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Places · Malaysian Borneo

Formation · Regional parties · GRS cabinet · Football

Influential People
from Sabah

Source-led biographies of influential people from Sabah, spanning Malaysia’s formation, GRS leadership, regional parties, state finance and national sport.

Regional index

This regional index connects Sabah to Malaysia’s formation, the 1985 rise of PBS, the 1994–2003 rotation era, changing coalitions and national football. Its source-led collection now includes all fifteen people who have served as chief minister alongside current GRS, Warisan, UPKO and STAR leaders.

View the Malaysia country archive
  1. 01

    Formation and negotiation

    Fuad Stephens, Datu Mustapha Datu Harun and lawyer Peter Lo Sui Yin show how Sabah’s leaders organised, debated and negotiated during the creation of Malaysia.

  2. 02

    Building state institutions

    From Fuad Stephens and Mohammad Said Keruak to Sakaran Dandai and Musa Aman, these biographies distinguish elected government from Sabah’s constitutional headship.

  3. 03

    Rotation and regional parties

    Salleh Said Keruak, Yong Teck Lee, Bernard Dompok, Osu Sukam and Chong Kah Kiat explain the rotation era before regional parties evolved into today’s GRS, Warisan and UPKO competition.

  4. 04

    National sporting memory

    James Wong Chye Fook carried Sabah football onto the national stage and scored the decisive goal in Malaysia’s 1980 Olympic qualifying play-off.

Sourced biographies

People connected to Sabah

Portrait of Sabah Chief Minister Hajiji Noor in 2024
MalaysiaPolitics

1955—

Hajiji Noor

Chief Minister of Sabah and Chairman of Gabungan Rakyat SabahThe long-serving Sulaman assemblyman who became Sabah chief minister in 2020 and won a second term at the 2025 state election.Read biography
Portrait of Parti Warisan president Shafie Apdal in 2018
MalaysiaPolitics

1956—

Shafie Apdal

President of Parti Warisan and Member of Parliament for SempornaThe Semporna parliamentarian, former federal minister and Warisan founder who led Sabah from 2018 until the 2020 state election.Read biography
Portrait of Ewon Benedick during a ministerial meeting in 2023
MalaysiaPolitics

1983—

Ewon Benedick

Deputy Chief Minister of Sabah and President of UPKOThe Penampang MP and Kadamaian assemblyman who leads UPKO and became Sabah’s Deputy Chief Minister III after the 2025 state election.Read biography
Portrait of Sabah STAR president Jeffrey Kitingan
MalaysiaPolitics

1948—

Jeffrey Kitingan

President of STAR and Member of Parliament for KeningauThe Keningau MP, Tambunan assemblyman and STAR founder whose long career centres on Sabah autonomy, MA63 and Indigenous political representation.Read biography
MalaysiaPolitics

1958—

Joachim Gunsalam

Deputy Chief Minister of Sabah and President of PBSThe physician and six-term Kundasang assemblyman who rose through PBS, entered Sabah’s senior cabinet and became the party’s third president.Read biography
Portrait of Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Masidi Manjun in 2017
MalaysiaPolitics

1950—

Masidi Manjun

Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister of SabahThe lawyer and former public administrator who has represented Karanaan since 2004 and now serves as Sabah’s Deputy Chief Minister II and finance minister.Read biography
Joseph Pairin Kitingan at the 2014 Kaamatan festival
MalaysiaPolitics

1940—

Joseph Pairin Kitingan

Founder of PBS and former Chief Minister of SabahThe lawyer and Kadazandusun leader who founded PBS, led four consecutive state-election victories and served as Sabah’s chief minister for nearly nine years.Read biography
Portrait of former PBS president Maximus Ongkili
MalaysiaPolitics

1953—

Maximus Ongkili

Chairman of the Energy Commission of Sabah and former PBS PresidentThe researcher-turned-politician who represented Sabah in Parliament for twenty-seven years, led several federal ministries and became PBS’s second president.Read biography
Portrait of Sabah politician Wilfred Madius Tangau
MalaysiaPolitics

1958—

Wilfred Madius Tangau

Member of Parliament for Tuaran and Assemblyman for TamparuliThe forester and development researcher who became a long-serving Tuaran MP, led UPKO and won a second elected mandate in Tamparuli in 2025.Read biography
Official portrait of Fuad Stephens
MalaysiaPolitics

