Albert Kwok Fen Nam — Leader of the Kinabalu Guerrillas
Who was Albert Kwok Fen Nam?
Albert Kwok Fen Nam was a Kuching-born Chinese doctor who had served with the Kuomintang in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War (Free Malaysia Today, checked 7 October 2026). He was the supreme leader of the Kinabalu Guerrilla Defence Force (KGDF), the resistance movement behind the 1943 Jesselton Revolt (Kemanusiaan 31(2), 2024, checked 7 October 2026).
In 1942, during the Japanese occupation, Kwok founded the Chinese Defence Association with Jesselton Chinese trader Lim Keng Fatt and Lee Khum Fah. Its headquarters was at Lee Khum Fah's home in Menggatal, and it led to the founding of the KGDF (Kemanusiaan 31(2), 2024, checked 7 October 2026).
How did Albert Kwok organise the resistance?
The KGDF had about 300 members, too few to fight the Japanese across all of North Borneo, so Kwok sought help from indigenous leaders. Leaders such as Pak Musah of Membakut, Panglima Alli of Sulug, Saruddin of Dinawan, Jamalul of Mantanani and Arshad of Kampung Oudar agreed to work with the KGDF (Kemanusiaan 31(2), 2024, checked 7 October 2026).
Kwok made contact with Filipino resistance groups (Free Malaysia Today, checked 7 October 2026), and the KGDF drew support from the movement in the Philippines led by Imam Marajukim and Alejandro Suarez (Kemanusiaan 31(2), 2024, checked 7 October 2026). The guerrillas had only a few firearms and relied mostly on spears, parangs and kris (Free Malaysia Today, checked 7 October 2026).
What role did Albert Kwok play on the night of the revolt?
On 9 October 1943 the KGDF under Kwok attacked the Japanese and secured Jesselton, Tuaran and Menggatal. On 10 October, China's National Day, the guerrillas raised the flags of North Borneo, Britain, the United States and China in Jesselton (Kemanusiaan 31(2), 2024, checked 7 October 2026). They inflicted several dozen Japanese casualties (Free Malaysia Today, checked 7 October 2026).
The rising lasted three days. The Japanese struck back on 13 October 1943 (Kemanusiaan 31(2), 2024, checked 7 October 2026), bombing coastal towns and villages, and around 3,000 civilians were executed, with Bajau and Suluk people singled out (Free Malaysia Today, checked 7 October 2026).
What happened to Albert Kwok after the revolt?
After the Japanese threatened to execute 400 civilians unless he gave himself up (Free Malaysia Today, checked 7 October 2026), Kwok surrendered on 19 December 1943 (Kemanusiaan 31(2), 2024, checked 7 October 2026).
On 21 January 1944 Albert Kwok and 175 others, most of them civilians, were killed by the Japanese at Petagas (Free Malaysia Today, checked 7 October 2026). The Petagas War Memorial stands on the spot where 176 people were killed that day (Sabah Tourism Board, checked 7 October 2026).
He did not live to see Malaysia formed in 1963.
How is Albert Kwok remembered in Sabah today?
The annual service at Petagas on 21 January is an official state event organised by Kota Kinabalu City Hall. Formal guests include heads of state and of federal government departments, and victims' descendants and members of the public also attend (Kemanusiaan 31(2), 2024, checked 7 October 2026).
The same 2024 study by Universiti Malaysia Sabah historians notes that the ceremony tends to honour Kwok's Chinese-led force and overlooks the indigenous fighters who were the backbone of the resistance (Kemanusiaan 31(2), 2024, checked 7 October 2026).