A Short Story of William Pryer's Protege : Pongholo Stanislaus Dominic of Sandakan

I was having conversation with Encik Azlan Lauddin Martin the Admin of a Facebook Page "Discover Tawau"  and we talked about the origin of a particular road signage in Tawau "Jalan Dominic".  We discussed at length  that "Jalan Dominic" could be related to the "Dominic Clan of Sandakan". Over the weekend, we managed to find this story and we wish to share it to all the Sabah History enthusiasts. To the Dominic's Clan please help us if you have more information to share....

SEJARAH NORTH BORNEO SABAH SPECIAL EDITION (FB PAGE)

A Short Story of William Pryer's Protege : 

Pongholo Stanislaus Dominic of Sandakan

The Dominics are a typical Sandakan family born of an eclectic set of events that led to the founding of Sandakan, the former capital of British North Borneo Chartered Company, in the last quarter of the 19th century.

These circumstances led to a little twist of fate that would change the course of history for several generations  of Dominics.

'Pongholo' is phonetically linked to the native title of 'Panghulu Panghalapan', meaning 'the entrusted one of the Sultan' as 'Panghalapan' is derived from the Tausug root word 'halap' ('to trust'). The British were perhaps not familiar with the tongue twisting native title and for convenience, assumed that 'Pongholo' was a name.

Pongholo Stanislaus Dominic, a high born 'Sooloo' or Tausug, also known as Pedro, was born on the 4th August 1876. Pongholo had come to Sandakan from the Philippines island of Palawan with his family as a young child and he was admitted into the fledgling Roman Catholic Mission School on St Mary's founded by Father Jackson in 1883. Father Byron arrived in Sandakan in May 1886 for a brief visit and in July 1887 he was assigned on a permanent basis and took over the flagging mission school.

Pongholo was adopted by William and Ada Pryer, the founder of Sandakan and his wife between 1880 and 1888. A compelling oral history points that the adoption was a strategic goodwill gesture between Pryers and the Sultan of Sulu, on the occupation  of a newly acquired territory.

In March 1889, aged 12 the little Pongholo, Mrs Pryer's protégé has been baptized and was named Dominic in honour of Mr Dominic Daly (The Government Secretary and the Assistant Resident for Province Dent) and his son with Harriet Daly nee Douglas as his godmother. It could have been coincidence that Pongholo was also born on the feast day of St Dominic. Mr Doiminic Daly died in August 1889, shortly after Pongholo's baptism. Mrs Daly returned to London for good the following year.

In February 1891 the Pryers left for Europe for an extended break, leaving Pongholo in the care of Father Byron at the Roman Catholic mission. By this time, Pongholo at aged 14, the good Father had already developed a fondness for the teenager, "the cleverest boy in the school".

In 1893 Pongholo would have been 17 years old had  increased frequency and depth of communication with Mrs Pryer and Father Byron. The presence of Pongholo in the Pryer household was also mentioned several times from the start of Mrs Pryer's Diary.

Father Byron must have strong inkling that his years in Borneo were numbered as on 3rd January 1896 drafted his will with Pongholo as one of the eyewitness. In April 1896 Father Byron fell seriously ill. Pongholo was particularly affected by the event. Father Byron returned to England in July 1896 was to be the last farewell between the good father and Pongholo. On the 30th October 1896 Father Byron breathed his last and was laid to rest at Mill Hill in London.

The Pryers years as pioneers of British North Borneo Chartered Company were also coming to close. After establishing a new town, instituting law and order, and managing three estates, overworked, exhausted and spent, William Pryer's health had deteriorated drastically. When the Pryers left for England on the 1st October 1898, a few thought as they bade him farewell that they were seeing him for the last time. William Burgess Pryer, born in London in 1843, "an ex amateur boxer, utterly fearless with man or beast; a magician with snakes " died at Port Said, Egypt on 7th or 8th of January 1899. After many devoted years of being a pillar of strength to a typical British pioneer Mr Pryer , now Ada Blanche Locke returned home alone. They had no children except two proteges left behind in British North Borneo Chartered Company, Pongholo Dominic and Soo Ah Yin, whose live change irrevocably for generations.

Pongholo corresponded with Mrs Pryer until her death in London in 1916, though they were never to meet again. Throughout these formative years Pongholo's musical talents emerged a credible performance in a concert organised by Father Byron and Father Driessen.

In 1896, aged 20, Pongholo became a staff member of the Custom Department which was founded by William Pryer in February 1878 as the first giant stride towards establishing law and order in one of the last untamed frontiers of the British Empire. Pongholo had risen steadily through the ranks of the civil service to become Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Customs, a most prestigious and well paid post. Pongholo retired on the 30th June 1928 .