1920—1976

Fuad Stephens

First Chief Minister of SabahThe journalist and political leader who helped negotiate Sabah’s place in Malaysia, became the state’s first chief minister and later returned to the office in 1976.Read biography
Official portrait of Datu Mustapha Datu Harun
MalaysiaPolitics

1918—1995

Datu Mustapha Datu Harun

First Yang di-Pertua Negeri of SabahA Sabah formation-era leader who became the state’s first head of state, later served as chief minister and expanded education through the Sabah Foundation.Read biography
MalaysiaAthletes

1953—

James Wong Chye Fook

Football forward for Malaysia and SabahThe Sabah striker known as King James, whose late winner against Korea Republic completed one of the most celebrated nights in Malaysian football.Read biography
MalaysiaPolitics

1930—

Harris Salleh

Former Chief Minister of SabahThe civil servant turned BERJAYA co-founder who governed Sabah for almost nine years before the 1985 PBS electoral upset.Read biography
Former Sabah governor Sakaran Dandai at the Tun Sakaran Museum in 2015
MalaysiaPolitics

1930—2021

Sakaran Dandai

Former Chief Minister and Yang di-Pertua Negeri of SabahThe Semporna political organiser who rose through USNO and UMNO to become chief minister in 1994 and governor from 1995 to 2002.Read biography
Peter Lo Sui Yin before becoming chief minister of Sabah
MalaysiaPolitics

1923—2020

Peter Lo Sui Yin

Former Chief Minister of Sabah and lawyerSabah’s first locally born practising lawyer, who helped examine constitutional safeguards before Malaysia and led the state from 1965 to 1967.Read biography
Mohammad Said Keruak while serving as Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sabah
MalaysiaPolitics

1925—1995

Mohammad Said Keruak

Former Chief Minister and Yang di-Pertua Negeri of SabahThe Kota Belud USNO politician who briefly served as chief minister in 1975–1976 and returned as Sabah’s seventh Yang di-Pertua Negeri.Read biography
Salleh Said Keruak speaking at ITU Telecom World in Bangkok in 2016
MalaysiaPolitics

1957—

Salleh Said Keruak

Former Chief Minister of Sabah and federal ministerThe Kota Belud politician who led Sabah from 1994 to 1996, later chaired the state assembly and joined the federal cabinet.Read biography
MalaysiaPolitics

1958—

Yong Teck Lee

President of the Sabah Progressive PartyThe lawyer and former PBS deputy leader who founded SAPP in 1994, led Sabah from 1996 to 1998 and later returned as a nominated assemblyman.Read biography
Bernard Dompok as Malaysia’s plantation industries and commodities minister in 2009
MalaysiaPolitics

1949—

Bernard Dompok

Former Chief Minister of Sabah and Malaysian ambassadorThe land valuer turned political leader who served ten months as Sabah chief minister, led UPKO for two decades and later represented Malaysia at the Vatican.Read biography
MalaysiaPolitics

1949—

Osu Sukam

Former Chief Minister of SabahThe Papar politician and long-serving member of Parliament who led Sabah for two years after the 1999 state election.Read biography
MalaysiaPolitics

1947—

Chong Kah Kiat

Former Chief Minister of Sabah and lawyerThe Kudat lawyer who built LDP, served in the federal cabinet and led Sabah from 2001 until the rotation arrangement ended in 2003.Read biography
Musa Aman speaking while serving as chief minister of Sabah
MalaysiaPolitics

1951—

Musa Aman

Yang di-Pertua Negeri of SabahThe former Sungai Sibuga assemblyman who led Sabah for fifteen years, contested the 2018 transition and returned as Yang di-Pertua Negeri.Read biography

Historical context

Read these lives inside Malaysia’s formation story

North Borneo became Sabah when Malaysia was proclaimed on 16 September 1963. Reading the formation timeline alongside modern regional-party biographies makes visible both the original federal bargain and the continuing contest over how Sabah should exercise its political voice.

Explore the 1963 formation timeline
  1. Government of SabahCurrent Sabah State Cabinet
  2. Sabah State Legislative AssemblyFirst sitting and Sabah’s first chief minister
  3. National Archives of MalaysiaThe Establishment of Malaysia, 16 September 1963
  4. Government of SabahFormer Chief Ministers of Sabah
  5. University of California PressThe Sabah State Elections of April 1985
  6. Kajian Malaysia, Universiti Sains MalaysiaPilihanraya Negeri Sabah 1994

Regional reading path

Essential Sabah history guides

20–21 April 1985

The 1985 Sabah State Election

How PBS won a one-seat majority only weeks after the party was founded.

