As for me, I found my niche in Brooke’s country of 30 indigenous tribes, once ruled and dominated by piratical “Sea Dayak” head hunters living in communities scattered throughout Sarawak’s 5,000km of rivers and remotest regions. As a “jungle wallah” my rumble in our own tropical forests started in 1981, when fascinated by the exploits of Malaysia’s brave Iban “head-hunters”.

I headed upriver. It was in upper Rajang, the nation’s longest 560km river, that I discovered my forte when I encountered a pandora’s box of stories of tales ranging from man-eating crocodiles and cultural cannibals! In my first exploratory foray, I was fortunate to meet Kapit-born Dr James Jemut Masing, the first Iban with an Australian PhD in anthropology.

Through him I learnt about the celebrated custom and ritual of his Iban ancestors--HEAD HUNTING!. Masing who wrote in his essay “Timang and its significance in Iban culture” (submitted for his Master of Arts degree at the Australian National University) said the human soul, from which all Iban life springs, resides in the head. Explaining, the importance of obtaining heads, he said it had to do with their lifestyle as farmers and shifting cultivators.

“To the Iban, the human head represents “vitality, supremacy and fertility” and according to timang (Iban folklore), the head contains padi (rice) grains.” Dr Masing who studied Iban mythology said in the old days the gawai amat ritual (also called gawai burong) was held to ask the spirits for success in warfare and headhunting.

“The timang is narrated like an epic by a lemambang (bard) during a gawai (festival) ambang which invokes the spirits and gods to guide the Iban warriors and give them magical protection during headhunting missions.” Masing explained that Gawai antu was held for the spirits of dead warriors who lost their heads in battle.

He said: “At this gawai, the spirits are invited from the mythical land of the dead called Sebayan to join the living longhouse folk for the last time.” In the early 1990s I attended a Gawai Antu with my classmate lawyer and police commando, “hero” ASP Wilfred Gomez anak Malang, a Panglima Gagah Berani (PGB) gallantry award recipient.

As the leader of the elite Special Branch Probing Unit (SBPU), he and two Iban warriors Sgt Moari and PC Andang took on 30 CTs killing four enemy in Ulu Kanowit in fierce firefight on June 3, 1973. Wilfred was the guest of honor at the ceremonial drinking of sacred rice wine called ai jalong at the home of another Iban “Hero” ASP Rentap at Lubuk Antu. Masing said because the head represents supremacy, the comrades of Iban warriors who died in battle would lop off the heads of their colleagues so that they would not fall into enemy hands.

At Kapit I also met WW2 veteran Temenggong Jinggut anak Atan who regaled me with his tales and exploits in witnessing as a youngster. Coming from a long line of famous hereditary chiefs, Jinggut was only 16 when appointed “Penghulu” during the tail end of the war. In one incident in 1945 he and several others went on a hunt for Japanese soldiers who had victimized the Iban during the occupation.

“One particular soldier who was confronted by my uncle killed him and soldier hid in a bunker and but we caught with him and slashed him to death. “I was so furious that when the others cut out his liver, I had a piece of it,” reminisced Jinggut Jinggut said he also witnessed the smoking of heads after they had killed two Japanese soldiers.

“Our heroes returned with the freshly decapitated heads, to Nanga Mujong and the ceremony started us walking the length of the longhouse ruai (the roofed verandah) past a long line of admiring spectators. After various rituals the heads were taken to the stream by an elderly and experienced expert in preserving heads.

“I noticed that the old man first made a clean cut from under the chin and close to the jaw, right to the back of the head, removing the stump of the neck.’ “He then proceeded to widen the occipital brain with the pointed end of his parang and then sliced one end of a piece of rattan. “He then placed the long end of the rattan strip into the occipital hole and dug out a bits of the brain.

He placed it in some glutinous rice and swallowed quickly. “He did not throw up (vomit), because it would be mali as the man would fall ill and die because his semangat (spirit) was weak. The ceremony continued with the removed of brain matter of the occipital hole with the rattan strip with a vigorous twisting and poking movement (like using a bottle brush) while holding the head in a running stream.

In this way the soft matter was -easily washed away by the water and removed. He added: “When the last bits of brain was removed, the expert removed the eyes of the victims with his parang. “Sometimes the eyes are not removed, in which case leaves are placed to cover the eyes so that they will not bulge or pop out during smoking.”

The heads were then wrapped in several large scented leaves gathered from the river bank, and tied with rattan strips so that the jaws would not fall off. Describing the age-old ceremony, author and naturalist Sir Hugh Low said that after a battle the heads are taken back to the village wrapped in the plaited leaves of the nipah palm.

Low said after a battle smell of the putrid head often surpassed the “odorous durian” fruit. He said most of the heads taken by the Ibans were smoked in a manner similar to that in which fish is smoked. He said: “In this way, the head (minus the eyes) is preserved, together with the flesh and hair.

Sometimes during the process, the head is singed black. Another Jinggut tale worthy of mention, was during the initial months of the Malayan Emergency in 1948, when several Iban trackers hacked off the heads of several CTs not knowing that it was an offence. Jinggut who was then a co-opted British army Lieutenant said:

“The British officer in charge reprimanded the offenders and ordered the heads to be stitched back to the corpses so that they could be photographed and properly buried.” ”Later, some Gurkha soldiers, involved the CT killing who had helped the Iban in the removal of the heads, were court martialled.

Our trackers were warned not to do this again or we would face the same consequences.” In another incident in 1965 during the Malaysian-Indonesian confrontation in Sarawak, Iban from the Ranger Regiment took collected at least 30 enemy heads and took them back in gunny sacks as war trophies.

Stephanie Morgan states that "among some groups competing for land, there had evolved a relatively symbolic kind of combat called Bepalu, using clubs instead of iron, which were ostensibly intended to kill, and are excellent jumpers. "When a little more civilized, they would make good soldiers, being brave in nature. They are, however, short- a man of five feet five inches high would be considered tall, and the average is about five feet three inches."

Stamping Out Crime

James Brooke realized that in order to control Sarawak, he had to stamp out crime and especially headhunting, which was not only instilling fear amongst the various tribes, but also disreputable to his nation in Borneo. Brooke took advantage of the fact the Than, who lived in watersheds that divided one river system from the other, were always at odds with each other.

"Rivers have traditionally played a central role in everyday life and in the past they provided the chief lines of communication and travel between Than settlements. Locally, even today, people identify themselves with the river they live, most often describing themselves, for example, as Kami Sarihas -we are from the Saribas (River) or Kami Skrang.

In the past, such groups formed the maximal units of warring alliance and defense" (SMJ, Special Monograph No.7, 1994; 26). At the height of Brooke's rule, the more aggressive Saribas and Skrangs dominated their neighbours, causing them much misery and hardship and in a short period of time, the Saribas-Skrang Dayaks had become the most powerful Than group. Brooke found an ally in the Balau tribe, who, as sworn enemies of the Skrangs and Saribas, were prepared to join forces with him.

Many of the latter groups had been forced to retreat downriver to Batang Lupar and Sebuyau, where, a few leaders who wanted to get as far away as possible from their enemies, moved closer to the administrative centre to seek protection under the Brunei envoy, Muda Hassim. Groups of persecuted Balau settled along the way at Sadong and Samarahan rivers on the periphery of Kuching.

One Balau leader moved to Lundu, West of Santubong and closer to Dutch Borneo (he was later conferred the title of Orang Kaya by the Sultan of Brunei), while another led his people to Padungan in Kuching, where they settled on the true right bank of the Sarawak River. So the Sebuyaus ultimately became friends of the government and served Brooke's purpose.

Other Dayaks of Sarawak The other Dayaks who were dependent on Brooke's protection were the Land Dayaks or Bidayuh, as they are now known. Distributed in the upper reaches ofSarawak, Sadong and Samarahan rivers and the hills around Kuching, such as the Bukar, Sentah, Penrissen, Peninjau and Singghai as well as Lundu.