In 1899 Pongholo Dominic became betrothed to Rose Mary Kong from Hong Kong's origin , a former boarder from St Mary's Girls' Convent. Dominic will only married to Rose the following year as she was only 15 and considered still too young. They finally celebrated their nuptials at the Roman Catholic Church on St Mary's Mount in 1900. He was 24 and she just turned 16.

Pangholo Dominic  got twelve children with Rose Mary Kong ;

1. May Winifred Ursula +Davis (1902)

2. Martha Patricia + Neubronner (1903)

3. Adelaide Rosemary + Mendoza (1904)

4. Teresa Claire Pauline + Pereira (1905)

5. Cornelius John Wilfred @ Cory (1908)

6. Cecil Dominic (1910)

7. Beatrice Ursula Blanche + Orolfo (1912)

8. Angeline Juliana - Clemente (1914)

9. Ethelbert Richard Thomas (1916)

10. Michael Nick Cyril Alfred (1919)

11. Rosalind Violet Regina + Corpuz (1921)

12. Florence Henrietta Margarita + Fabia (1923)

He and his wife with their eight girls and four boys lived very comfortably in a substantial two storey timber home, situated in Happy Valley, near the civil hospital. With four bedrooms, two bathrooms and interior furnishings which include Persians carpets, cabinets full of curios, two pianos, two harps, a radio (always tuned to the BBC). and two brass cannons positioned decoratively in the lush, spacious garden, the Dominic family's "Rose Cottage" rivalled many of the European- owned houses.

The family also owned rubber estates and orchards along the Labuk Road. As well as being well educated and musically gifted, Pedro was a voracious reader, a good footballer and a fine cricket player. Describe as a natty dresser, he always wore a jacket, crisp white pants, starched shirt a bow tie and hat, and was never seen without a pipe or walking stick, of which he had quite an array. In many ways, probably due to the influence of William Pryer, Pedro Dominic was more British than the British.

A leading lights in the social and recreational scene, he was well known for his outgoing personality, his collection of rare orchids (for which he won prizes at the Flower Show) and his English-style hospitality and cuisine, which featured traditional breakfast and dainty afternoon teas served on fine English china, roast dinners, crusty pies, hams, and, at Christmas, a rich plum puddings.

During second World War, Pro British - Pedro Dominic generously supported the raising of money to pay for a Spitfire in England to fight against Germany. Alex Funk married Maggie (Magdalene) Neubronner a granddaughter of Pedro Dominic, the Funks were also connected to the large Dominic Clan and to Ernesto Lagan, who had married Maggie's sister, Katherine. Maggie Funk was involved in the Sandakan underground movement as a money changer of which the commission earned for the transaction was used to buy food for the camp hospital.

Pedro Dominic's son in law, Andrew Pereira a government printer who had been allowed to keep his job, was among those fortunate enough not to have attracted the attention of the Japanese. The family had moved from their large bungalow on the reclamation ground to another property, further along the bay near Tanah Merah, which had more land on which to grow food. One day, while Andrew was cycling to work at the printing office, situated near the town mosque, a POW cutting grass along the Leila Road tossed him a watch, indicating that he wanted to trade it for cigarettes. Pereira not only returned the watch, with the requested cigarettes, but also, from that day on, always made sure he carried a packet to give to any prisoners he saw.

The Japanese, angry at the way in which the war is going, became increasingly short  tempered. Anyone at all who incurred their wrath for the slightest rule infringement was subjected to brutal treatment. At the end of 1944, Pedro Dominic's eldest son, Cornelius, better known as Cory and brother of Double Tenth freedom fighter Ethelbert, ran afoul of the Japanese in Tawau and was beheaded.

Because of the increased brutality and the bombing, many of the locals in Sandakan quit town to find refuge on farms and rubber estates owned by relatives or friends. Dominic abandoned Rose Cottage and moved his family to an orchard at Mile 13 owned by his son-in-law Andrew Pereira, the government printer who had gone out of his way to give cigarettes to POWs working round the town. With no work at the government printer, the Pereiras had left their Leila Road house in May that year.

