History of Tawau in 1963

Thursday, 24 October, 2019 09:27:14 PM

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1963

1963-08-31 Sabah’s independence day.

There were major challenges to Malaysia with Confrontation with Indonesia from 1963 to 1966 and with the revival of the Philippines claim to Sabah in 1968, but the pace of development continued with the new town market in 1966, a new hospital in 1967, an airport terminal building in 1968, the construction of a major mosque in 1971, growth of the town population to 25,000 and district population of 60,000 by 1971 and the provision of quality education by a number of schools, particularly St Patrick's, which by that time was the premier school in the Tawau district.

Between 1963 and 1966, there was a military engagement ("Konfrontasi") between Indonesia and Malaysia because President Sukarno opposed the inclusion of Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak in the newly formed nation to his north. There were infrequent incusions by Indonesian troops along the Sabah and Sarawak borders with Indonesia. Tawau was an armed fortress, situated as it was literally within sight of the Indonesian frontier. The Royal Air Force, the Royal Navy, the Royal Australian Air Force, the Gurkhas, the SAS, various army units, and the militia were all encamped in or near Tawau at one time or another. The Royal Navy's "Hermes" and "Ark Royal" aircraft carriers steamed into Cowie Bay and sat offshore several times as visible symbols of Commonwealth support for Malaysia in its first years of nationhood.

RAF aircraft based in Singapore and Malaya flew daily low-level patrols over Tawau in a show of colors. The five or six Peace Corps Volunteers stationed in the town capitalized on this military environment in different ways. If nothing else, it provided an opportunity to get NAAFI gin at very low cost! PCVs were entreated to soak the labels off the gin bottles to remove proof that they had come from a British commissary intended only for the Her Majesty's troops.

Sheik A. M. Azahari was the charismatic, ultra-nationalist leader of a political party in the Sultanate of Brunei, the oil-rich British protectorate that separated most of North Borneo from Sarawak. Azahari was also pro Indonesia in 1962, when it was becoming increasingly clear that Sabah and Sarawak would be incorporated into Malaysia within a year or so. In him, Sukarno had an ally against Malaysia. There were some indications that Azahari had connections with communist parties in China and Indonesia.

Azahari fomented a rebellion against the proposed federation of Malaysia, and his rebel supporters took to the jungle around Brunei. Azahari demanded the overthrow of the Sultan of Brunei. He proposed the formation of an independent, unified state of Kalimantan Utara (North Borneo), consisting of Sarawak, Brunei, and North Borneo, instead of federation with Malaysia. The British were forced to bring Gurkha troops in from Singapore to quash the rebellion, and Azahari removed himself to Manila in late 1962, where he continued to promote his unsuccessful cause briefly.