They became the closest native allies of the government after Brooke was installed as Rajah. Being quiet, amiable, moral, obliging and honest, they suffered under constant Than attacks and looked upon the white Rajah as a saviour. In James Brooke's time, Sarawak's territory stretched only as far as the Sadong River, which represented about a fifth of the whole state.

The Skrang and Saribas (now in Sri Aman and Betong Divisions) were not yet a part of Sarawak. Along the Rajang River system lived the Orang Ulu or upriver Peoples. These tribes were composed of the Kayan, Kenyah and Melanau (such as Kanowits, Rajangs and Tanjongs of the lower Rajang) as well as the Ukit, Punan, Lahanan, Sekapan and Kejamans of the upper Rajang.

Of all the upriver peoples, the Kayan were described as the most feared and most dominant in the region above the Pelagus rapid of the Rajang River.*4 Many of the latter groups had been forced to retreat downriver to Batang Lupar and Sebuyau, where, a few leaders who wanted to get as far away as possible from their enemies, moved closer to the administrative centre to seek protection under the Brunei envoy, Muda Hassim.

Groups of persecuted Balau settled along the way at Sadong and Samarahan rivers on the periphery of Kuching. One Balau leader moved to Lundu, West of Santubong and closer to Dutch Borneo (he was later conferred the title of Orang Kaya by the Sultan of Brunei), while another led his people to Padungan in Kuching, where they settled on the true right bank of the Sarawak River.

So the Sebuyaus ultimately became friends of the government and served Brooke's purpose.Brooke had a cordial relationship with the Abangs and other Malays, namely fishermen and traders living along the west coast of Borneo between the mouth of the Sarawak and Sadong rivers. He said these Malays were inclined to follow peaceful pursuits of trade and generally happy and content with life.

The Malays lived in large villages comprising attap houses and also had an aristocratic society. Muslims by religion, they were later influenced by the Arabs, who, after inter-marrying with the locals, set up clans in various parts of the country. Though the Malays were never known to be pirates, descendants of communities such as the llianun of North Borneo and Southern Philippines have been known to migrate to Sarawak to settle among the Malays.

The most famous of them was Si Tundoo, an llianun who was murdered by the Malays after eloping with the wife of a local Malay chie£ As a whole, the Malays, represented by the Pangirans, Shari:ffs and Abangs were looked upon as leaders of the native society in Sarawak, while the pagan Dayaks frequently became their serfs. After acquiring his first head, Rentap married Sawai and lived in Skrang.

When they failed to have any children, they adopted a daughter named Tambong, who was raised by Sawai while Libau often went on his headhunting excursions. It is estimated that Rentap stood at around 5 ft 8 in and was very tall for an Than during his time. Initially, Rentap served under the apprenticeship ofDana as a Tau Serang- a war leader.

Together, they posed a lot of problems for the Brunei sultanate, especially the viceroy (prior to the arrival of James Brooke), Muda Hassim, and launched many raids along the coast of Sarawak. During the late 1830s, the Saribas and Skrang Than began to launch joint raids against the Land Dayaks (Bidayuh) and Chinese living in the Sambas-Pontianak region (namely the Montrado, Sambas, Mempawah and Sungei Raya districts in Dutch Borneo's western province) bordering Sarawak.

It is said that in an expedition in the Sambas in 1834, Dana managed to seize many cannons. One of Spanish cannons was handed down to Aji. Mter Dana's death in 1854, this cannon was passed on to his three sons - Nanang, Saji and Luyoh, who joined forces with Rentap, whose notoriety grew towards the end of the reign of Raja Muda Hassim.

As such, Saji and Luyoh were not recognized as chieftains by the Brunei Sultanate and unlike other Orang Kaya and Pemancas, did not have any titles. Nanang was conferred the title Orang Kaya Pemanca by Sir Charles Brooke. Master of deception Sandin said that one of the cannons could have been the Bujang Timpang Berang:

"About one year before the arrival of the white Rajah, Libau (Rentap) ofSkrang led his warriors against settlements in the vicinity ofFontianak.But before he reached the area, he attacked the schooner of a Malay trader, capturing a cannon and some ammunition, as well as a Kris with a golden handle." During the expedition, Rentap's warriors travelled 300 miles to Pontianak, where they first attacked a group of Chinese farmers.

After the killings, the Dutch Borneo authorities sent a steamer and called for the Sultan of Pontianak (Sambas) to pursue the raiders. The Sultan equipped his boat with a war party, which was led by the Sultan's relatives including his nephew. It is said that the war party seized the ship of the nephew of the Sultan and escaped with the bounty, including a cannon. Spenser StJohn described Rentap as the most notorious and truculent of Dayak chiefs, who won fame during a cruise off the Dutch possessions in the Sambas.

He gives details of the Sambas episode, from whichh Rentap earned the reputation as being a master of deception. "(Rentap) had surprised some Chinese at work in their fields. The Dutch officials... sent out a gunboat to intercept his return; the Sultan of Sambas also equipped a war perahu••. manned it with a select crew, in which many young nobles were included as volunteers.

The two gunboats soon came in sight of the fast-pulling Dayak banglw.ngs, which, however, appeared in distress. "The Malays, excited by the chase, gave way with a will, and soon left behind their European ally." "When Rentab saw the Sambas boat was beyond all immediate assistance from the Dutch guns, he turned on his Malay pursuers, came down on them at full speed of his war boat, and overwhelmed the Malays beneath a shower of spears.

Not one escaped." "Having seized their heads, their guns, and gold-handled krises, he abandoned his prize and pulled off from the heavy Dutch boat which was vainly endeavouring to come to the aid of its consort."

Reverend Fr Felbrugge

Two Dutch airmen were killed in the crash and were buried at the Marudi church. After this Father Feldbrudge, Baram Resident Donald Hudden and Sarawak Oil General Manager B.B. Barry and the four Dutch airmen left Marudi for Long Nawang.

Fr Feldbrugge with Catholics in Miri.

On reaching Long Nawang Hudden decided to return to Sarawak and take refuge among some of his Saban friends adjacent to the Kelabit Highlands. However, Hudden was later killed by three Iban—former prisoners at the Baram jail—and beheaded.

. With Catholics at Marudi.

When the 76 Japanese marines from Samarinda under Captain Sima Mora arrived at Long Nawang on August 20, 1942 they immediately attacked the barracks where about 60 Europeans were housed killing six people. On September 23, the Japanese under Captain Shima second in command (2IC) Lt Okino and 26 marines bayoneted the remaining eight European women and children and threw them in another mass grave.

Fr. Feldbrugge’s boat on the Baram river below the Marudi rectory Dutch bomber crashed on Decdember 15, 1941.Fr Felbrugge rescued four Dutch Airmen men.

On August 26 a native Kenyah from Long Nawang who hid in his hut remembered seeing Father Feldbrudge, wearing his white 'sultana' and his red sashes, being led out into the open with the others. They had to two large graves for themselves. They were bayoneted and fell into the grave.

He was the last one to be killed. According to the report, 72 in total were massacred. Dutch military and Dutch civilians, American, British and Australian military. Roman Catholic Missionary Fr Joseph Feldbrugge was born on October 1, 1900 at Groningen. His parents were Joseph and Maria (nee Swagemakers), and he had five brothers and 4 sisters.

In 1920, after having studied for four years at the Culemberg seminary) he joined St. Joseph’s Missionary Society (the Mill Hill Missionaries0 and entered St. Joseph’s Missiehuis at Roosendaal to study Philosophy. In 1922 he was promoted to study Theology at St. Joseph’s College in Mill Hill, London.