Shortly after Andrew Pereira arrived at the orchard, the Japanese had issued orders that every family member who was old enough must plant 2000 tapioca bushes. Inspection were carried out regularly but to the surprise of his son Alfred, no one ever bothered to actually count them. Once the crop was harvested, the Japanese confiscated the lot, so in order to get enough to eat, the family removed the roots and replaced the leafy stalks in the soil, giving the impression that the plants were still growing. When the leaves withered and died , it was put down to a fungal disease. The Australian, who crept under the wire at night in search of food, had been employing a version of this ruse for some time, by digging up the roots from below soil level. They referred to the practice as 'bandicooting' named for a small furry marsupial which burrowed around in gardens at night for food.

By early 1945, when signs of Japanese defeat in the war were imminent, the Japanese began to arrest local community leaders in Sandakan. The arresting orders were issued by Colonel Machiguchi Taku, the officer in charge of Kempeitai in Borneo. A party of Japanese marines from Captain Aida Hideo's Special Attack Unit stormed into Sandakan. On the assumption that the Chinese community was assisting the Allies, the rampaged through the town, entering a number of houses and bayoneting men, women and children.

Meanwhile, Colonel Otsuka, Military Commander of the Sandakan area, issued orders to arrest any civilian who spoke English, using a list supplied by a key collaborator. Pedro Dominic was living in a hut in a jungle on his Sunny Rubber Estate at Mile 1.5 when soldiers came for him. Aware that the Japanese had begun to round up prominent citizens earlier that month, he had moved from Andrew Pereira's orchard at Mile 13, thinking that the hut, which belong to one of his estate's overseers, would provide a safer refuge. It didn't.

Among those also under arrest were partners of prestigious local firm, members of the State Legislative Council, pharmacist at the Sandakan Dispensary, a local doctor, members of the China Relief Fund, building contractors, traders, chief clerks, merchants and senior civil servants. Except a few , almost all were Chinese. A family members who delivered food to one of the prisoners at the barrack was not allowed to go in and were told not to come again as all prisoners were to be sent to Kuching. Before they left they spotted him inside the perimeter like other detainees, his head had been shaved.

The only thing they had in common was an abiding hatred for the Japanese, a great loyalty to the British and the fact that they all spoke English. These attributes were more than enough for the Japanese. After appearing in court, over which no judged presided, all were found guilty, and their sentences were read to them by Captain Nakata Shiruchi and translated into Malay by a Japanese interpreter. the 26 men and 2 women were taken back to the military barracks at Mile 1.5, where ten graves had been prepared on the nearby hillside. After being split into three groups, all twenty-eight prisoners were either shot or beheaded. When families of victims, having heard no news from the court, went to the barracks, they discovered that the building had been damaged by fire. Sticking to the previous lie, the Japanese soldier told them that everyone had been transferred to Jesselton.

The Japanese did not stop with slaughter at Mile 1.5. That same day, Dominic's son in law, Andrew Pereira, who was just recovering from a bout of malaria, was summoned at bayonet point to attend a meeting on the Sandala Estate at mile 15. The next morning he and his friends Richard Watson and Foo Chi Ming , with two others were all taken to an isolated spot on the northern side of Labuk Road, not far from Gum Gum river at mile 17. Andrew Pereira and Richard Watson met their bloody fate with one swipe of the sword, but the decapitation of the third Foo Chi Ming, was botched. The senior Japanese decided to defer the two final executions and both men were subsequently released the following day.

Pongholo Stanislaus Dominic's execution on the 27th May 1845 were only known by the family members after the war. Pongholo was 68 years old when he died, short 3 month before his 69th birthday leaving behind his beloved children. As he was led away to the cells in the nearby Kempeitai barracks near the old wireless station, his last words were for his daughters : 'Be good girls.'

Those are a story that started with a dawn of new North Borneo's civilization in 1878 that end with a tragic loss not just Pongholo Dominic of a once celebrated and distinguished gentlemen in the civil service but spell the end of the British North Borneo Chartered Company.

North Borneo became the Crown Colony in 1946.

For a short while, for those massacre in Sandakan, we cast aside our own feelings of despair and desperation to remember not only Pongholo Dominic but all who gave their lives in time of war. We will honour and keep precious memory the memory of all those men and women who died serving their country, seeking justice and peace for all. We recognise their courage, determination and commitment of their cause. We hope that our lives will be worthy of our forebears.

Source :

1. Professor Danny Wong , Historical Sabah The War (2010)

2. Lynette Ramsay Silver, Blood Brothers (2010)

3. Rosalie Corpuz, The Pryers, The Priest and The Pongholo : A Sandakan Story

Photos Source :

1. Sabah Museum Journal Vol.2 (2017)

2. Brenden M Miles

3. Azlan Laudin Martin

Edited by :

Kumis Kumis