Rosli Dhobi (18 March 1932 – 2 March 1950) was a

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the M ...

ian nationalist from Sibu of mixed

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

- Melanau descent during the British

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 ...

era in that state. He was a member leader of the

Rukun 13 Rukun 13 or Rukun Tiga Belas (The Thirteen Pillars) is a defunct Sarawakian organisation that existed from 1947 until 1950. Formation This organisation was officially formed at the end of 1947 in opposition to the Cession to the United Kin ...

, an active organisation in the

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 ...

, along with Morshidi Sidek, Awang Rambli Bin Deli and Bujang Suntong. It was a secret cell organisation, composed of nationalists, which carried out assassinations of officers of the British colonial government in Sarawak. He was well known for his assassination of Duncan George Stewart, the second governor of colonial Sarawak, in 1949.

Early life

Rosli Dhobi was born on 18 March 1932 at No. 94, Kampung Pulo in Sibu, the second child in the washerman family. His father, Dhobi bin Buang originated from Indonesia and was a descendant of

Raden is a Japanese termRaden.

Mukah Mukah ( muːkəh), historically known as Muka is a coastal town which serves as the capital and the administrative center of the Mukah Division since 1 March 2002. The district also covers an area of with a population about 49,900 in the Muka ...

. 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 in London, which in turn dispatched a Governor for Sarawak. This move was opposed by Rajah Muda

Anthony Brooke Anthony Walter Dayrell Brooke (10 December 1912 – 2 March 2011) was appointed the Rajah Muda of Sarawak (heir apparent; Malay: ''Yang Amat Mulia Tuan Rajah Muda Sarawak'') on 25 August 1937, by his uncle, Rajah Vyner of Sarawak, the third and ...

, 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

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 Juvenile may refer to: *Juvenile status, or minor (law), prior to adulthood *Juvenile (organism) *Juvenile (rapper) (born 1975), American rapper * ''Juvenile'' (2000 film), Japanese film * ''Juvenile'' (2017 film) *Juvenile (greyhounds), a greyho ...

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. 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 The Islamic Heritage Museum ( ms, Muzium Warisan Islam) is a museum in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. It is part of the Kuching Heritage Trail. History The museum was originally constructed as the James Brooke Malay College school building. It was ...

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 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 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.

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