Long Nawang Massacre

A day after the Japanese captured Kuching on December 26, 1941 they left Sibu to travel by the Rajang River to reach the Dutch Retreat at Long Nawang three weeks away by boat. Led by the Sibu resident and Native Affairs officer Andrew McPherson from Scotland, they did not surrender as instructed to by the Rajah.

Among them were Sarawak Constabulary Assistant Commissioner Desmond Vernon Murphy from Ireland and Francis Mansel the Divisional Treasurer and Postmaster. All three who had ASIAN wives and children, headed unwittingly to their nemesis at Long Nawang.  McPherson was the father of two children from an Iban from Kapit—Bibi and Bujang who were toddlers when he left.

Hajah Bibi was the mother of Datuk Nancy Shukri who is Malaysia’s Tourism Minister and son Bujang the father of prominent Group CEO and Executive Director Dato’ Anthony Bujang. Murphy’s wife was a Kuching-based Javanese and Mansel’s wife a prominent local Japanese who moved with him to Sibu. Mansel’s had a surviving son Edward 80, while Murphy’s grandchildrenn are lawyer Malcolm, Melvin and Melissa Murphy a journalist.

When they arrived at Long Nawang, an idyllic village in the remotest part of Borneo on January 22, they thought they had found their Shangri la. In early 1942 while McPherson and his group were adjusting to the village the Japanese captured Tarakan and killed 255 Dutch soldiers. Balikpapan fell on January 25 when the Japanese command moved their garrison at Samarinda.

By early April, a small detachment of about 60 Dutch officers and non-commissioned officers and privates under Lt W.J.A. Westerhuis (including Westerhuis’ wife) headed for Long Nawang. Arriving at Long Nawang after an arduous nine-week journey Lt Westerhuis took charge of the Long Nawang, a former Dutch outpost. The Dutch soldiers moved into the barracks with the Sarawakians; Macpherson and his wife stayed in a private bungalow, while Westerhuis and his wife Ybeltje Geziana Djikman from Smilde, Holland stayed at the old Dutch Commander’s residence on the Western bank of the Kayan River.

In the Japanese were told of the Dutch Garrison at Long Nawang and sent word to Westerhuis to make his way back to Samarinda or face the consequences. On the night of August 19, the 72 Japanese marines under Captain Shima Mora and his second in command (2IC) Lt Okino arrived at Long Nawang. They occupied the longhouses on the east bank of the Kayan River closest to the Dutch outpost and locked the villagers in, threatening to shoot anyone who tried to escape.

Captain Shima Mora who had prior information on the daily Dutch soldier parade at the compound opposite the soldier’s barracks planned the attack for the daily 8.30a.m. marching drill. On a signal from Captain Mora, the Japanese who were armed with light machine guns (LMG), rifles and knee mortars lined themselves along the Eastern bank of the river and open fire.

Dutch troops surrender to Japanese soldiers during the invasion of the Netherlands East-Indies 1942

In June 1950, five years after the War, the remains of the Brooke victims were exhumed by Sarawak’s colonial government and buried in Tarakan in Indonesia in the island’s “Field of Honour” together with other Dutch soldiers who were executed by Japanese in 1942. In 1967 after Confrontation between Indonesian and Sarawak ended the Brooke victims were re-interred at a Dutch War Cemetery in Surabaya, East java.

Since then, none of the 70 Japanese marines under Captain Shima Mora involved in the brutal killings have not been brought to justice. On December 26, 1942 a day after the Japanese bombed Sibu, the divisional resident Andrew Macpherson and his six-month pregnant wife Clare led the exodus of 24 Europeans comprising senior Brooke civil servants up the 562km long Rajang river.

A day after arriving at Long Nawang on January 22, 1942 the group settled in the abandoned Dutch barracks on the Western bank of the Kayan river connected by a suspension bridge to the village proper where the local “Kantor Camat’s” (district office) was situated. MacPherson and his wife Clare stayed on the Eastern bank of the river at the district office as she was about to deliver their child in March that year. Retired Kenyah pastor Surang Bira,60, said that before the arrival of Sarawakians, his grandfather Major Karnevel, a Dutch-Ambonese Eurasian, was the officer in charge of the station.

“He stayed at the Kantor Kepala Belanda (Dutch officer’s residence) and often entertained other Dutch visitors who took the long journey to enjoy a short stay in peaceful settlement. “I have a picture of my grandfather with one of his Dutch friends named Tiau Sten standing in front of the old Dutch soldiers canteen. I was told that Long Nawang even had their own medical facility with a doctor,” said the Long Temuyat villager.

On the arrival of Lt Westerhui’s men, the food resources including large stocks of rice, a herd of 40 cattle, goats and local pigs were soon depleted forcing the inhabitants to hut for food. Major Tom Harrisson who led Surveillance Reconnaissance Detachment (SRD) team codenamed “Semut” 1 to land at Bario and raise a group of native guerrilla fighters said things could have different had Westerhuis heeded the warning of some Kenyah who had spotted the Japanese marines proceeding upriver and towards Long Nawang.

Harrison in his book “World Within” (pages 320-321) said: "…some Kenyahs from the Mahakam side came dashing in to say that the Japanese were only a couple of days away, in strength. The Dutch officer in charge of the post militarily, did not believe this. The Kenyahs were put in the beastly little lock-up (four cells) which the Dutch kept for their interior purposes.

Three days later these cells were occupied by the wretched wives of such Europeans and Americans as had gathered here en pair.” In an unrestricted report by the Australian Army dated December 10, 1945 Lt Frank Oldham who interviewed some of the witnesses including the Batak police corporal in charge of the station Tamburian, details of the incident were given.

An Australian SRD officer with Semut III( there were four Semut detachments in Sarawak) Olham was assisted by a Sarawak Lim Beng Hai from Kuching who was able to translate most of the interviews which Lt Oldham submitted to the Australian authorities after the war. A St Thomas School student, Lim and 30 other Belaga residents from Semut III including Chinese, Malays, Kayan, Kenyah, Sekapan and Kejaman natives were the “Sarawak Volunteers” to visit Long Nawang in August 1945.

They arrived at the station in the first week or September to find that the Japanese had left the outpost and that Cpl Tamburian and two others were the only members of the security personnel at Long Nawang. In an interview with Oldham Cpl Tamburian said that in the initial attack four members from Sarawak were killed when a mortar hit their quarters across the river.

Tamburian’s said that during the attack none of the Dutch soldiers were hurt; the local Dutch soldiers were in the front line of the attack while the regulars were further behind. While the majority of the soldiers ran off into the jungle, Lt Westerhuis who was in his residence at that time came out holding a white flag but was cut down my machine gun fire.

He said: “Later in the day, a portion of the (Dutch) defenders returned and surrendered. The remainder surrendered the following day being without food and essentials. Two British men (one believed to be Macpherson) who were away shooting (hunting) at that time. On hearing of the surrender, they also returned.” Three days later all but one of the 17 locals serving as soldiers with the Dutch were released; they were Cpl Sapulette and privates Parjo, Boeng, Kastanja, Mawunta,Oley, Huka, Saija Bara Efranns, Tanoe, Kotambunan, Andries, Soilirman, Laturette, Wantart and J Sitaniapessy.

The only local soldier killed was Kailola who was branded as being a Lt Westerhuis loyalist. Except for Tamburian and constables Markus and Lemuntut who stayed back at the village, most of the local Dutch soldiers returned to their homes in Tarakan. On August 26 the Captain Shima Mora planned the systematic massacres of remaining soldiers and civilians by organising “fish bombing” exercise in the lower Kayan river using explosives and grenades.

Earlier two mass graves were dug behind the Long Nawang barracks to prepare for a mass killing. At 8.30 a.m. while the village was practically empty except for the aged and sick, a detachment of Japanese marines led the 60 of the blind-folded detainees in batches to the graves where they were systematically killed my rifle fire or bayonets and pushed into the graves.

