PRESERVATION OF SULU SULTANATE

THIS IS A RE-POST OF THE IMFAMOUS ACT COMMITTED BY THE BRITISH GOVT. AND THE BRITISH MONARCH 85 YEARS AGO TODAY.
ALSO A DECLARATION TO BOTH THE BRITISH AND THE MALAYSIAN GOVERNMENTS OF THEIR INFAMOUS ACT DONE ON SEPTEMBER 16, 1963 WHEN THEY STOLE SABAH FROM THE ANCESTORS OF SULTAN PHUGDALUN KIRAM II, 35th SULTAN OF SULU AND NORTH BORNEO, AND THE BANGSA SULUK PEOPLE. THAT DAY OF INFAMY COMMITTED BY BOTH AFORE-NAMED GOVERNMENTS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN REMEMBERED.

IT BEGUN AFTER SIGNING THE LEASE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THEN OVERBECK-DENT ASS. RE-NAMED IN 1879 AS BRITISH NORTH BORNEO COMPANY AND SULTAN JAMALUL AHLAM OF THE SULTANATE OF SULU ON JANUARY 22, 1878, AND POST ISSUANCE OF THE ROYAL CHARTER OF INC. ON NOV. 1, 1881, WHICH PRECLUDED THE SAID COMPANY FROM ACQUIRING PUBLIC POWER NECESSARY FOR AN ACQUISITION OF SOVEREIGNTY AS ADMITTEDLY ITS POWER EMANATED IN THE FORM OF DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY FROM THE SULTAN OF SULU.

FROM THAT ERA, DIFFERENT FORMS OF EVENTS OCCURED THAT TRANSFORMED ALL ACTS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND MALAYSIA INTO DAYS OF INFAMY THAT CANNOT BE ERASED FROM THE MEMORIES FOR AS LONG THE SABAH ISSUE WOULD REMAIN UNRESOLVED.

SOME OF THEM IS HEREWITH WRITTEN TO COMMEMORATE THOSE IN MELANCHOLIC FORM AND MANNER.

2nd Series: End of the Series
How the Original Copy of the 1878 Lease Agreement was Stolen
(Extract from How England Stole North Borneo)
Interview on Sultan Jamalul Kiram II By Aleko L. Lilius
(National Archives, Washington D.C., USA)

But what about the thief? I wondered the Sultan had named him, and what did the police do about the matter?

The police already rounded up a gang, including this Moro Tamini. Then the police judge asked me whether I could swear on the Qur’an that I had actually recognized Tamini as the thief, and how I could possibly have done it in the dark. So I became hesitant. Being the religious head of the Muslims, I could not very well take the oath without being dead certain that his man was the culprit. The suspect was freed, but this Tamini enjoys great privileges in North Borneo.

The police already rounded up a gang, including this Moro Tamini. Then the police judge asked me whether I could swear on the Qur’an that I had actually recognized Tamini as the thief, and how I could probably have done it in the dark. So I became hesitant. Being the religious head of the Muslims, I could not very well take the oath without being dead certain that this man was the culprit. The Suspect was freed, but this Tamini enjoys great privileges in North Borneo.

The Sultan disclosures were of such sensational nature that I decided to make a trip to Sandakan to do some investigation of my own. The Philippine Customs Cutter Mindoro happened to be in the harbor, and I knew the Captain. He at once made the trip to the vicinity of Borneo to keep an eye on opium smugglers. When several days later we arrived in Sandakan I immediately went to see the Colonial Secretary, and in my capacity of a magazine writer and correspondent I told him my interview with the Sultan of Sulu. The Official stiffened at once I had touched on a sore spot in the history of the colony. He tried to tell me that there was really nothing to the Sultan’s story, it was all pure fabrication, and that the government had time and again received his complaints, but that it had always found just cause to ignore them.

The Secretary, however, was obviously nervous. Time and again he left the room ostensibly to consult the Chief, the Governor, and finally I asked him why I could not be shown the disputed documentary. This would once and for all clear the air and forever stop the Sultan from pestering the North Borneo Government.

So the Secretary once more left the room, and when he returned he told that the treaty was in London, that there was no copy of it available in Sandakan, and that he regretted that he could be of no further assistance to me. Here he got up from the chair and the interview was over.

On my return to Jolo, I wrote a story and mailed it to a well-known London Weekly Magazine , where it was given a prominent display. I received from London a cable stating that the Government of the British North Borneo Company admitted the “lease arrangement” but denied that the original treaty was in London and maintained it was in Sandakan. Apparently my article had caused a quite stir. I was also advised that the questions had been asked in parliament and that the Home Office had been annoyed by my disclosure.

So I made ready to make a second trip to Sandakan. I had now the making of a first class story with an international interest and was determined to get at the truth now or never.

IN BEHALF OF
35TH SULTAN PHUGDALUN KIRAM II
and Other Children and Descendants of Five Deceased Brothers
and the Bangsa Suluk/Sug Leaders and People

Dayang Dayang Sitti Krishna Kiram (Idjirani)
and Dayang Dayang Putlih Shieha Kiram (Julkipli)
Royal Daughters of
32nd SULTAN PUNJUNGAN KIRAM
The duly APPOINTED ADMINISTRATOR of ESTATE TERRITORY of NORTH BORNEO (SABAH)
BY VIRTUE of the DECISION PROMULGATED by the BRITISH SESSIONS COURT OF NORTH BORNEO,
SANDAKAN, NORTH BORNEO, in 1939