The previous state government led by Mustapha Harun had been decried as unjust and tyrannical, with alleged religious persecution and the general mismanagement of the state leading voters to give Usno the boot.

Fifty-three days after their win at the polls, Fuad, as the new chief minister, and several other Berjaya leaders were in Labuan on an official visit. Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, then federal finance minister, was also there, as well as a young Kadazan leader named Peter Mojuntin.

Mojuntin was only 37 at the time, but he was among the founding members of Berjaya and was named the housing and local government minister in Fuad’s cabinet.

Mojuntin’s political secretary, Marcel Leiking, was supposed to join the minister on duty in Labuan but did not go as his eldest son was ill.

In a note to his aide, Mojuntin wrote: “If you can make it, I would like you to come along with me. If your son is still seriously ill, then I would rather you stay home.” On his boss’s advice, Leiking stayed in Sabah.

“Was it a premonition that made him write that personal note? That should anything happen to him and the chief minister’s entourage, one should stay back and continue his grand plan for the country and the people?” Leiking pondered.

On June 6, Fuad, Mojuntin and the other Berjaya leaders were to arrive back in Kota Kinabalu. Leiking was among those waiting on the tarmac at the airport.

But a MAS flight arrived first and its passengers asked where the Berjaya leaders were, saying their plane had left earlier.

“Just as Tan Sri Ben Stephens was gazing up in the air, suddenly he saw a plane approaching from the northern shore near Kampung Sembulan. He exclaimed, ‘That plane is going to fall from the sky!’

“Everybody just stared at the object that carried our key leaders and friends in dead silence that seemed to last for eternity,” he said in an interview with FMT.

Their greatest fear was later confirmed — among the wreckage of the Nomad N-22B aircraft in the shallow waters of the Sembulan Sea were the lifeless bodies of Fuad, Mojuntin and other leaders of the new state government.

“I was just praying and hoping they would survive. I rushed to Kampung Sembulan on the advice of the police to see the real situation.

“I can’t find the words to describe it. Datuk Peter, who was more than a brother to me, was gone so soon with the other great homegrown leaders of Sabah,” he said. “I was devastated.”

The young man destined to take over as Huguan Siou

Due to his natural leadership despite only being a youth, Mojuntin had been called “the Golden Son of the Kadazan” and was touted to eventually take over from Fuad as Huguan Siou, or paramount leader, of the Kadazan.

Leiking said Mojuntin was a born leader who won the hearts of many through his spirit, eloquence and frankness. Even at school he had earned the respect and admiration of his peers, teachers and elders.

Having been raised in a poor family in a community of padi-planters, the values of tenacity and sacrifice were instilled in Mojuntin from a young age as he toiled simply to survive.

Going back-and-forth between labouring in the fields to putting in the work in school, the hardships of the poverty he grew up in taught him the need for young Sabahans to get a good education.

After obtaining his Overseas School Certificate, he went back to his alma mater, St Michael’s School Penampang, to become a teacher and educate the next generation of young Kadazans after him.

Leiking said Mojuntin’s initial involvement in the United National Kadazan Organisation (Unko) as the head of its youth wing chief, called Sinompuuvan Komuhakan Kadazan Sabah, brought him to every nook and corner of Sabah.

“This toughened his leadership qualities and became handy when he became secretary-general and youth wing chief. When Unko and Pasok Momogun, led by Fuad and GS Sundang respectively, merged as United Pasok Momogun Kadazan Organisation (Upko) in April 1964, he became its secretary-general.”

Leiking believed that Mojuntin was destined for greatness. In his eyes, the Kadazan leader could have been the next Sabah chief minister or a member of the federal cabinet.

His aspirations and vision for his state and country were ahead of his time, said Leiking, and he ticked all the boxes of a great leader while still remaining down to earth.

Mojuntin was even recognised as a budding statesman at the world stage, going to the United Nations general assembly to state his opposition to the Soekarno regime in Indonesia which had opposed the formation of Malaysia in 1963 and had sought to incorporate the territories in a Greater Indonesia, or Indonesia Raya.

“We in Sabah are standing behind the Malaysian government. I would like to state again that we want no part of Indonesia. We want no part of Soekarno’s regime and we do not want to be under Soekarno. I will say this anywhere in the world,” said Mojuntin at the UN assembly.

He would go on to repeat these same sentences in the Dewan Rakyat the year after as he became an MP, stating his support as a Sabahan for the Malaysian government in a time of tension. He was also the youngest MP at the time, having been sworn in at the age of 24.

Letter to Tun Razak

At the height of the 1969 Emergency, he was made temporary chairman of the Kadazan Cultural Association, when opposing political figures and activists were being targeted by the Usno “regime”. Leiking became his deputy.

“The then chief minister Tun Mustapha Harun was given ISA powers by the federal government. The people were severely impacted by the poor management of Sabah and alleged secession.

“There was even religious persecution on the Christians, where foreign priests’ resident visas were terminated before being sent back to their homeland,” said Leiking.

Mojuntin, angered by the injustice afflicting his people, wrote a letter to then prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein over these issues.

“Tun Fuad, who was the Sabah governor, met Tun Razak in London where the contents of Datuk Peter’s letter was given due regard, with Tun Fuad requested to find a solution.” This signified the level of regard that Mojuntin garnered, even from the prime minister himself.

And this was a mark of the man: he understood that his voters and his people had entrusted themselves to him, and he fought to serve them and preserve their rights.

“He had intense faith in his duties and brought immense hope to people from all walks of life. Thus, Datuk Peter emerged as a household name.

“He spoke with a confidence, determination and simplicity that captivated the respect of his fellow countrymen who placed their trust and hope in Datuk Peter as their God-sent golden son of the Kadazans.”

While decades have passed since his tragic passing in the Double Six plane crash, Leiking still feels the pain of losing Mojuntin.

It was not easy to find someone of his stature and ethics in politics, he said, adding that Mojuntin stayed true to his principles in life even in the political arena.

“Datuk Peter didn’t expect immediate gratification. His politics was a game of the impossible and thus he never yielded to intimidation, persecution and discrimination.

“He held on to his Christian faith and was a God-fearing man. He held a fervent belief that as part of the human race, one cannot stray away from God for help, guidance and protection in this earthly journey.”

Following the Double Six tragedy, the Australian manufacturer of the GAF Nomad plane, accompanied by officials of the Australian Transport Department launched an investigation to prove that the crash was not due to mechanical issues.

The probe was completed some four months later but the full report was not made public but was classified under the Official Secrets Act instead. It remains classified 45 years later.