Co-ordinated by Captain Mora, the fish bombing exercise was planned to coincide simultaneously with the sound of explosions of the fish bombs, to muffle the sound of rifle shots as the Europeans were being executed. By noon all the evidence of the killings had been buried in the graves of a hill known as “Liang Belanda” (the Dutch graves) and with that Captain Mora and a detachment prepared to leave for Samarinda but not before giving instructions for another morbid task.

According to a Sabah Daily Express report dated April 2, 2013 Fr Theo Feldbrugge, a nephew of Joseph Felbrugge, his uncle wearing his white Sultana and red sashes, was the last to be killed. Cpl Tamburian suggested that after Captain Shima Mora left, the European women could have been used as “comfort girls” for Lt Okino and his soldiers. “The following day the commander of the Japanese troops Captain Shima Mora, left for Samarinda with 45 men leaving Lt Okino in charge of the remaining 25. One of his men was Sgt Sugi,” Tamburian continued.

“All the women and their children were kept in one house (a Dutch officer’s bungalow) under guard, being allowed out each day for exercise. They were held thus for two weeks, the Japanese soldiers often paid them visits. Okino was also seen going there.” On September 23, Lt Okino executed the last stage of the plan to exterminate all the remaining captives—four women and four children who were taken to the same locality of the graves of the other victims for the coup de grace!

Mrs MacPherson and her infant were brought there by a crudely-made stretcher. “No shots were heard from across the river indicating that they were probably bayoneted,” added Tamburian. Later when Lt Oldham and his group visited the village they were told the mutilated bodies of the women and children were buried in a shallow depression. Sarawak volunteer Lim in his book “Sarawak Under the Throes of war” (2010):

“At the execution site, the women were mercilessly bayoneted and the children were made to climb up trees with the Japanese soldiers at the ready to push the bayonets into the anus of each of the children.” On the same afternoon after the macabre job was completed, Lt Okino and his 25 men packed their bags and returned to Samarinda. A total of 68 people had been known to have been killed one what was one of Borneo’s blackest massacre!

Reliving the Cruel Massacres of Long Nawang Part 2

It was an idyllic village in the remotest part of Borneo where a community of European men, women and children thought they had found their Shangrila. Comprising close nearly 90 British, Dutch and Americans, they were refugees of the Second World War who had fled from Japan’s invading forces to Long Nawang-a highland village on the Sarawak-Indonesian border.

On December 26, 1942 a day after the Japanese bombed Sibu, the divisional resident Andrew Macpherson and his six-month pregnant wife Clare led the exodus of 24 Europeans comprising senior Brooke civil servants up the 562km long Rajang river. It took the group which also comprised two other European women and two children three weeks of painful hauling of their boats past treacherous rapids; past the Pelagus to Bakun before they finally crossed over the Kalimantan border.

A day after arriving at Long Nawang on January 22, 1942 the group settled in the abandoned Dutch barracks on the Western bank of the Kayan river connected by a suspension bridge to the village proper where the local “Kantor Camat’s” (district office) was situated. MacPherson and his wife Clare stayed on the Eastern bank of the river at the district office as she was about to due deliver their child in March that year.

On February 2, 11 days after their arrival Brooke officers were joined by seven others including the District Officer of Marudi Donald Hudden, General Manager of the Sarawak Oilfields Ltd in Miri B.B. Parry, Roman catholic priest of Marudi Fr Joseph Feldbrugge and four Dutch airmen who aircraft had been shot down by Japanese Zero fighters before it crashed in the river just below Fort Hose in Marudi. Fr Felbrugge was responsible for rescuing the four in the incident while another pilot and airman was killed in the December 18, 1941 crash.

As the weeks began to take a toll on the nerves of the Europeans—a batch of three Sarawak officers decided to return to Belaga to surrender to the Japanese while another group of five fled to the coast hoping to make it out of Borneo. However, after two weeks after arriving at the village, Hudden decided that it was too dangerous living with the large group of Europeans as it would be a matter of time before Japanese found out about their presence and left.

Sadly, Hudden made it as far as the Kelabit highlands before he was killed and beheaded by several former Iban convicts who were paid by the Japanese to carry out the crime. By this time the Japanese Southern army had captured Tarakan on January 12, 1942 where 255 Dutch soldiers were killed in action or beheaded by Samurai sword after their capture.

When Balikpapan fell on January 25, the Japanese command moved their garrison to Samarinda. In the meantime a small detachment of about 60 Dutch officers and non-commissioned officers and privates comprising Dutch-Eurasians and local natives under Lt W.J.A. Westerhuis (including Westerhuis’ wife) decided to head up the Kayan river and head for Long Nawang.

Arriving at Long Nawang after an ardous eight to nine week journey in early April 1942, Lt Westerhuis took charge of abandoned Long Nawang Dutch outpost. The Dutch soldiers moved into the barracks with the Sarawakians; Macpherson and his wife remained where they were while Westerhuis and his Dutch wife Ybeltje Geziana Djikman from Smilde, Holland stayed at the Dutch Commander’s residence on the Western bank which was once occupied by Major Karneval.

Retired Kenyah pastor Surang Bira,60, said that before the arrival of Sarawakians, his grandfather Major Karnevel, a Dutch-Ambonese Eurasian, was the officer in charge of the station. “He stayed at the Kantor Kepala Belanda (Dutch officer’s residence) and often entertained other Dutch visitors who took the long journey to enjoy a short stay in peaceful settlement.

“I have a picture of my grandfather with one of his Dutch friends named Tiau Sten standing in front of the old Dutch soldiers canteen. I was told that Long Nawang even had their own medical facility with a doctor,” said the Long Temuyat villager. On the arrival of Lt Westerhui’s men, the food resources including large stocks of rice, a herd of 40 cattle, goats and local pigs were soon depleted forcing the inhabitants to hut for food.

In no time the Japanese command received information about community at Long Nawang and sent word to Westerhuis to make his way back to Samarinda or face the consequences. Major Tom Harrisson who led Surveillance Reconnaissance Detachment (SRD) team codenamed “Semut” 1 to land at Bario and raise a group of native guerrilla fighters said things could have different had Westerhuis heeded the warning of some Kenyah who had spotted the Japanese marines proceeding upriver and towards Long Nawang.

Harrison in his book “World Within” (pages 320-321) said: "…some Kenyahs from the Mahakam side came dashing in to say that the Japanese were only a couple of days away, in strength. The Dutch officer in charge of the post militarily, did not believe this. The Kenyahs were put in the beastly little lock-up (four cells) which the Dutch kept for their interior purposes. Three days later these cells were occupied by the wretched wives of such Europeans and Americans as had gathered here en pair.”

In the meantime, a small detachment of about 60 Dutch officers and non-commissioned officers and privates under Lt W.J.A. Westerhuis (including Westerhuis’ wife) decided to head up the Kayan river for Long Nawang. Arriving at Long Nawang after an ardous eight to nine week journey in early April 1942, Lt Westerhuis took charge of abandoned Long Nawang Dutch outpost.

The Dutch soldiers moved into the barracks with the Sarawakians; Macpherson and his wife remained where they were while Westerhuis and his Dutch wife Ybeltje Geziana Djikman from Smilde, Holland stayed at the Dutch Commander’s residence on the Western bank which was once occupied by Major Karneval mission—to capture the outpost. ; they occupied the longhouses on the east bank of the Kayan River closest to the Dutch outpost and locked the villagers in, threatening to shoot anyone who tried to escape.

In the meantime Captain Shima Mora who had prior information on the daily Dutch soldier parade at the compound opposite the soldier’s barracks planned the attack for the daily 8.30a.m. marching drill. On a signal from Captain Mora, the Japanese who were armed with light machine guns (LMG), rifles and knee mortars lined themselves along the Eastern bank of the river and open fire, missing their target because the Dutch soldiers were at least 200 metres away on the other side of the river bank.

