Rosli Dhobi

Rosli Dhobi (18 March 1932 – 2 March 1950) also Rosli Dhoby, was a Sarawakian nationalist from Sibu of mixed Malay-Melanau descent during the British crown colony era in that state.

He was a member leader of the Rukun 13, an active organisation in the anti-cession movement of Sarawak, along with Morshidi Sidek, Awang Rambli Bin Deli and Bujang Suntong. It was a secret cell organisation, composed of nationalists, which carried out assassinations of officers of the British colonial government in Sarawak. He was well known for his assassination of Duncan George Stewart, the second governor of colonial Sarawak, in 1949.

Early life
Rosli Dhobi was born on 18 March 1932 at House No. 94, Kampung Pulo in Sibu, as the second child cum elder son in a washerman's family. His father, Dhobi bin Buang was an ethnic local Sibu Malay who had ancestral roots in Kalimantan, Indonesia and was a descendant of Raden ranked nobles. His mother, Habibah binti Haji Lamit, came from a Sambas Malay family that was settled for a long time in Mukah which intermingled with the local native Melanau population. Little is known about his earlier life although friends regard Rosli as an approachable person despite his quietness. He had an elder sister, Fatimah (1927–2019) and a younger brother, Ainnie (born 1934).

Rosli worked at the Sarawak Public Works Department (PWD) and for Utusan Sarawak. He was known to be a nationalist and a poet. Using the pseudonym Lidros, he wrote a nationalist poem titled "Panggilan Mu yang Suchi" (Malay: "Your Divine Call") which was published in Utusan Sarawak on 28 February 1948. The usage of nicknames was prevalent at the time since the British Colonial Authority vigorously monitored any attempts to spread words against them. He joined the Sibu Malay Youth Movement (Malay: Pergerakan Pemuda Melayu Sibu) under the leadership of Sirat Haji Yaman. Rosli joined Rukun 13 in August 1948. He was introduced to the organisation by a friend, Awang Rambli.

One of Rukun 13's aims was to establish a union of Sarawak with newly independent Indonesia. Sukarno, the first president of Indonesia was highly regarded by the Sarawak Malays. Posters of Sukarno were found to decorate Malay houses in Sarawak. Tahar Johnny, a cousin of Rosli, denied that Rosli was pro-Indonesia despite the latter taking a liking to anything Indonesian, and other members of Rukun 13 may have been pro-Indonesia.

Background
The Second World War had brought an end to the Brooke Dynasty rule in Sarawak; believing it to be in the best interest of the people of Sarawak, Rajah Vyner Brooke ceded the state to the British Crown.

Sarawak became a Crown Colony, ruled from the Colonial Office in London, which in turn dispatched a Governor for Sarawak. This move was opposed by Rajah Muda Anthony Brooke, who was to become the next Rajah Brooke, as well as many native Sarawakians, who were initially told that they would be allowed self-government. Brooke became the leader of the anti-cession movement.

Events
On 3 December 1949, Governor Duncan George Stewart was assassinated by 13 Rukun members including Dhobi (Dhoby), Awang Ramli Amit Mohd Deli, Morshidi Sidek, and Bujang Suntong in Sibu. Rosli and Morshidi were hiding among the crowd that welcomed the governor on his arrival in Sibu. After inspecting an honour guard the governor was meeting a group of local school children in near proximity of Rosli. Morshidi began to pretend to take pictures of the governor with a broken camera. The governor stopped to allow Morshidi to photograph him. At that moment, Rosli stabbed the governor.

Rosli was arrested on the spot and sent to Kuching for trial and later to prison. Despite suffering a deep stab wound Stewart is reported to have tried to carry on until blood began to seep through his white uniform. The governor was flown back to Kuching for treatment and later to Singapore, where he died a week after the incident.

Death
After a few months languishing in prison, Rosli Dhobi (or Dhoby), Awang Ramli Amit Mohd Deli, Morshidi Sidek, and Bujang Suntong were found guilty of murder and sentenced to death on 4 December 1949. This move was criticised by many, as Rosli was a juvenile (17) at the time of assassination.

