KOTA KINABALU: A book of historical significance for Sabah and the whole of Borneo was launched today.
Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew said The Borneo Graveyard 1941-1945 by Major John S.M. Tulloch was a "harrowing talk on our history, which was delivered with great compassion and authority".
"I strongly recommend The Borneo Graveyard 1941-1945 to Malaysians. It should grace the libraries, universities and schools of Sabah and Borneo.
"This book is the history of Sabah, a history of Borneo and it is a book of immense historical importance.
"Thank you for promoting Sabahan history and Sabah beyond our shores," she said at the launch of the book at a hotel here.
According to Liew, due to the significance of the book, an effort will be made to translate it into Bahasa Malaysia.
"I have asked the Sabah Tourism Board chief executive officer Noredah Othman to pass this book to my cultural board and see whether they can translate it into Bahasa Malaysia so that even the locals can understand it. Not all can read English.
"Not only us, adults, but even children should know what happened during the Japanese occupation," she said.
The 492-page book, The Borneo Graveyard 1941-1945, describes the history as well as the horror of Sabah and Borneo during the Japanese Occupation.
Tulloch was inspired to write the book after a 1999 visit to Sandakan, where he learnt about the Sandakan Death March and stories of prisoners of war (PoWs).
He spent about 12 years travelling the world locating survivors and making repeated visits to Sabah to interview locals for the book, published with the collaboration of Opus Publications Sdn Bhd.
Present were British Consul of Sabah David Powell, Australian Consul of Sabah Datuk Andrew Sim, publisher Datuk C.L. Chan and Noredah.