In an unrestricted report by the Australian Army dated December 10, 1945 Lt Frank Oldham who interviewed some of the witnesses including the Batak police corporal in charge of the station Tamburian, details of the incident were given. An Australian SRD officer with Semut III( there were four Semut detachments in Sarawak) Olham was assisted by a Sarawak Lim Beng Hai from Kuching who was able to translate most of the interviews which Lt Oldham submitted to the Australian authorities after the war.

A St Thomas School student, Lim and 30 other Belaga residents from Semut III including Chinese, Malays, Kayan, Kenyah, Sekapan and Kejaman natives were the “Sarawak Volunteers” to visit Long Nawang in August 1945. They arrived at the station in the first week or September to find that the Japanese had left the outpost and that Cpl Tamburian and two others were the only members of the security personnel at Long Nawang. In an interview with Oldham Cpl Tamburian said that in the initial attack four members from Sarawak were killed when a mortar hit their quarters across the river.

Tamburian’s said that during the attack none of the Dutch soldiers were hurt; the local Dutch soldiers were in the front line of the attack while the regulars were further behind. While the majority of the soldiers ran off into the jungle, Lt Westerhuis who was in his residence at that time came out holding a white flag but was cut down my machine gun fire.

He said: “Later in the day, a portion of the (Dutch) defenders returned and surrendered. The remainder surrendered the following day being without food and essentials. Two British men (one believed to be Macpherson) who were away shooting (hunting) at that time. On hearing of the surrender, they also returned.”

Three days later all but one of the 17 locals serving as soldiers with the Dutch were released; they were Cpl Sapulette and privates Parjo, Boeng, Kastanja, Mawunta,Oley, Huka, Saija Bara Efranns, Tanoe, Kotambunan, Andries, Soilirman, Laturette, Wantart and J Sitaniapessy. The only local soldier killed was Kailola who was branded as being a Lt Westerhuis loyalist. Except for Tamburian and constables Markus and Lemuntut who stayed back at the village, most of the local Dutch soldiers returned to their homes in Tarakan.

On August 26 the Captain Shima Mora planned the systematic massacres of remaining soldiers and civilians by organising “fish bombing” exercise in the lower Kayan river using explosives and grenades. Earlier two mass graves were dug behind the Long Nawang barracks to prepare for a mass killing. At 8.30 a.m. while the village was practically empty except for the aged and sick, a detachment of Japanese marines led the 60 of the blind-folded detainees in batches to the graves where they were systematically killed my rifle fire or bayonets and pushed into the graves.

Co-ordinated by Captain Mora, the fish bombing exercise was planned to coincide simultaneously with the sound of explosions of the fish bombs, to muffle the sound of rifle shots as the Europeans were being executed. By noon all the evidence of the killings had been buried in the graves of a hill known as “Liang Belanda” (the Dutch graves) and with that Captain Mora and a detachment prepared to leave for Samarinda but not before giving instructions for another morbid task.

According to a Sabah Daily Express report dated April 2, 2013 Fr Theo Feldbrugge, a nephew of Joseph Felbrugge, his uncle wearing his white Sultana and red sashes, was the last to be killed. Cpl Tamburian suggested that after Captain Shima Mora left, the European women could have been used as “comfort girls” for Lt Okino and his soldiers. “The following day the commander of the Japanese troops Captain Shima Mora, left for Samarinda with 45 men leaving Lt Okino in charge of the remaining 25.

One of his men was Sgt Sugi,” Tamburian continued. “All the women and their children were kept in one house (a Dutch officer’s bungalow) under guard, being allowed out each day for exercise. They were held thus for two weeks, the Japanese soldiers often paid them visits. Okino was also seen going there.” On September 23, Lt Okino executed the last stage of the plan to exterminate all the remaining captives—four women and four children who were taken to the same locality of the graves of the other victims for the coup de grace!

Mrs MacPherson and her infant were brought there by a crudely-made stretcher. “No shots were heard from across the river indicating that they were probably bayoneted,” added Tamburian. Later when Lt Oldham and his group visited the village they were told the mutilated bodies of the women and children were buried in a shallow depression. Sarawak volunteer Lim in his book “Sarawak Under the Throes of war” (2010):

“At the execution site, the women were mercilessly bayoneted and the children were made to climb up trees with the Japanese soldiers at the ready to push the bayonets into the anus of each of the children.” On the same afternoon after the macabre job was completed, Lt Okino and his 25 men packed their bags and returned to Samarinda. A total of 68 people had been known to have been killed one what was one of Borneo’s blackest massacre!

On November 29, 2017 I finally decided visit the site of the killing fields of Long Nawang --a journey which would take me half way around island of Borneo. From Kuching I flew to Pontianak and after a night stop, the famous oil town of Balikpapan, Samarinda and then by Twin Otter to the Long Ampung—the administrative centre of Apo Kayan.

Armed with my pocket camera, note book ball point pen with two “bodyguards”—a retired army Brigadier general and Indonesian pastor with a visual impairment as my bodyguards, it was a four-hour wheel jungle ride to Long Nawang. Staying with friends of then pastor, I met some of the Kenyah descendant who had tried to protect the victims. One of Borneo’s remotest regions in the mountain complex of Apo Kayan, is the home of about 10,000 native Kenyah in Indonesia East Kalimantan Province.

The incident was described by commander of the Dutch forces in Kalimantan Brigadier General W.J.V. Windeyer as “one of the worst (atrocities) so far disclosed in Borneo”. It was a shameful episode in the annals of the Second World War in South East Asia which until now had remained an enigma until today!! For many years Apo Kayan had been a troubled region with inter-tribal wars between the Indonesian Kenyah and people of Sarawak.

In 1892, the Iban of Kapit led by its charismatic leader Temenggong Koh anak Jubang, travelled up the Rajang and killed 25 Indonesian Kenyah Badang in retaliation for the murder of some of their people who had strayed into their territory while looking for wild rubber. By 1924, a peace-making ceremony between the warring tribes in Kapit, in the presence of Rajah Vyner Brooke, brought some semblance of peace to the region.

From then on Long Nawang with its which had a small Dutch garrison, within its temperate climate was a hill resort for senior Dutch civil servants on furlough. The Cessna Caravan aircraft skilfully piloted by an Australian pilot named Zach and Indonesian pilot Dandi, took us into a mountainous region very much like what the Kelabit highlands was 35 years ago. But unlike the Sarawak hinterland which has logged most of its forests up to the border, Indonesia’s forests in the hinterland remains intact and untouched!!!!

On arrival at Long Ampung after a 60-minute flight, we were received by police Lt Eddie who hails from the Kerayan—another border plateau adjacent to Sarawak’s Ba Kelalan complex. The 27km journey by four-wheel vehicle from Long Ampung to Long Nawang over a mud track was pleasant until it started to rain; but we arrived safely after two hours.

Meeting with the village chief Lucas Bilong,60, we were briefed about district; Apo Kayan is divided into into two sub-districts of Kayan Hulu and Kayan Hilir with the majority of Kenyah Lepo Tau and Lepo Jalan with a smattering of Kayan and Punan, living in about 30 villages. /Lucas said: “In the pre-war days, the Kenyah and Kayan of Apo Kayan lived in impressive longhouses but since Indonesia’s Independence on August 17, 1945, all the longhouses have been dismantled in favour of single unit abodes.

“Times have changed and our people want to keep abreast with the rest of the world in terms of modernisation. But to remind our younger generation about our ancestors, we have built cultural centres so that we do not forget where we came from.” In fact the younger generation were hardly aware of the tragic Long Nawang massacres as the story was kept under wraps; neither has it been mentioned in Indonesia’s history books, nor has it been considered a significant incident worthy of mention.

To relive the tale of the Long Nawang killings Lucas invited three key “ Kepala Adat” cultural chiefs—Ngang Jau and Baya Lek, both in their late 70s, and Lahang Ibau,63-- to speak about the long-forgotten story of the tragic massacres. Lahang expounded: “It’s a tragedy that we old-timers cannot forget, about how the Japanese indulged in the killings as if they were playing games while trying to shame the white people.

