Yang Amat Berbahagia Tun Mustapha Harun |
|
---|---|
1st Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sabah | |
In office 16 September 1963 – 16 September 1965 |
|
Chief Minister |
Fuad Stephens Peter Lo Sui Yin |
Preceded by | Post created |
Succeeded by | Pengiran Ahmad Raffae Pengiran Omar |
3rd Chief Minister of Sabah | |
In office 12 May 1967 – 1 November 1975 |
|
Preceded by | Peter Lo Sui Yin |
Succeeded by | Mohammad Said Keruak |
Personal details | |
Born |
Kampung Limau-Limauan, Kudat, British North Borneo |
31 July 1918
Died | 2 January 1995 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia |
(aged 76)
Political party |
United Sabah National Organisation (1961–1990) United Malays National Organisation (1990–1994) |
Spouse(s) | Rahmah Zulkarnain |
Mother | Noraini Abdul Rahim |
Father | Harun Nasaruddin |
Religion | Sunni Islam |
Tun Datu Haji Mustapha bin Datu Harun, or Tun Mustapha for short (31 July 1918 – 2 January 1995), was the first governor of the Malaysian state of Sabah. He was also the third chief minister of the state from 1967 to 1975, and was the president for the political party United Sabah National Organisation (USNO). He is considered by some to be one of the founding leaders of Sabah and was an important party in the negotiations leading to the formation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963.
He is known to some as the "father of Sabah's independence" and also the "father of Sabah's development". However, he is also considered by many Sabahan opposition leaders who later formed the new party BERJAYA as a dictator and alleged to misappropriated huge sums of money from the state's coffers (primarily through timber concessions) to support his lavish lifestyle.
Mustapha was not born in anywhere in the Sulu Archipelago, but he is a distant relative of the Sultan of Sulu. He was born in Kampung Limau-limauan, Kudat. He is of Suluk-Bajau origin (Bajau Bannaran/Bajau Kudat and not Bajau Ubian).
During World War II, he was wanted by the Japanese forces because of the rebellions he led against them, mainly in Kudat during the Japanese occupation. But when they could not find him, they caught his younger brother and eventually killed him because his brother would not reveal where he was hiding. Albert Kwok invited Mustapha to join in the Jesselton Revolt but he advised Kwok to wait and prepare, saying the time wasn't right for insurrection. However, Kwok was forced to launch the revolt ahead of schedule because the Chinese were going to be subjected to conscription by the Japanese. Kwok was joined in the revolt along with Suluks and Bajaus under Panglima Ali. The revolt failed and the Japanese engaged in large scale massacres of indigenous civilians, including women and children especially from the Suluks community.