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The North Borneo War Monument ( ms, Tugu Peringatan Perang Borneo Utara) is a
The monument was originally erected in Bond Street (now Gaya Street). Due to the shifting of the KK City Park in the 1970s, the monument had undergone changes in form and height. In addition, the bronze plaque on the obelisk and a plaque at the site of previous gun were extended.
The original decoration included a carved in the stone relief in the form of a laurel wreath with the inscription, To The Glorious Dead 1914–1918Translation: The Glorious Dead 1914–1918. and a marble slab in the second pyramid stone. The marble plaque lists the names of 13 fallen of the First World War to:
monument
A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...
that was erected on 8 May 1923 by the North Borneo Chartered Company
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 (present-day Sabah in Malaysia). ...
in Bond Street, Jesselton
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = From top, left to right, bottom:Kota Kinabalu skyline, Wawasan intersection, Tun Mustapha Tower, Kota Kinabalu Coastal Highway, the Kota Kinabalu City Mosque, the Wism ...
, British North Borneo. Originally, it was a memorial for the fallen British soldiers during the World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
but later extended to include the Australian soldiers in World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The monument stands today in the city park of Kota Kinabalu, the capital of the Malaysian state of Sabah
Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indone ...
.
History
The monument was originally erected in Bond Street (now Gaya Street). Due to the shifting of the KK City Park in the 1970s, the monument had undergone changes in form and height. In addition, the bronze plaque on the obelisk and a plaque at the site of previous gun were extended.
Original shape
The monument originally consisted of an approximatelyobelisk
An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...
of granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
and a cannon that were placed each on their own narrow rectangular base with semicircular ends. Both bases were mounted on a second common base.
Today's form
The shape of the obelisk was not changed, but the original unit of the base plate is no longer given. The cannon base was placed about 3 metres from the obelisk, but without a gun. There is now a plaque instead of the gun.Original inscription
The original decoration included a carved in the stone relief in the form of a laurel wreath with the inscription, To The Glorious Dead 1914–1918Translation: The Glorious Dead 1914–1918. and a marble slab in the second pyramid stone. The marble plaque lists the names of 13 fallen of the First World War to:
Extensions
On the opposite side of the marble slab (west) was a bronze plaque mounted with the following inscription: The identical text is in gold lettering on a black plate on the earlier cannon base. On the north side of the obelisk is a memorial plaque to the victims during the time which was ''Confrontation
Confrontation is an element of conflict wherein parties confront one another, directly engaging one another in the course of a dispute between them. A confrontation can be at any scale, between any number of people, between entire nations or cult ...
'' attached.
Inauguration
As of 8 May 1923 by 10 o'clock in the morning, the ceremony of the inauguration of the monument was held byMajor-general
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...
Sir Neill Malcolm
Major-General Sir Neill Malcolm, KCB, DSO (8 October 1869 – 21 December 1953) was a British Army officer who served as Chief of Staff to Fifth Army in the First World War and later commanded the Troops in the Straits Settlements.
Military ...
. The presence of and a guard of honour, consisting the members of the Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
, veterans of the First World War and the British North Borneo Armed Constabulary gave the event a military context. Among the guests were the Governor Sir William Rycroft, Admiral Arthur Leveson, the Bishop of Labuan and Sarawak and Ms Stotter. Bishop Danson dedicated the obelisk and made a speech of greetings on behalf from the representatives of the Catholics, Muslims and Sikhs, along with the speech from Sir Neill Malcolm.
In popular culture
As a remembering to the former site of the monument in Bond Street, There was an exhibition been held in 2012, with the theme "Bonding with Gaya Street (BGS)". Perhaps due to the establishment of theDe Fontaine Memorial
The De Fontaine Memorial ( ms, 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 membe ...
in 1912, the shape of the North Borneo War Memorial was very similar with it.
References
Notes