“I remember my father telling me about an incident not far from here where a Japanese soldier took a young boy from an European mother to a spot where was a thorny “Jeruk” (local pokok Limau) orange tree, threw the child up so that the screaming child was pierced by the thorns as it fell on the tree.” He said: “Worst things that happened—the possible rape of the women who were later bayoneted to death before being pushed into a shallow grave.”

In my1995 interview with Sarawak’s famous sape player Tusau Padan, he witnessed the killing of a young boy aged about five (the son of Mrs Bomphrey), who was forced to climb a “Pinang” (arecanut) tree naked. Tusau who was born in Long Nawang and was 11 years old at that time said: “The child was forced to climb the tree like a monkey but after a while he got tired and slipped down while a Japanese soldier with a bayoneted rifle aimed for the boy’s backside and plunged the weapon in causing the screaming child to die a painful death.”

Long Ampung cultural chief Baya Apui,76, said that at that time the Kenyah were still animists until Christianity began to make inroads into Apo Kayan in the 1950s “There was so much cruelty by the Japanese who enjoyed watching the Europeans suffer. It’s with some regret that we were unable to make an effort to protect the victims,” lamented Baya who became a member of the Evangelical church of Indonesia Gereja Khemah Injil Indonesia (GKII) in 1958.

Taken on a tour to the mass graves of victims—now part the proposed new border road from Long Nawang to Sarawak where an immigration and customs check-point will be built in the near future. There was nothing to indicate that this was where a brutal and cruel murder had occurred. Not far from the “graves” was a monument to honour the Kenyah who had captured and killed two Japanese stragglers at the tail end of the war—but not a single memorial to remember the slaughter of the Sarawakians and Dutch soldiers.

As the clock tower stuck at the stroke of midnight, the lights came on as the new Malayan flag and anthem Negara Ku, rung out to chants of “Merdeka” led by Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman. Two years later on July 31, 1960, the British engineered the end of the 12-year Malayan emergency but it did not stop the hardcore communist militants.

In the 1950s my father who had been praised for his role curbing the urban terrorism linked to the secret societies in Penang was highly commended by Sir Gerald Templer.

In his memoir “The Adventures of Johnny Ritchie” he said: “Our policy of encouraging the terrorists to surrender was increasingly successful as by this time the morale of the communists had been well and truly shattered. “Eventually, the government ‘s policy of encouraging to the terrorists to surrender, the states were declared a white areas which meant …as completely free of militant communists”

My father who was Malacca police chief and also involved in first General election during personally helped during the campaign period between the Alliance and position. He wrote candidly: “At one time the crowd was so huge I climbed on a table to monitor the situation. Soon I was completely hemmed in on the table which, swaying from side to side.

“A police radio car was in the vicinity of the polling station reported the matter to headquarters in Kuala Lumpur that the police Chief was in trouble and were of rescuing me in view that there could have been communist sympathisers in the crowd.”

But it had a happy ending because 42-year-old Ritchie hopped off the table before the rescue came and returned to office to welcome the news of “Merdeka”.

After the election my parents went in a four-month long world tour—first visiting Hong Kong where my mother Lily Harpur Pierson had schooled for several years. On the Japanese leg they visited Nagasaki where the Lily’s Japanese “mother” died during the 1945 atomic bombing.

On the last leg, they sailed across the Pacific to San Francisco where he was surprised and delighted to find a police car at their disposal. Travelling across USA, they visited Los Angeles and met an American woman whose neighbor was Reverend H.B. Armsturz (later Bishop of the Singapore Methodist church) who had married during the War in 1942.

Before the tour ended in 1958 my mother visited her her foster father James Pierson’s sister near London. Unbeknownst to her, Lily only told she was the adopted after she read her following Pierson’s demise in 1961. Ironically, Harpur died in 1976 at the age of 91, and my mother the following year at the age of 57.

If she had known earlier, I sometimes wondered if my mother’s life would have taken the family in a different direction? In 1978 I told the heir-apparent to the Pahang Throne my story and leading meet a Jerantut ferry man had clues leading to the village of my Malay forebear.

To continue with my father’s journey, in November 1959 he was sent to the border State of Kelantan as Chief Police Officer where his responsibility to keep an eye on the Muslim separatists of Pattani in South Thailand. Despite the end of the 12-year-old Emergency on July 31, 1960 talks between were held by Chin Peng and China’s Deng Xiaoping to open up a second phase of armed struggle at the Thai-Malaysian border where there 600 guerrillas and 1,000 reservists were based.

Another phase of was confined to the jungle in Northen Perak and Kedah-Perlis and mainly Thailand’s three provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, Songkhla and Sadao. In Kelantan, my father was feted by the State and Kelantan Sultan Ibrahim who accorded him the greatest respect as commander of both the Kelantan’s military and police.

CPO Ritchie said: “Every year, the police would hold their sports meeting and it was always a grand occasion with the Sultan and local VIPs in attendance. “When I arrived at a sports meet, I was astounded when a 17-gun salute boomed out. I was told that it was customary for the salute to be fired for the CPO on his occasion.”

Sadly, the Sultan died at the age of 63 in July 1960 but to our surprise we received a “gift” from royal household from the King’s stable of canines—an imported pedigree Pembroke Corgie whom we named “Prince”. In 1961 John Ritchie was transferred again to Alor Star as Chief Police Officer Kedah and Perlis and cultivated the friendship of a member of Kedah royalty Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman.

Conversant in Thai, both were sportsmen and shared were also horse champions—Tunku’s with “Think Big” which won the Melbourne Cup twice and “Bright Eyes” a my father’s Australian griffin, who won 17 races and $120,000, the best Malayan race winner of all time. As police chief Ritche was appointed Chairman of the Malaysian Border Operations Committee which was directly responsible to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Cultivated a close relationship with army chief General Kriangksak Chamanan, I was able to secure an exclusive interview in Bangkok just before he became Prime Minister of Thailand During that time I participated in Malaysia-Thai joint army Operations “Daoyai-Musnah” and rode in the turret of a Malaysian reconnaissance armored in the jungles of Southern Thailand.

My father’s tenure in Alor Star was significant because we lived among the top governments and VIPs such as former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed and Lord President Tun Mohamed Suffian. Our neighbor Tun Suffian who married Englishwoman “Auntie Bunny” later wrote the back cover blurb for my father’s memoir.

Members of the Sarawak People's Guerilla Force (SPGF), North Kalimantan National Army (NKNA) and Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) taking photograph together marking the close relations between them during Indonesia under the rule of Sukarno.

1962 June 27-The communists formed the Sarawak farmers association as the colonial police arrested and Bong who were deported to China.

1963 August 2. Wen and Bong return to Pontianak and are warmly welcomed Indonesia’s General Harris Nasution

1964 August 18--After receiving combat training in Jakarta they return to Kalimantan to form the North Kalimantan National Liberation League (NKNLL) to unite all racial groups for a communist-controlled “North Kalimantan People’s Republic” (NKPR). However, on December 28, the NKNLL was declared illegal by the Indonesian government.

“The NKNLL came into existence shortly before the Malayan National Liberation League (MLLL) mission arrived in Jakarta; and almost coincided with the formation of the Malayan Patriotic Front (MPF) and the Thai Patriotic Front (TPF). All this, together with a marked resurgence of the South Vietnam National Liberation Front (SVNLF), represents regional communist strategy in South East Asia. The destructive hand of Peking is thus clearly illustrated.” (White Paper: The Communist Threat to Sarawak, 1966).

September—First groups of guerillas infiltrate into Lundu and recruit scores of new cadres who go to Batu Hitam for training.

