Stephen Kalong Ningkan

Ningkan's step-grandfather, Mok Bak Seng, was born in Foshan, Guangdong, China in 1870.

Mok adopted Ningkan.

At six years old, he took Ningkan to China for several years so that Ningkan could learn the culture and way of life there.

Tan Sri Datuk Amar Stephen Kalong Ningkan (20 August 1920 – 31 March 1997) was a Malaysian politician who served as the first Chief Minister of Sarawak from 1963 to 1966.

Stephen Kalong Ningkan was born on 20 August 1920 in Betong, which was administered under the Second Division of Sarawak (later known as Simanggang Division).

Ningkan was of mixed Iban and Chinese parentage, and his Chinese name was Mok Teck Boon.

After Ningkan completed his education, he worked as a rubber fund clerk from 1938 to 1939.

He resigned from his job to join the Sarawak Constabulary from 1940 to 1946.

He was a police constable in the year 1942.

In 1944, he joined the Services Reconnaissance Department (SRD), an underground movement based in Jesselton (present day Kota Kinabalu).

He became a teacher at his former school in Betong from 1947 to 1950.

Ningkan then worked at a Shell Company hospital in Kuala Belait, Brunei from 1950 to 1961.

He also took up law via correspondence from Regent Institute and Metropolitan College at St Albans, London, respectively.

At the hospital, he was the chairman of the Shell Dayak Club.

He became the founder and president of the Brunei Dayak Association in 1958.

Ningkan returned to Betong and established the Sarawak National Party (SNAP) on 10 April 1961, by uniting the Iban people of Saribas.

Although he initially did not accept Tunku Abdul Rahman's proposal for the formation of Malaysia, he eventually became a strong supporter of the federation.

Ningkan never completed his law degree because he had to focus on his political activities.

He also insisted that his party should be multiracial, given his background of having a Chinese grandfather and friends of various races.

In October 1962, as the SNAP secretary-general, Ningkan launched the Sarawak chapter of the Alliance Party, which consisted of Parti Pesaka Sarawak (PESAKA), Barisan Ra'ayat Jati Sarawak (BARJASA), Parti Negara Sarawak (PANAS) and Sarawak Chinese Association (SCA) in anticipation of the 1963 district council elections.

In the election, SNAP under the Sarawak Alliance managed to get the majority of local council seats (i.e., after the support of one independent winner from Binatang by the name of Jimbat Anak Intan from Meradong Scheme B tipped the balance of the number of seats won by the Sarawak Alliance and the opposition pact of SUPP and PANAS).

This crucial support, plus other independents, enabled the Alliance to appoint a majority of divisional, state assembly, and parliamentary members.

This earned Ningkan the trust to become the first Chief Minister of Sarawak.

A land committee report was produced in mid-1962 to "make recommendations as to the measures necessary to ensure the best use of land in the national interest."

His grandfather died on October 20, 1963, aged 93, a few months after Ningkan took office as chief minister.

Ningkan was a student at St. Augustine's school.

After the conclusion of the 1963 Sarawak district council elections, Ningkan was appointed as the first Chief Minister of Sarawak on 22 July by the then Governor, Sir Alexander Waddell.

Supreme Council (equivalent to Sarawak government cabinet today) was also formed with members such as Abdul Taib Mahmud, James Wong Kim Ming, Dunstan Endawie Enchana, Awang Hipni Pengiran Anu and Teo Kui Seng.

In December 1963, Land Code (Amendment) Bill was passed in the Council Negri, establishing free issue of land title under Native Customary Rights (NCR) lands.

Building upon the Land Code (Amendment) Bill, the Sarawak government introduced three other bills, on matters pertaining to establishing ownership, protecting NCR holdings, and how the government could acquire and pay compensation for NCR land.

The contents of the three bills were published for public discussion in February 1964.

The aim of these bills were to develop the NCR lands for large-scale plantations by landless Chinese farmers, thus helping to combat communist insurgency at that time.

In 1965, the federal government tried to open a UMNO branch in Sarawak, trying to unite the Sarawak Malays from BARJASA and PANAS parties.

However, the plan did not materialise.

Such action from the federal government had annoyed Ningkan.

Ningkan's mother, Kuni anak Karong, died of stomach complications on 14 June 1969, at the age of 71.

Ningkan learnt the Japanese language during the Japanese Occupation in Sarawak.

The Japanese song, Kuni No Hana (Flower of the Nation) was one of his favourites.

He was also spotted for singing Terang Bulan in various government and family functions.

Ningkan was a fan of P. Ramlee and Sgt Hassan was one of his favourite movies.