Mukah.
Little is known about his earlier life although friends regard Rosli as an approachable person despite his quietness. He had an elder sister and a younger brother: Fatimah (born 1927) and Ainie (born 1934).
Rosli started his career as a teacher and left his job in 1947 to teach in Sibu People's School. Before that, he worked at the Sarawak Public Works Department (PWD)
and for Utusan Sarawak. Rosli was known to be a nationalist and a poet. Using the nickname Lidros, Rosli wrote a nationalistic poem titled "Panggilan Mu yang Suchi" (Malay: "Your Divine Call") which was published in ''
Utusan Sarawak'' on 28 February 1948. The usage of nicknames was prevalent at the time since the
British Colonial Authority vigorously monitored any attempts to spread words against them. He joined the Sibu Malay Youth Movement (Malay: ''Pergerakan Pemuda Melayu Sibu'') under the leadership of Sirat Haji Yaman.
Rosli joined Rukun 13 in August 1948. He was introduced to the organisation by an old friend, Awang Rambli.
Although one of Rukun 13's aims were to establish a union of Sarawak with newly independent Indonesia,
Tahar Johnny, a cousin of Rosli, denied that Rosli was pro-Indonesia despite the latter taking a liking to anything Indonesian, and other members of Rukun 13 may have been pro-Indonesia.
Assassination of Duncan George Stewart
Background
The end of the
Second World War
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 ...
had brought an end to the
Brooke Dynasty rule in Sarawak; believing it to be in the best interest of the people of Sarawak, Rajah Vyner Brooke ceded the state to the British Crown. Sarawak became a
Crown Colony
A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony administered by The Crown within the British Empire. There was usually a Governor, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the UK Government, with or without the assistance of a local Counci ...
, ruled from the
Colonial Office
The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created to deal with the colonial affairs of British North America but required also to oversee the increasing number of col ...
in London, which in turn dispatched a Governor for Sarawak.
This move was opposed by Rajah Muda
Anthony Brooke, who was supposed to become the next Rajah Brooke, as well as many native Sarawakians who were initially told that they would be allowed self-government. Anthony Brooke became the leader of the anti-cession movement.
Events
On 3 December 1949,
Duncan George Stewart, the aforementioned appointed governor of Sarawak, was murdered by Rukun 13 members including Rosli, Awang Ramli Amit Mohd Deli,
Morshidi Sidek and
Bujang Suntong in Sibu.
Rosli and Morshidi were among the crowd that welcomed the governor on his arrival in Sibu. After inspecting an honour guard the governor was meeting a group of local school children in near proximity of Rosli. Morshidi began to pretend to take pictures of the governor with a broken camera. The governor stopped to allow Morshidi to photograph him. At that moment, Rosli stabbed the governor.
Rosli was arrested on the spot and sent to
Kuching
Kuching (), officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is on the Sarawak River ...
for trial and later into imprisonment. Despite suffering a deep stab wound Stewart is reported to have tried to carry on until blood began to seep through his white uniform.
The governor was flown back to
Kuching
Kuching (), officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is on the Sarawak River ...
for treatment and later to Singapore, where he died a week after the incident.
Death
After a few months languishing in prison, Rosli Dhobi, Awang Ramli Amit Mohd Deli, Morshidi Sidek and Bujang Suntong were found guilty of murder and sentenced to death on 4 December 1949. This move was criticised by many, as Rosli was a
juvenile at the time of assassination.
Rosli was subsequently
hanged
Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging in ...
on the morning of 2 March 1950 at the
Kuching Central Prison
Kuching (), officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is on the Sarawak River at the southwest tip of the state of Sara ...
. Fearing the resentment of the local population, the British government did not allow Rosli's body to leave the prison. Instead, his body was interred in an unmarked grave within the prison compound.
After Sarawak
joined Malaysia on 16 September 1963, a tombstone was put in place at his grave near the
Islamic Heritage Museum.
Aftermath
Sarawak was sent into tumultuous years, and the anti-cessionists' rebellion was crushed as the support by the locals dwindled due to Rosli's "aggressive" tactics, alongside opposition from some of the Malay leaders who were pro-British. Most of the anti-cessionists were arrested and later sent to prison, some in
Changi Prison
Changi Prison Complex, often known simply as Changi Prison, is a prison in Changi in the eastern part of Singapore.
History First prison
Before Changi Prison was constructed, the only penal facility in Singapore was at Pearl's Hill, beside t ...
in Singapore.
However, things later returned to normal, and peace was restored during the era of the 3rd Governor of Sarawak,
Sir Anthony Foster Abell. Even those who were imprisoned at Changi were allowed to return to Sarawak, to continue their sentence at Kuching Central Prison.
In 1975, Dr
Mahathir Mohamad
Mahathir bin Mohamad ( ms, محاضير بن محمد, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author, and physician who served as the 4th and 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the office ...
, minister of education at that time, changed the name of SMK Bandar Sibu to
SMK Rosli Dhobi to commemorate the sacrifices of Rosli Dhobi.