1965: June 27— Indonesia’s RPKAD attack Siburan police station killing Sgt Simon Ningkan, the brother of the Chief Minister Stephan Kalong Ningkan. The government launches “Operation Hammer” where three Chinese areas—Siburan, Beratok and Tapah are fenced up.

September 17-18—A landmark SCO meeting is held in Pontianak to form the North Kalimantan Communist Party (NKCP). Chaired by Wen Ming Chuan and attended by 11 other founding members namely Bong Kee Chok. Among the resolutions discussed was the formation the North Kalimantan Communist Party (NKCP).

September 30—A group supporting the PKI assassinate six Indonesian Army Generals and throw their bodies into an unused well at Lubang Buaya in Jakarta. The coup is overthrown by General Suharto who leads a campaign against the communists. As such the plan to register the NKCP is called off. The TNI now take action against the PKI and Sarawak Communists stationed in West Kalimantan.

October 26--SCO forms two armed units--Pasokan Rakyat Kalimantan Utara (PARAKU) under Bong Kee Chok and Pasokan Gerilya Rakyat Sarawak (PGRS). PARAKU 260 CTs operating in the Martinus complex, Senaning-Kantu complex and Bukit Bangkit-Senaning-Lubok Antu complex opposite the Second Division.

1966: June 27-July 9—An emergency meeting of the Afro-Asian Writers held in Peking passed a resolution on “North Kalimantan” (Sarawak) reflecting the interest of the Peking bloc. It stated that the line of struggle for the liberation of North Kalimantan “was to take up arms and fight resolutely until Malaysia is completely crushed.”

August 11--A peace deal in Bangkok is drawn up between Indonesia and Malaysia ending the Confrontation.. Following the Bangkok talks the government issued “surrender terms”.

September 17: Sarawak government publishes a White Paper outlining the threat by the SCO called “The Communist Threat to Sarawak”.

1967: July 15—Sarawak communists team up with PKI Commander Sofyan to attack the airport at Sanggau Ledo in Kalimantan Barat. They kill four soldiers, seize more than 100 weapons, half of which are semi-automatic rifles, several mortars and 20 boxes of ammo.

October—Indonesian army combine with Dayaks in West Kalimantan who launch a “Mangkok Merah” war against the communists, namely the PGRS who have been blamed for the torture and killing of several Dayak chiefs. Thousands of Chinese are forced to flee from Sanggau Ledo, Bengkayang and the border areas to the coastal towns of Singkawang and Pontianak.

1968: July 5—The first batch of CTs leave Kalimantan and head for for Telok Sabang in the Nonok (Asajaya) Bong Kee Chok takes refuge in the Martinus complex

1969: May 26—Two leading CTs are killed by Indonesian TNI and natives who behead the duo. Their heads are preserved in jars and exhibited in Pontianak.

July--Bong Hong, Kee Chok’s brother, leads of a group of 80 CTs to Telok Sabang.

1970: March 30—The NKCP is officially formed. Its manifesto was written by Bong Kee Chok. He names Wen Min Chuan, himself and Lim Ho Kui as NKCP’s top three leaders.

1971: March 6—Security Forces kill seven CTs at Gunung Gading at Lundu

March 8—Security forces launch the second largest operation codenames “Hentam” at Muara Tebas

May 17—Security Forces shot dead two CTs and captured another who were climbing the fence around St Elizabeth’s catholic school in Sibu. Immediately after this the NKCP sent a “death warrant” (a letter written in Chinese) to the Principal of the School Sister C. Cecily who consulted her superiors the following day. As the CTs had also booby trapped the schools entrance on several occasions, the Mother General decided to withdraw all Order of St Francis expatriate Sisters from Sarawak.

September 19—NKCP is formally recognised by its members to commemorate September 19, 1965 the day when NKCP was initially formed in Pontianak.

It’s a bad year for the police as several of their members killed. They included Inspector Harmon Wong who was assassinated in front of his house in Sibu by a gunman and his accomplice on a motor-cycle. The assassin is killed after being shot dead by an army Lieutenant Fabian Wong who witnessed the killing.

1972: March 28—CTs ambush and kill 15 members of the Malaysian Rangers, along the Biawak-Lundu road. July 21—Bong Kee Chok moves his men from Senaning (just across the border from Lachau and Pantu towns) to Balai Ringin along the Kuching-Simanggang Road.

1973: September—The SB trace a Bong’s group of CTs operating in the Balai Ringin area. Bong and the group of about 30 attempt to flee from the security forces in three separate directions. The largest group of more than 20 is led by Bong, the second has five-members and the third comprises Bong’s special assistants Fam Nam Siong and his wife Bong Sai Ying.

Pursued George Medalist ASP Menggong anak Pangit and the Sarawak PFF he is cornered. Fam Kuok Chiang and his wife Bong Sai Ying (Lim Fei) reach Engklili where they surrender. The third group is cornered and all its members eliminated.

Under pressure, Bong sends two CTs Ah Kwong and his youngest brother Bong Kee Khian—to make contact with the government.

October 12--Inspector Nyomek Nyeap and a police detective detain one of Bong’s messengers on a bus at Pantu and he is interrogated. At about 1 p.m. the police set up another road block and detain the second messenger. SB head DCP Alli Kawi is told that Bong would like to meet the Chief Minister to discuss the possibility of a MOU.

October 16—Bong Kee Khian and Ah Kwang are the first two NKCP members to agree to lay down their arms.

October 19: Bong Kee Chok, his brother Kee Lim visit Simanggang rest house called the “Residency” for talks. Kee Lim is a political in the Chief Minister’s office.

Later in the evening they meet the Chief Minister face-to-face for the first time and informal discussions begin.

October 21: Signing of the MOU between Bong and the Chief Minister. Following this others from the 2nd Bureau start coming out of the jungle.

October 26—Hung Chu Ting meets with his 2nd Burear cadres and criticize the proposed MOU.

November 20—Chong meets Hung who reluctantly agrees to return to society and to “pursue the struggle by constitutional means”.

December—Lim writes a letter to the Chief Minister and is told that the government will not renege on its MOU and guarantees the safety of all returnees. However the NKCP agree to leave some of their hard-core guerrillas behind in the jungle, just in case.

1974: March 27—Lim Ho Kwai, his wife Sia Yen Soo and a bodyguard eventually emerge from the jungle after agreeing to the Sri Aman terms.

May 31—The last batch of CTs finally emerge from the jungle leaving about 185 CT remnants to carry on with the armed struggle.

Corporal Paul Nyopis

Dragged from his house to the Tondong bazaar—about five kilometres from Bau town—they held a “public trial” in the midst of the inhabitants. After torturing Johnny to make a spectacle of the event, they tied the youth to a tree in the fown centre and set him on fire.

Tondong as it is today

 Commander Ng and his men then burnt down the Tondong police station.
The following day and 45 personnel in several vehicles made their way to scene of the incidents unaware that they were heading into an ambush.
 In an interview with the NST in 1990s Paul in Kuching: “I sported the native look and let my hair grow for three months posing as a farmer.

The late Corporal Paul Nyopis being borne to his place of rest

Soon I was able to infiltrate the enemy circle by mixing around with some of communist sympathisers because I was able to speak the Chinese Hakka dialect.  “One day I was approached by a CT bearing an old photograph of myself when I had short hair when I a new recruit. When he asked if I knew the man in the photo, I said I knew him but he had left the district.   “Later I was told that I was on the hit list. The terrorists wanted to assassinate me because I had caused great hardship to the farmers by disrupting their clandestine activities.” 

In a special interview with retired Lt Colonel Syed Othman Syed Omar  in 2005, Nyopis said the CTs had decided to ambush the security forces and kill as many personnel as possible.  The CTs operating at Tondong in at that time were 4th Company of the North Kalimantan Peoples Guerilla Force (NKPGF) a top Communist Terrorist named Ng Nyuk Foh.

