Tun Said Keruak

Infobox President
name =Tun Said Keruak


order =4th Chief Minister of Sabah
term_start =1975
term_end =1976
deputy =
predecessor =Tun Datu Mustapha
successor =Tun Fuad Stephens
order2 =7th Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sabah
term_start2 =1987
term_end2 =1994
deputy2 =
predecessor3 =Tun Mohamad Adnan Robert
successor3 =Tun Sakaran Dandai
birth_date =September 14, 1920
birth_place =Kota Belud, Sabah, Malaysia
death_date =17 November, 1995
death_place =Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
spouse =
religion =Islam
constituency =
party =United Sabah Nationalist Organisation (USNO)
languagesspoken =

Tun Said Keruak (15 November 1926 - 31 December 1995) was a Malaysian politician from Sabah state. He was a Chief Minister of Sabah from 1975 to 1976 and then the Yang di-Pertua Negeri (Governor) of Sabah from 1987 to 1994.

Background

The most prominent Keruak son was Tun Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Mohamad Said Bin Keruak who was born on 15 November 1926 in a small village called Kampung Pirasan in the Kota Belud district.

Keruak died in 1930 when Tun Mohamad Said was merely four years old. At the age of seven, Tun Mohamad Said started his schooling at the Sekolah Rendah Kerajaan Kota Belud where he completed his standard five in 1941. Due to his outstanding academic achievements, Tun Mohamad Said was offered a place in the Kuching Agricultural College (Maktab Pertanian Kucing) in Sarawak, the neighbouring state to Sabah.

However, the Second World War and the Japanese invasion of Borneo in 1942 interrupted Tun Mohamad Said’s education and he was forced to return to Kota Belud. Tun Mohamad Said did not while away his time during the Japanese occupation though. Because of his educational background, the Japanese appointed him the Deputy Treasurer of Jesselton, (now Kota Kinabalu), and it was then that Tun Mohamad Said mastered the Japanese Language.

Tun Mohamad Said was also keen to command the English Language, the language of the colonial masters at that time and, in 1947 and 1948, he enrolled himself in night classes. His qualification in agriculture and being able to communicate in English was the launching pad for Tun Mohamad Said’s career in government and politics where he eventually became Sabah’s Fourth Chief Minister and later its Seventh Governor.

In fact, Tun Mohamad Said had already demonstrated his management and leadership skills and ability during the Japanese occupation. Immediately after the end of the War, the British Military Administration (BMA), which recognised his ability and potential, absorbed him into the Kota Belud District Office in a clerical position.

In 1960, Tun Mohamad Said tendered his resignation, probably due to frustration that his career was not advancing after about 15 years as a lowly clerk in a district office. The British, to coax him to stay on, appointed him the first Secretary of the Kota Belud Local Council. That same year, he was appointed an Unofficial Member of the Legislative Council (Ahli Majlis Perundangan Tidak Resmi). Tun Mohamad Said’s meteoric rise can be regarded as most impressive and an outstanding achievement for a ‘native’ in an era when the British were the colonial masters of this land and locals were considered most unsuitable for ‘top’ government positions.

The British certainly recognised this young man’s potential and probably thought he was well suited for grooming to one day head the state when Sabah would eventually and invariably be granted independence from Britain. Barely had he started work in his new position, Tun Mohamad Said was packed off to London to undergo training in administration and management.

Political career

On his return to Sabah two years later, Tun Mohamad Said became involved in politics when he joined the United Sabah Nationalist Organisation (USNO) headed by Tun Datu Mustapha Bin Datu Harun.

Tun Mohamad Said had, prior to that, shown a keen interest in politics and it was a matter of time before he plunged headstrong into the political arena. Earlier, in November 1960, he had led the Kota Belud delegation to attend Usno’s First Annual Congress. He had to, of course, first seek permission from the British Resident of the West Coast of Sabah to attend the Congress. Permission was granted on condition he attended merely as an observer and not as a delegate. Tun Mohamad Said not only defied the Resident’s instructions to not attend the Congress as a delegate but he also delivered an address, his first public speech.

On his return, Tun Mohamad Said was summoned by the Resident and reprimanded. He was warned that if this ‘indiscretion’ were to be repeated, disciplinary action would be taken against him. Tun Mohamad Said had had his first taste of politics and he never looked back thereafter. This was the beginning of a long and illustrious career in Sabah politics for Tun Mohamad Said.

They say politicians are not born; they are made. Tun Mohamad Said, however, was definitely destined to a life of politics. In the next Usno Annual General Assembly the following year, Tun Mohamad Said won a seat in the Supreme Council and thereafter was appointed the party’s Vice President. Politics was now his life and in his blood.

Tun Mohamad Said was a superb orator and he criss-crossed the length and breadth of Sabah delivering speeches on unity, education, the economy, culture as well as matters related to the indigenous (Bumiputera) community. Tun Mohamad Said was attempting to fan the sentiments of nationalism in preparation for the first elections due in 1963.

On 25th September 1963, Tun Mohamad Said won the Usukan state seat and became a State Legislative Assembly Member (Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri, ADUN) in the first general elections ever to be held in Sabah. He was subsequently appointed Sabah’s first Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. And that day saw Tun Mohamad Said’s civil service career come to an end and he became a fully-fledged politician. In Sabah’s First Parliamentary Elections in 1969, Tun Mohamad Said also contested the Kota Belud Parliament seat and won while still retaining his state seat of Usukan.

On 1st November 1975, Tun Mohamad Said was appointed the Chief Minister of Sabah after the resignation of Tun Datu Mustapha. However, about six months later, on 15th April 1976, Usno was defeated in the elections and so ended Tun Mohamad Said’s career as Sabah’s Chief Minister. Due to this crushing defeat, Tun Datu Haji Mustapha resigned as the President of Usno in August 1976 and Tun Mohamad Said took over the helm of the party as the Acting President.

In August 1982, though, due to age constraints, Tun Mohamad Said retired from active politics. However, they would still not allow him to totally retire and, on 1 January 1987, Tun Mohamad Said was appointed Sabah’s Seventh Yang di-Pertua Negeri (Governor).

Deaths

Tun Said Keruak died on 17 November 1995, barely eleven months after retiring as the Governor on 31 December 1994. He was buried at the State Mausoleum near Sabah State Mosque in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.