Read the history4–5 May 1986

The 1986 Sabah Election and Political Unrest

How political violence and defections led to a 34-seat PBS second mandate.

Read the historyJuly–October 1990

The 1990 Sabah Election and PBS–BN Split

Why PBS left BN three months after winning three quarters of the assembly.

Read the history1985–present

Parti Bersatu Sabah: History and Leaders

From Pairin’s founding victory to Maximus, Joachim and the party’s role in GRS.

Read the historyFebruary–March 1994

The 1994 Sabah Political Crisis

Why a 25–23 PBS election victory was overturned by post-election defections.

Read the history2020–present

Gabungan Rakyat Sabah: History and Parties

Follow Sabah’s current regional coalition, its elections and changing membership.

Read the history2016–present

Parti Warisan Sabah: History and Elections

Trace Shafie Apdal’s regional party from its launch and state government to the 2025 result.

Read the history1994–present

UPKO Sabah: History and Elections

Follow PDS–UPKO from Bernard Dompok and BN to Ewon Benedick, PH and GRS.

Read the history2012–present

STAR Sabah: History and Elections

Trace Jeffrey Kitingan’s party from its first seat and GRS period to its current opposition role.

Read the history1963–present

Chief Ministers of Sabah: Complete List

All 16 administrations from Fuad Stephens to Hajiji Noor with official dates.

Read the history1994–2003

Sabah’s Chief Minister Rotation System

How six leaders moved through a three-community BN power-sharing formula.

Read the history12–13 March 1999

The 1999 Sabah State Election

BN’s 31–17 victory, the PDS setback and the transition from Dompok to Osu.

Read the history21 March 2004

The 2004 Sabah State Election

BN’s 59–1 result, the return of PBS and Musa Aman’s post-rotation mandate.

Read the history8 March 2008

The 2008 Sabah State Election

BN’s second 59-seat result, DAP’s Sri Tanjong breakthrough and SAPP’s exit.

Read the history5 May 2013

The 2013 Sabah State Election

BN retained 48 seats while PKR, DAP and STAR built a twelve-member opposition.

Read the history9 May 2018

The 2018 Sabah State Election

A 29–29 tie, STAR’s two kingmaker seats and the transition from Musa Aman to Shafie Apdal.

Read the history26 September 2020

The 2020 Sabah State Election

GRS’s 38-seat victory, Hajiji Noor’s appointment and the campaign’s COVID-19 impact.

Read the history29 November 2025

The 2025 Sabah State Election

A 29–25 result, fragmented assembly and Hajiji Noor’s multi-party second government.

Read the history

Quick answers

Sabah biography FAQs

Who is the current chief minister of Sabah?
Hajiji Noor has served as chief minister since September 2020 and began a second term after the November 2025 state election.
Which Sabah regional-party leaders are included here?
The index includes current GRS, Warisan, UPKO, STAR, PBS and Gagasan Rakyat figures as well as PBS founder Joseph Pairin Kitingan and former PBS president Maximus Ongkili.
Who founded Parti Bersatu Sabah?
Joseph Pairin Kitingan founded PBS in 1985, led it to victory that year and served as Sabah’s chief minister until 1994.
What happened in the 1985 Sabah state election?
The newly formed PBS won 25 of 48 seats, giving Joseph Pairin Kitingan a one-seat majority and ending BERJAYA rule.
Why did the PBS government fall in 1994?
PBS won 25 seats to BN’s 23, but elected members defected after the vote and removed the government’s assembly majority.
Who are Sabah’s deputy chief ministers in 2026?
At the 4 October 2026 review date, Joachim Gunsalam is Deputy Chief Minister I, Masidi Manjun is Deputy Chief Minister II and Ewon Benedick is Deputy Chief Minister III.
Who was Sabah’s first chief minister?
Fuad Stephens became Sabah’s first chief minister in 1963 during the transition from British rule to the formation of Malaysia.
Who was Sabah’s first head of state?
Datu Mustapha Datu Harun became the first Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sabah in September 1963.
Which Sabah footballer scored against South Korea in the 1980 Olympic qualifier?
James Wong Chye Fook scored Malaysia’s winning goal in the 2–1 play-off victory over South Korea at Stadium Merdeka.