PENAMPANG: Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan wrote a 270-page autobiography to help his grandchildren understand his life and preserve key historical events in Sabah's history.
The former Sabah chief minister said the idea came after realising that his grandchildren, particularly those studying in Australia, knew little about his life and contributions.
"I thought, as long as I have grandchildren, I have to write this book so that they will know who their grandfather is and what he has been doing," he said at the book launch at KDCA Hall.
The 86-year-old Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) founder said he had kept notes for years before beginning work on the autobiography seriously about five years ago.
Titled Joseph Pairin Kitingan, the book documents significant events in Sabah's history, including the 1982 Kaamatan harvest festival in Tambunan, when Pairin was told by the Berjaya government to resign from the state cabinet.
Pairin, whose pen name is "Tonnipot", meaning firefly in the Kadazan language, said he hoped the book would help readers understand not only what happened in the past, but also why events unfolded as they did and what they meant for Sabah's future.
He founded PBS on March 5, 1985, and led it to victory in the state election weeks later. He became Sabah's seventh chief minister on April 22 that year and served until March 1994.
Although PBS won 25 of 48 seats in the 1994 state election, defections by assemblymen cost the party its governing majority, prompting Pairin to resign as chief minister.
Pairin is also known as Huguan Siou, the paramount leader of the Kadazandusun community, and has championed indigenous identity and cultural preservation.
He said documenting history was important for younger generations to understand the past and help shape the state's future.
Half of the proceeds from the RM100 book will go to the Huguan Foundation for Charity and Education, which supports charitable and educational causes. Pairin said public support for the autobiography could help the foundation expand its assistance to those in need.
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