ROSLI DHOBI

HISTORY OF ROSLI DHOBI

On 1932, in a small village named Kampung Siong, which is situated in Sibu, Sarawak,
Rosli Dhobi was born. He had 3 siblings, an elder sister and a younger brother. According to his
friends, although Rosli Dhobi was a quiet person, he was quite easy to approach and to talk to.
His career started off as a teacher but he gave up in 1947 to teach in Sibu's people
school. Besides being a teacher, he is also a poet and a nationalist. One of his poem "
Panggilan Mu yang Suci" ("Your Holy Call") encourages the young ones to stand up and fight
for independence. He used his nickname "Lidros" while writing patriotic poems to prevent the
British from tracking him down. In 1948, he was introduced into the "Rukun 13" by his old friend,
Bujang Suntong.
After entering the "Rukun 13", Rosli Dhobi took his nationalism to another level. The
greatest achievement in expressing his nationalism is the assassination of Sir Duncan George
Steward, the second governor of Sarawak. Rosli Dhobi, together with the members of "Rukun
13", planned the assassination carefully. The plan was carried out on December 3, 1949.
Rosli Dhobi was arrested immediately on the spot after the attempt to assassinate.
Unfortunately, Sir Duncan George Steward passed away one week after the incident. 5 days
after the incident Rosli Dhobi was found guilty and sentenced to death, he was executed on the
2nd of March 1950, after spending the last moments of his life in prison.
Reference
-Wikipedia, accessed on January 15, 2013, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosli_Dhobi


REASON FOR ROSLI DHOBI'S OPPOSITION
In 1946, after the Second World War, the Brooke family faced a few difficulties in order
to continue to rule Sarawak. First, financial problem arose as the economy was unstable and
Vyner Brooke did not have the financial power to rebuild Sarawak after the war. Secondly,
Anthony Brooke, the suppose heir to the crown and also the nephew of Charles Vyner Brooke,
was considered unworthy by Vyner Brooke to be the next "Raja Putih"( the king of sarawak),
therefore, Vyner Brooke decided to hand Sarawak over to the British government. Lastly, the
British government also pressured Vyner Brooke to hand over Sarawak to ensure their benefits
from investing on Sarawak. All of this caused Sarawak to be colonized by Britsh.
However the people of Sarawak do not agree of this, this is because the act of handing
over Sarawak to the British conflicts with the 1941 constitution, which allows more freedom for
local Sarawakians to participate in the government and furthermore, as a step towards
independence. Unfortunately, Vyner Brooke did not fulfill his promise, instead he let the British
government take over Sarawak.
Furthermore, the Sarawakians believe that if the Brooke family continue to rule Sarawak,
it will eventually bring independence to the country. That is why they oppose the idea of being
colonized by British.
Besides, the decision was made without the consent of the locals. Although the British
have the Signature of agreement from the head of the indigenous people and other leaders of
Sarawak, they got them through lies and deception, which in turn angered the locals.

The "Rukun 13" is formed mainly to oppose the cession of Sarawak to British. Thirteen
of the members, including Rosli Dhobi, are considered as radicals by the British. The mission of
the "Rukun 13" is to eradicate all Europeans and Malays who supports Sarawak being
colonized by British. As the "Rukun 13" sees that nationalism at a middle level did not catches
the attention of the British government, they decide to take it to a higher level. So, they decided
to use the harsh way to let the British understand their opposition towards the cession of
Sarawak. Initially, they planned to kill Sir Charles Noble Arden-Clarke, who was the British
governor at that time, but fate decided that he has to transfer to Gold Coast. That is why the
"Rukun 13" changed their target to the next British governor. The result of this was the
assassination of Sir Duncan Steward.

Reference
- Wikipedia. Anti-cession movement of Sarawak . accessed on January 15, 2013.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-cession_movement_of_Sarawak
-hongkoon. July 14, 2009. t3-bab-6. accessed on January 15, 2013.
http://sejarahpmrkwanghua.wikispaces.com/Tingkatan+3






MY WAYS TO APPRECIATE ROSLI DHOBI'S SACRIFICE AND MY OPINION ON IT.
My way to appreciate Rosli Dhobi's sacrifice is to prevent the country from being
colonized again, so that Rosli Dhobi's sacrificed will not be in vain. To fulfill this, I will practice
nationalism and be loyal to my king and country. For example, I have to increase my knowledge
and have commitment towards the development of the country. I will also try my best to
contribute to the society. To increase my knowledge I will read and study books related to the
situation and the life of people during pre-independence period, this way i can learn from their
mistakes and not to repeat them. I will also watch documentaries of Rosli Dhobi, which will give
me a more clearer image and vision of his efforts. Furthermore, I should study on how to
improve the technology of our country in various aspect, such as transport, energy, military
forces, and data protection. In my opinion, a higher level of knowledge and rapid development
can prevent other stronger forces such as the British from exploiting us or taking over our
country.
Other than that, I can appreciate his sacrifice by telling the efforts and the story of Rosli
Dhobi to others to make them understand the hardships and efforts needed to achieve
independence. By doing so, I can show my respect to him and convince others to feel the same.
For example, I can write his story on my blog or on Facebook and invite people to comment on
it. Moreover, I can also write an article about his heroic story and reasons to appreciate his
efforts on the school's newspapers. This is because people nowadays do not give much
attention to independence heroes such as Rosli Dhobi because they do not know how hard it is
to achieve it, therefore there is a need to let them know how much the people of the past have
suffered so that they will understand and reflect on their own actions.