, that began even before the British colonial period. Many civilians have died or suffered during these incidents, causing an increase in anti-Filipino sentiment among the native peoples of Sabah, especially after major attacks in 1985, 2000 and 2013. The attacks were more intense during the presidential terms of Diosdado Macapagal and Ferdinand Marcos, who supported irredentist claims to include eastern Sabah as part of the Philippines territory. In addition, recent infiltration and attacks by militants as well as uncontrolled human migration from Mindanao to Sabah has led to more unease sentiments among the local residents of Sabah, with around 78% of prison inmates that were caught in the state due to involvement in criminal activities and lawlessness issues mainly originating from the southern Philippines.

The Chartered Company Monument is a monument in the town of Sandakan in Sabah, Malaysia dedicated to the British servicemen or employees who were killed at the end of the 19th century. The monument was built by the British North Borneo Company and part of the Sandakan Heritage Trails, a trail which connects the historic sights of Sandakan.

Cho Huan Lai Memorial or also known as Keningau War Memorial in the Malaysian town of Keningau in Sabah is a monument dedicated to Chinese Consul General Cho Huan Lai and his colleagues who died on 6 July 1945 after being executed by the Japanese.

The Papar District is an administrative district in the Malaysian state of Sabah, part of the West Coast Division which includes the districts of Kota Belud, Kota Kinabalu, Papar, Penampang, Putatan, Ranau and Tuaran. The capital of the district is in Papar Town.

The Putatan district is an administrative district in the Malaysian state of Sabah, part of the West Coast Division which includes the districts of Kota Belud, Kota Kinabalu, Papar, Penampang, Ranau and Tuaran. The capital of the district is in Putatan Town.

References

1 2 "Amok in the Kawang River". The Straits Times . National Library Board. 5 June 1885. p. 3. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
↑ "Obelisks That Tell of Tragedies". The Straits Times. National Library Board. 17 March 1935. p. 15. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
1 2 "A Borneo Amok Recalled". The Straits Times. National Library Board. 20 November 1911. p. 8. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
↑ "Untitled". The Straits Times. National Library Board. 17 September 1912. p. 7. Retrieved 15 January 2015.