The late Tina Rimmer named Sabah's first cultural icon

Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun (second from right) paying his last respects to Sabah artist Tina Rimmer prior to her funeral on Saturday. Standing beside him is Tina's grandniece Shona Lewin.

KOTA KINABALU: The late artist Tina Rimmer is the first person to be named as Sabah’s cultural icon.

State Tourism, Culture and Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun handed over the Sabah Cultural Heritage Council certificate to Tina’s grandniece Shona Lewin at her funeral here on Saturday.

Rimmer died on May 5, just two months short of her 100th birthday.

Masidi said the ministry would be holding a tribute for Rimmer on Aug 1, adding that the tribute would feature her paintings of life in Sabah.

Sabah Art Gallery curator Jennifer Linggi said the three-month exhibition of Rimmer's works would be one of the events in her tribute.

Rimmer was originally from Devon, England. She came to North Borneo in 1949 as an Education Officer.

She was one of the original lecturers at Kent Teacher's Training College in Tuaran in 1951 and later taught at Siew Ching Chinese School and Saint Dominic's secondary school, both in Lahad Datu.

She married Lahad Datu-based planter Bert Rimmer in 1959 and they settled in a farm where she learned to rear cattle and plant fruits.

Rimmer became a Malaysian in the 1970s and moved to Tamparuli in 1974 before moving to a house in Likas in 1990 after her husband's death and then to a home in Papar.