BY A very fortunate
coincidence, at the same time as European traders
were about to reorganize North Borneo, a former
pirate too had decided to work for the good of Borneo
as penance for his crimes. He was a Spaniard called
Cuarteron who had been a sailor and had made his way
to the Philippines and so to Borneo. There he took
part in the slave trade and in smuggling operations
which made the life of Borneo so cruel and miserable.
Captain Cuarteron repented of his crimes after he had
found a very great treasure and then been shipwreeked
with it in his ship. He swore an oath that just as he
had brought misery to the people of Borneo in the
past, he would bring them help and kindness in the
future. Although he was over 40 years old, he went to
Rome in order to study to become a missionary priest.
As soon as his studies were completed he returned to
Borneo in 1855 as the Roman Catholic Prefect
Apostolic of North Borneo and Labuan. For over twenty
years Father Cuarteron, the reformed pirate, trudged
through the jungles of Borneo preaching, teaching and
tending the sick. When he was dying he sent a message
to Rome, begging that other pricsts should be sent to
continue his work. So it was that in 1881 the Roman
Catholic Mission fathers arrived to work in Borneo.
While
Father Cuarteron was working in North Borneo, the
Church of England Mission, the Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel known by its initials as
the 'S. P. G.' was doing good work in Rajah Brooke's
Sarawak and also in Labuan. In 1882 North Borneo was
prominent in world news because of the activies of
the Chartered Company. ``Bishop House of Sarawak
visited Sandakan in that year and set up an S. P. G.
centre there. It was a small beginning but it has
borne good fruit, so they today S. P. G. churches and
schools are found in many parts of Sabah.
In
those early days of Chartered Company rule Kudat was
the capital town. Lutheran missionaries of what we
now call the Borneo-Basel Self-Established Church did
most of their early work at Kudat and helped to
develop the young capital.
In
all ways then the period which began about the year
1880 was very important in our history. It is
difficult to estimate quite how important the work of
the missions has been. In 1883 the Roman Catholic
priests set up a tiny kajang school at Sandakan, the
first in the country. It had only five pupils and for
a time was a failure. Today there are forty-two Roman
Catholic Mission schools of all sizes. There are also
ten S. P. G. schools and Basel schools, not to
mention those founded by other missions which came
later.
Many
pupils of those schools are now prominent Christian
citizens of our Colony and no less than 30,000 of our
population hold the Christian faith.
Of
course the missions have helped non-Christian people
too and have helped to make people more kind and less
cruel all over the Colony.
When
we remember the great hardships and terrible
difficulties which the early missionaries had to
overcome, we can appreciate how great has been the
success won by the Christian missions. They used to
follow the rivers and trudge through the jungles at a
time when no roads existed. By their example and
teaching, by their kindness and charitable work, they
have helped to make people's lives happier
through out our country. The State of North Borneo and
the missions grew up side by side; they both brought
something new to the people.
QUESTIONS