On the night of July 14 1972, a group of armed Communist Terrorists approached a young man named Johnny Lee whom they believed was a Police informer. After interrogating him, they dragged from his house to the Tondong bazaar where a where a “public trial” was conducted in front of Chinese villagers. Johnny was tied to a tree and tortured and set on fire. The CTs then burnt down the Tondong police station. 

On receiving the news of the incident the following day, the Bau police under Inspector Anthony Hui called the PFF under Inspector Abdul Razak bin Haji Hassan for assistance.  To get to Tondong bazaar--a small town comprising about to 20 shops and business premises in the communist-infested enclave--.the police convoy had to travel by a winding gravel single lane gravel road with sharp bends where the CTs could easily lay an ambush.

Before leaving Bau, Nyopis armed himself with a 9mm Browning pistol with 4 magazines and a Sterling sub machine gun with four magazines with 30 rounds each. He had a premonition that he was going to do battle with the enemy that morning so he tied two magazines together for quick reloading. Nyopis who was born with a “cawl” (membrane around his head and face) added: “I was told that the membrane was a sign that I was blessed and protected by the Almighty.”

A descendant of the Bidayuh Hero named “Kulow”—who led an expedition against the Skrang head hunters who killed scores of in the Bung Bratak tragedy in the early 1800s— Nyopis wore ancestral charms and talisman whenever he went on an operation against the enemy.

A junior police officer Inspector Tan led the convoy of six vehicles with 45 personnel which left just before 9 a.m. Following behind in the second land rover was Inspector Abdul Razak bin Rahman rover driven by PC Bong Ah Tong with four others.

 Cpl Paul Nyopis was in the third Land Rover driven by PC Tomek with five others--Sgt John Luk, Cpl John Yong and PC Morshidi bin Johari of the Special Branch and Junior Liaison officer Sim as his passengers. Three police trucks carrying more than 30 members of the PFF followed behind.
 Fifteen minutes into the journey, the enemy opened fire as Inspector Tan in the leading armoured vehicle disappeared around a sharp bend along the road.

Paul recalled: “When Inspector Razak’s group in the second vehicle was isolated, the CTs opened fire. PC Bong reacted quickly by turning to the left and stopping the curb as the others bailed out.” Inspector Razak men and his men took cover under the Land Rover and behind the vehicle as the CTs directed their gunfire at the young PFF commander, hoping for an all-important kill.

Lucky for Razak, a pellet only nicked his ear while four others in his vehicle--PC Bong, PC Michael Brand, Cpl Let and the Court Pion--had gunshot wounds. Fortunately, Nyopis’ land rover which was directly behind Razak’s was drawn into the battle. Nyopis said: “It must have been fate because our vehicle stopped directly in front of the enemy ambush!”
 Assessing the situation quickly from his vehicles Nyopis noticed that the uniformed commander of the TNKU giving instructions a second batch of men to direct their aim on his group.

“There was no time to hesitate. I jumped out of the Land Rover and started firing in the direction of the leader with my Browning. If I could kill him it would be a demoralising blow to the CTs.” After emptying his Browning, the sharp-shooter saw the leader fall; later on checking commander Ng was found dead with a bullet wound between his eyes. 

Nyopis continue to lead the charge, jumping onto the bonnet of his Land rover and opening fire with his sterling sub-machine gun when he noticed that one ambush party hiding behind an ant hill directly in front of him.
 Suddenly, Nyopis was hit by gunshots aimed at his stomach. Fortunately, pellets from a shotgun were stopped by his army buckle. A third pellet penetrated his shirt and but not his body.

 Urging the men on, the CTs retreated with the knowledge that 30 armed PFF personnel in three trucks were close behind. After the short but epic battle Nyopis decided against going after the enemy. Instead, he attended to five of the wounded with the medical kit he had brought with him. Cpl Paul Nyopis’ extraordinary feat was praised by his superiors.  A witness report said “Without due regard for his safety he stood up to fire at the enemy, displaying of rare courage instilled fear amongst the enemy.

“That action convinced them to flee for their lives, even though they had the
advantage of surprse, location, good cover and good fields of fire.” “If not for Paul’s gallantry, the Police would have suffered a greater number of casualties.” For his bravery Paul was bestowed the “Pingat Gagah Berani” by the Yang Dipertuan Agung of Malaysia on the March 22, 1975. He left the security forces a year later.

NOTE: A special child, Nyopis was born with a covering of membrane around him called a “caul”. A birth caul is a piece of the amniotic sac still attached to a newly born baby's head or face. In extremely rare cases – called an "en caul birth" — a baby emerges fully inside the amniotic sac, which looks like a thin and filmy membrane. Some call this condition "born with a veil.”  Many cultures consider a baby born with a caul a sign of good luck.
 
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Excerpt of Paul’s interview with Lt Colonel Syed on ambush and the final moments of the gun-battle at Jalan Sebatu on July 15, 1972:
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“After 15 minutes of driving time, leaving the Bau Police station, barely one and a half miles from Bau, as the convoy was struggling uphill, the enemy sprung an ambush on the convoy. They sprung the ambush when the leading armored vehicle disappeared around a sharp bend on the road.

“Their fire was directed at the Land Rover driven by PC Bong Ah Tong whose passenger was Inspector Abdul Razak. They were fired upon from the right of the road. PC Bong reacted by going to the left of the road and stopping. They rapidly debussed to take cover from the enemy’s fire.

“The Land Rover in which Nyopis was in, stopped a few feet behind the Land Rover that was being fired upon. As luck would have it, the Land Rover that Cpl Nyopis was in, stopped directly in front of the enemy ambush!

“He jumped out of the Land Rover and started firing at the enemy. He fired at them standing up without any cover, on the open road.’ With the enemy hardly a meter away from the edge of the road Paul spotted the leader of the group giving directions to his men shoot in the direction his group.

He fired with his Browning pistol continuously at the enemy, he saw the Leader of the ambush party fall. He continued firing at the enemy until he exhausted all the ammunition in his four magazines. He then whipped out his Sterling sub machine gun , jumped onto the front hood of the Land rover, to spot the enemy, who were actually hiding behind an ant hill in front of him.
“He yelled, “A Company to the right! B Company to the left! This was a feint to frighten the enemy. After this particular yell he was hit by the enemy’s bullets.

“Two rounds of the enemy were stopped by the buckle on his belt, one more round entered into his shirt and stayed there. He commenced firing after being hit. As he did not fall after being hit, the enemy started fleeing in panic. This happening is one of the unexplainable.”

The report continued: 

“The rest of the Police had taken cover under the Land Rover and some of them behind the tires of the vehicles. Some of them found cover in the ditch beside the road.  The leading armoured vehicle did turn around realizing that there was an ambush behind them. It managed to return fire on the already fleeing enemy. It did not hit anyone.

“Once the all clear was sounded, Cpl Nypis attended to the wounded. He used the field dressing that he had on him to aid the wounded. The wounded were PC Bong Ah Tong, Inspector Abdul Razak, Michael Brand, Cpl Let and Court Pion.

“A total of 45 policemen were wounded. Theycarried by a single Land Rover to Clinic Bau to be given emergency treatment. Cpl Nyopis was at the location until all the vehicles that were damaged during the ambush were extricated at 1700 hours.

“The Leader of the group of enemy was a Chinese from West Kalimantan, his life was ended by Cpl Nyopis. The leader was armed with a rifle. The bravery displayed by Cpl Nyopis was out of the ordinary, without due regard for his safety he stood up to fire at the enemy, this display of rare courage instilled fear amongst the enemy.

“That action convinced them to flee for their lives, even though they had the advantage of surprise, location, good cover and good fields of fire.  “Inspector Anthony acknowledges by stating this, “I am very grateful to Cpl Nyopis for his actions that day. I was responsible for the convoy”. “His action, of total disregard for his own safety was rewarded.