DR. J : UBF Commemorates USNO’s 50th Year At Its Birthplace

The United Borneo Front (UBF) led by its founding Chairman, Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan, and its Natives Land and NCR Panel Taskforce chief, Phillip Among, joined in the impromptu celebrations to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of USNO during a recent Borneo Tea Party cum Family Day gathering held at Kg. Tanjung Kapor, Kudat, on 26th November, which was also attended by USNO die-hard supporters led by protem USNO Vice-President, Abdullah Sani and protem Secretary-General, Datuk Arifin Datuk Abdul Salam.

The Kg. Tanjung Kapor villagers had invited UBF and its Natives Land and NCR Panel Taskforce to visit their village and to air their grievances on their threatened demolition and eviction of their village homes, some of which have been in existence even before Sabah’s independence on 30th August 1963. The USNO protem Vice-President and Secretary-General took the opportunity to attend the gathering, which started as a Family Day and Singing Contest for 1960s songs, at the last minute although they were scheduled in Tawau and Kuala Lumpur respectively.

Abdullah Sani had earlier told the large and wide-ranging crowd comprising of Bajau, Suluk, Sungai, Dusun, Rungus, Kagayan and other mixed races that Kg. Tanjung Kapor was the birthplace of USNO in 1961 and USNO founding father, Tun Datu Mustapha Datu Harun, was instrumental in the building of the Tembuk Kudat and reclamation of land which also led to the expansion of Tanjong Kapur.

The event organizers led by Hendry Minar then arranged for a cake cutting ceremony by the UBF leader and the USNO protem leaders to mark the 50th year of the founding of USNO. The festivities of the occasion were enhanced with the renditions of popular 1960s songs by the winning contestants, Mainie Bt. Abd. Kahar, Abd. Rahim Bin Madarun and Zalikah Bt. Jain, and veteran guest singer, Asnaf Said, and the performance of traditional Daling-daling dances by the Ubian natives and the nostalgic atmosphere led to the spontaneous shouts of “HIDUP USNO”.