Datuk Seri Panglima Stephen Robert Evans (died 2017) SPDK, JP is a politician, public administrator and author from

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 ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. Evans was born in Kampong Bariawa Laut, a small village in Keningau District,

North Borneo North Borneo (usually known as British North Borneo, also known as the State of North Borneo) was a British Protectorate, British protectorate in the northern part of the island of Borneo, which is present day Sabah. The territory of North Borneo ...

(now Sabah). His father was Richard F. Evans, District Officer and later

Resident Resident may refer to: People and functions * Resident minister, a representative of a government in a foreign country * Resident (medicine), a stage of postgraduate medical training * Resident (pharmacy), a stage of postgraduate pharmaceutic ...

of the West Coast for the North Borneo Chartered Company Government, which ruled North Borneo until the 1942

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese invasion 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 ...

Education

Evans studied in a Japanese

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

in Keningau during the occupation. After the war he was schooled at Catholic mission schools at

Sandakan Sandakan (, Jawi: , ) formerly known at various times as Elopura, is the capital of the Sandakan District in Sabah, Malaysia. It is the second largest city in Sabah after Kota Kinabalu. It is located on the Sandakan Peninsula and east coast of ...

, at

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 ...

(now Kota Kinabalu) and at

Kuching, Sarawak 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 Sarawa ...

. He attended universities in Britain,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, gaining B.Sc. and MA degrees in Public Administration and Diplomas in Journalism and Agriculture. In 1966, he was awarded a Columbo Plan Scholarship from the

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Government to study Public Administration and Local Government.

Political career

Evans had a distinguished career as a politician in Sabah. He served as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

from 8 August 1974 to 1 June 1977, and a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

from 15 December 1977 to 20 June 1978. He was re-elected as an MP from 15 July 1978 until 29 March 1982. In 1986, he was elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly, serving from 5 May 1986 until 26 June 1990. Evans was awarded a PGDK, Commander of the Order of Kinabalu (second class Datukship: Datuk) by the State Government in 1977 and in 1989 he was conferred the State's highest award, SPDK, Grand Commander of the Order of Kinabalu (first class Datukship: Datuk Seri Panglima). Evans also served as a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

, and was a life member of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and the Malaysian Parliamentary Association. He authored several books, and twice won the Borneo Literature Bureau's Literature Competition. He was fluent in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 ...

Kadazan The Kadazans are an ethnic group indigenous to the state of Sabah in Malaysia. They are found mainly in Penampang on the west coast of Sabah, the surrounding locales, and various locations in the interior. As a result of integration in culture ...

/ Dusun and

Murut Murut may refer to: * Murut people The Murut are an indigenous ethnic group, comprising 29 sub-ethnic groups inhabiting the northern inland regions of Borneo. The Murutic languages are a family of half a dozen closely related Austronesian lan ...

Death

Evans died on 27 September 2017 at the age of 82.

Musa Aman Musa Bin Haji Aman ( Jawi: موسى بن حاج أمان; born 30 March 1951) is a Malaysian politician who served as the 14th Chief Minister, State Minister of Finance from March 2003 to May 2018, Member of the Sabah State Legislative Assemb ...

, Sabah's chief minister, called on the family residence to pay his last respects.

Bibliography

* ''Guide for Sabah Native Courts'' (1967) Kuching: Borneo Literature Bureau * ''Further Folktales from Sabah'' (1977) Kuching: Borneo Literature Bureau * ''English for students preparing for the Malaysia Certificate of Education the Cambridge School Certificate and General Certificate of Education Examinations'' (1988) Keningau, Sabah: Stephen R. Evans * ''Sabah (North Borneo) Under the Rising Sun Government'' (1990, reprinted 1999) Singapore: Stephen R. Evans ('The Author's Profile' in this book has provided much of the material for this article; large parts of Evans' book are copied word-for-word from ''Kinabalu Guerillas'' by

Maxwell Hall John Maxwell Hall (7 October 1884 – 30 July 1966), known most commonly as Maxwell Hall, was a British colonial administrator, judge and author who lived in and wrote about North Borneo (now Sabah). Early life and career Hall was born at K ...

(1949)) * ''The History of Labuan Island (Victoria Island)'' (1996) Stephen R. Evans, Abdul Rahman Zainal and Rod Wong Khet Ngee. Singapore: Calendar Print

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Stephen R. Kadazan-Dusun people 2017 deaths People from Sabah Year of birth missing Justices of the peace Malaysian people of British descent Malaysian people of English descent Multilingual writers Members of the Dewan Negara Members of the Dewan Rakyat Members of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly Grand Commanders of the Order of Kinabalu Commanders of the Order of Kinabalu