After 46 years resting in the prison compound, the remains of Rosli Dhobi were moved out of the Kuching Central Prison to be buried in the Sarawak's Heroes Mausoleum near An Nur Mosque in his hometown of Sibu on 2 March 1996. He was given a state funeral by the Sarawak government.
In 2009, a
miniseries
A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...
spanning the period from him joining the Rukun 13 up to his death sentence was produced by Malaysian production studio KL Motion Picture Co. titled ''Warkah Terakhir'' ("The Final Letter"), with actor Beto Kusyairy portraying Rosli. However, Rosli Dhobi heir Lucas Johnny claimed that the series contained several factual errors. For example, the miniseries portrayed Rosli Dhobi as trying to run away after stabbing the governor. In reality, Rosli was trying to stab the governor the second time but was stopped by the governor's bodyguards.
In 2012, a declassified document from the
British National Archives
The National Archives (TNA, cy, Yr Archifau Cenedlaethol) is a non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Its parent department is the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sp ...
showed that Anthony Brooke had had no connection with the assassination of Stewart and that the British government had known this at the time. This was not revealed at the time as the assassins were found to be agitating for union with newly independent
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
as the British government did not want to provoke Indonesia which had only recently won its
war of independence
This is a list of wars of independence (also called liberation wars). These wars may or may not have been successful in achieving a goal of independence.
List
See also
* Lists of active separatist movements
* List of civil wars
* List of o ...
from the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, and the UK was already dealing with the
Malayan Emergency
The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War was a guerrilla war fought in British Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and the military forces o ...
to the north-west.
Research
Researches and writings on the history of Rosli Dhoby and ''Rukun 13'' has been lacking because of low awareness and interests in the subject. Besides, from 1949 to 1996, the Sarawak public generally regarded the struggle of Rosli and ''Rukun 13'' negatively as a "bad guy", "imposter", and "rebel". Only after Sarawak state government has given a formal state funeral to Rosli and his friends in 1996, the public perception started to change to the positive side. There are limited primary records regarding Rosli and ''Rukun 13'' as the formal members of the ''Rukun 13'' did not document their experience in view of their struggle looks bad in the public eyes. The last ''Rukun 13'' member passed away in 2009. However, several of the Pergerakan Pemuda Melayu (PPM) (Young Malays Movement) members still available in 2009.
Deputy director of Sarawak state prison, Sabu Hassan, in a formal reply written to Nordi Achie, a researcher working at Centre for the Promotion of Knowledge and Language Learning, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, stated that Malaysian prison department did not keep any record and files for the four offenders while a portion of the documents were destroyed by the British during the colonial times.
In 2013, Jeniri Amir, a professor from
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS; en, University of Malaysia Sarawak) is a Malaysian public university located in Kota Samarahan, Sarawak. UNIMAS was officially incorporated on 24 December 1992. Recently, UNIMAS has been ranked among top 20 ...
specialising in political communication, wrote a book about Rosli Dhobi which included much new information. However, according to a book review written by Nordi Achie, another professor from Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Jeniri's book contained errors with only superficial analysis of newly found information regarding Rosli Dhoby.
See also
*
Anti-cession movement of Sarawak
The anti-cession movement of Sarawak ( ms, Gerakan Anti-Penyerahan Sarawak) was a movement in Sarawak to fight against the British attempt to govern Sarawak as a crown colony rather than a protectorate ruled by the White Rajahs. The movement l ...
*
Rentap
Rentap (born Libau anak Ningkan, Libau Rentap) (1800–1863) was an Iban- Dayak warrior and a recognized Iban hero in Sarawak (now a region of Malaysia) during the reign of the first White Rajah, James Brooke. His praisename, translates from ...
, an Iban warrior who fought against
Brooke Brooke may refer to:
People
* Brooke (given name)
* Brooke (surname)
* Brooke baronets, families of baronets with the surname Brooke
Places
* Brooke, Norfolk, England
* Brooke, Rutland, England
* Brooke, Virginia, US
* Brooke's Point, Palawan ...
*
James W.W. Birch
James Wheeler Woodford Birch, commonly known as J. W. W. Birch (3 April 1826 – 2 November 1875) was a British colonial official who was assassinated in the Malay state of Perak in 1875, an event that led to the outbreak of the Perak War and ...
, first Perak resident who was killed by
Dato Maharajalela Lela
Dato Maharaja Lela (died on 20 January 1877) was a Malay nationalist from Perak.
A descendant of Daeng Salili, Pandak Limo was the son of a Bugis king from Luwuk District, Sulawesi. During the reign of Sultan Muzaffar Shah III, he came t ...
References
Sources
* Adapted from ''Sabah dan Sarawak Menjadi Tanah Jajahan British, Sejarah Tingkatan 3'' textbook
* Adapted from ''Pembinaan Negara Dan Bangsa Malaysia, Sejarah Tingkatan 5'' textbook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dhobi, Rosli
1932 births
1950 deaths
People from Sarawak
Malaysian people of Malay descent
History of Sarawak
Melanau people
Malaysian rebels
Executed Malaysian people
People executed by British Sarawak by hanging
Malaysian people convicted of murder
Malaysian assassins
20th-century executions by the United Kingdom
Executed assassins
Assassins of heads of government
People of British Borneo