Rosli was subsequently hanged on the morning of 2 March 1950 at the Kuching prison. Fearing the resentment of the local population, the British government did not allow the bodies of the four assassins to leave the prison but were interred in unmarked graves within the prison compound. After Sarawak joined Malaysia on 16 September 1963, a tombstone was put in place at his grave near the Islamic Heritage Museum.

Aftermath
Sarawak was sent into tumultuous years, and the anti-cessionists' rebellion was crushed as the support by the locals dwindled due to Rukun 13's "aggressive" tactics, alongside opposition from some of the Malay leaders who were pro-British. Most of the anti-cessionists were arrested and later sent to prison, some in Changi Prison in Singapore. Peace was restored during the era of the 3rd Governor of Sarawak, Sir Anthony Foster Abell. Even those who were imprisoned at Changi were allowed to return to Sarawak, to continue their sentence at Kuching Central Prison.

In 1961, Tunku Abdul Rahman, the prime minister of Malaya at that time, was trying to promote his plan for the formation of greater Malaysia in Sibu. He became interested on the story of Rosli Dhobi (or Dhoby). Tunku then discussed with chief minister of Sarawak, Abdul Taib Mahmud, to build a heroes monument near the Sarawak State Museum. On 29 November 1990, the laying of foundation stone for the heroes monument was done by Tunku and Taib Mahmud. Apart from Dhoby, other individuals such as Datuk Merpati Jepang, Rentap, Datuk Patinggi Ali, as well as Tunku Abdul Rahman, were hagiographed here.

In 1975, Mahathir Mohamad, minister of education at that time, changed the name of SMK Bandar Sibu to SMK Rosli Dhoby in commemoration of Rosli Dhobi. After 46 years, Dhobi's remains were moved out of the Kuching Central Prison to be buried in the Sarawak's Heroes Mausoleum near An Nur Mosque in his hometown of Sibu on 2 March 1996. He was given a state funeral by the Sarawak government.

In 2009, Malaysian television provider Astro screened a miniseries titled Warkah Terakhir ("The Final Letter") which described the story of Rosli Dhoby. The miniseries was produced by Wan Hasliza with actor Beto Kusyairy portraying Rosli Dhoby. However, Dhoby's relative, Lucas Johnny, said the series contained several factual errors. For example, the miniseries portrayed Dhobi as trying to run away after stabbing the governor. In reality, Rosli tried to stab the governor a second time but was stopped by the governor's bodyguards.

In 2012, a declassified document from the British National Archives showed that Anthony Brooke had no connection with the assassination of Stewart and that the British government had known this at the time. The British government decided to keep this information a secret as the assassins were found to be agitating for union with newly independent Indonesia. The British government did not want to provoke Indonesia which had only recently won its war of independence from the Netherlands, as the British was busy dealing with the Malayan Emergency.

Research
From 1949 to 1996, the Sarawak public generally regarded the struggle of Rosli and Rukun 13 negatively as a "bad guy", "imposter", and "rebel". Only after Sarawak state government gave a formal state funeral to the executed rebels in 1996 did public perception start to change. There are limited primary records regarding Rosli Dhobi (Dhoby) and other Rukun 13 members did not document their experiences publicly. The last Rukun 13 member died in 2009. However, several of the Pergerakan Pemuda Melayu (Young Malays Movement) members were still available in 2009.

Deputy director of Sarawak state prison, Sabu Hassan, in a formal reply written to Nordi Achie, a researcher working at Centre for the Promotion of Knowledge and Language Learning, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, stated that Malaysian prison department did not keep any record and files for the four offenders while a portion of the documents were destroyed by the British during the colonial times.

In 2013, Jeniri Amir, a professor from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak specialising in political communication, wrote a book about Rosli Dhobi which included new information. According to a review by Nordi Achie, Jeniri's book contained errors with only a superficial analysis of newly found information regarding Stewart's assassination.