FUAD

Sabah's entry into Malaysia: It is an open secret in Sabah that Lee Kuan Yew told Donald Stephens
that he (Lee) would be Prime Minister of Malaysia after Tunku Abdul Rahman, and that Donald
Stephens would be made the Deputy Prime Minister.[2] Donald Stephens was ecstatic when he
heard this and upon his return to Kota Kinabalu, he screamed "Malaysia bagus" (Malaysia is good)
from the aircraft door as he flashed the thumbs-up.[2] Evidently, it was the Tunku who prevailed
upon Lee to persuade Tun Fuad to drop his opposition to the formation of Malaysia.[2] Tun Fuad
was then very much influenced by Orang Kaya Kaya (OKK) Sedomon Gunsanad of Keningau who was
strongly opposed to joining the Federation of Malaysia. His about-turn broke Sedomon,[2] and also
surprised the Dusuns who, like the Chinese, were likewise opposed to Sabah's entry into Malaysia.
Sabah in Malaysia: On 16 September 1963 when Malaysia was formed, Donald Stephens, then aged
43, became the first Chief Minister of Sabah. However, he stepped down the following year after
being appointed the first Malaysian federal cabinet member from Sabah, tasked with taking charge
of Sabah affairs under the Prime Minister's Department. When Singapore was ushered out of the
Federation of Malaysia by Parliament in 1965, Stephens, not surprisingly, wanted a review of Sabah's
participation in Malaysia, now that the Deputy Prime Minister idea had vaporized.[2] The Alliance
government, however, would have none of it and eventually bundled him into exile in Australia as
High Commissioner. It was from Australia that Stephens returned in 1973, aged 53, as the Sabah
governor, then known as the Yang di-Pertua Negara (the post is now known as Yang di-Pertua
Negeri), having converted from Roman Catholicism to Islam in 1971 and taking on the name of
"Mohammad Fuad". Holding the post until 1975, Tun Fuad then formed BERJAYA, a new political
party, together with Harris Salleh.
In the 1976 state election, he defeated Tun Mustapha's United Sabah National Organization] (USNO)
to become Sabah's 5th Chief Minister. Like his predecessor, Tun Mustapha, Tun Fuad refused to sign
away 95% of the oil and gas revenue to the federal coffers and held out in Labuan for a higher
percentage of at least 20%. However, he died 44 days later, aged 56, in a plane crash in the
Sembulan area in Kota Kinabalu on his way back from Labuan. Foul play was suspected immediately
after the accident, but it was later revealed that the GAF Nomad aircraft that he was flying in had
several design faults. His tragic death settled the oil royalty issue in favor of the federal government
and Petronas, when Harris Salleh, his successor, signed away the oil revenues, witnessed by the new
Huguansiou, Joseph Pairin Kitingan.