KOTA KINABALU: Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal extended condolences to the family of former Sabah chief minister Tan Sri Peter Lo on behalf of the state government.
Shafie, who is the current chief minister, described Lo as a knowledgeable man with wisdom, and passionate in contributing to the state.
Lo, a lawyer by profession, died at a private hospital on New Year’s eve at the age of 96.
“He will always be known for his fairness and firm decisions as a chief minister at a time when Sabah was going through political struggles and other threats in the 1960s.
“There was a time when I sat together with him and talked about the political situation in Sabah.
“He was a leader of vast experience and contributed a lot (to the state). He was one of the leaders involved in the formation of Malaysia,” Shafie said after paying his last respects at the Fook Lu Siew funeral parlour, here.
Lo became the state's second chief minister in 1965 after Tun Fuad Stephens resigned following a political fall-out with then Yang DiPertua Negeri Tun Datu Mustapha Datu Harun.
During his tenure as chief minister, Lo was among those who handled the Indonesian Confrontation and Singapore’s exit from Malaysia in 1965.
Lo was succeeded by Tun Datu Mustapha, whose political party Usno along with the Sabah Chinese Association under the Sabah Alliance, won the state election.