Fuad Stephens

Stephens was born on 14 September 1920 in Kudat. His father, Jules Stephen Pavitt (later known as Jules Pavitt Stephens), was half-Kadazan and half-British, born and brought up in Akaroa, Canterbury, New Zealand who migrated to British North Borneo hailing from Papar district in the West Coast Division with paternal ancestry roots in Essex, England. His mother, Edith Cope, was ethnically half-Japanese, half-British and a quarter-Dusun (Orang Sungai) descent originating from the district of Kinabatangan, Sandakan Division.[6] Stephens had five siblings; two younger sisters and three younger brothers. Two of them, John and Martin died in infancy. A third, Leo Benedict was born in 1926 and later became the President of the Dewan Negara from 1985 to 1988.[7]

Donald Stephens founded the political party United National Kadazan Organisation (UNKO) in August 1961. He played a key role in negotiating the independence of Sabah and the formation of Malaysia, together with Tun Mustapha of United Sabah National Organisation (USNO), and Tunku Abdul Rahman, the then Prime Minister of Malaya. The formation of Malaysia was finally achieved on 16 September 1963, which is today known as Malaysia Day. He became Sabah's first Chief Minister.

In 1964, Donald Stephens stepped down as Chief Minister to become the first Malaysian federal cabinet member from Sabah. He was replaced by Peter Lo Sui Yin from the Sabah Chinese Association (SCA). Stephens became the minister in charge of Sabah affairs under the Prime Minister's department.[8]

Stephens saw Malaysia as the federation of four countries - Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore - as equal partners, as opposed to the eleven states making up the Federation of Malaya, which had less autonomy.[9]

Following Singapore's exit from Malaysia, Stephens sought a review of Sabah's participation in the federation,[10] although he was not seeking secession.[11] However, this was rejected by the federal government, which feared that such a move would endanger the federation as a whole.[12]

In 1973, Fuad Stephens was appointed as the governor of Sabah, known as the Yang di-Pertua Negara (the post was later known as Yang di-Pertua Negeri).[13] He held this position until 1975. Later that same year, Tun Fuad Stephens together with Harris Salleh formed the new political party BERJAYA. They won the 1976 state election, defeating Tun Mustapha's USNO and becoming the new government of Sabah. Tun Fuad Stephens became Sabah's fifth Chief Minister. Forty-four days later, he died in a plane crash.

On 6 June 1976 ("Double Six"), Tun Fuad Stephens and several cabinet members boarded a flight from Labuan heading towards Kota Kinabalu. About 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from Kota Kinabalu International Airport, the plane crashed killing everyone on board.

The site of the plane crash is marked by a memorial constructed not long after the accident. The site is located in the Sembulan area near the Grace Garden housing complex in Kota Kinabalu across Jalan Coastal Highway from Sutera Harbour resort.

Stephens converted to Islam in January 1971, and adopted the name 'Muhammad Fuad', the latter meaning "heart" in Arabic. Stephens was also encouraged to renounce his surname at the time of his conversion but declined to do so.[4] For a number of years he held the post of High Commissioner of Malaysia in Australia.

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