KOTA KINABALU: A plane crash that killed Sabah’s first and fifth chief minister, Tun Fuad Stephens, and 10 others deserves to be in the country’s history textbooks, says Sunduvan Sabah chairman Aloysius Danim Siap.
He said the plane crash that occurred 48 years ago, which is also dubbed the “Double Six Tragedy” because it happened on June 6, was part of Sabah’s darkest history, which is worth teaching.
“The incident had drastically changed the political landscape of Sabah,” he said.
Also perished in the plane crash were state ministers Datuk Salleh Sulong, Datuk Peter Mojuntin and Chong Thien Vun; assistant minister Darius Binion; Sabah Finance Ministry permanent secretary Datuk Wahid Peter Andau; Isak Atan (private secretary to Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah who was then finance minister); Kpl Said Mohammad (Fuad’s bodyguard); pilot Capt Gandhi Nathan and Fuad’s eldest son Johari Stephens.
They were flying from Labuan to Kota Kinabalu when the aircraft crashed in Sembulan.
“It is our hope that the Double Six Tragedy can be taught in every school so that the younger generation does not forget how it has impacted our politics,” Siap said.
He said Sunduvan Sabah will be organising a commemoration day for the victims of the Nomad N-22B 9M-ATZ plane on Thursday (June 6) at 9am at the Double Six monument in Sembulan, here, which was erected on the exact spot of the fatal crash.
“As a sign of solidarity, please wear black,” said Siap.
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