In October 1943 Sabah lay under the iron heel of the Japanese. The armies of Japan had invaded Borneo in January 1942 as part of the Japanese war of conquest in the Far East which had begun on December 7th, 1941 with the victory by the forces of the Emperor over those of the United States of America at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii.
Labuan was taken on January 1st, 1942. At that time Great Britain was engaged in a struggle for its very life both in Europe against the Germans, and in the Far East against the Japanese.
She could not spare arms and men to defend Sabah, so the North Borneo Chartered Company ordered its officers not to fight but to hand over their powers to the Japanese.
The North Borneo Government issued special orders to the people to obey their new masters and not to get themselves into any trouble. The only fighting men who could have defended Sabah were the police and a Volunteer Force.
This force was small and was made up of clerks, school teachers, planters, Government officers, and others who had been given army training in their spare time. When the Japanese came the Volunteer Force was broken up (disbanded) and the men returned to their homes.
The Japanese army at first allowed the European Government officers to carry on at their posts. They put out an order to confirm this, but the order made it very clear that everything in Sabah was under the control of the Japanese.
This order, made on January 13th, 1942, said two very important things. The first was that the Japanese had the power to demand from the people anything they wished for themselves.
The second was that all local produce must be sold to the Japanese at a reasonable price whenever they asked for it.
Of course, the Japanese would decide what was a reasonable price.
All this meant that the Government of the country was in the hands of the Japanese and if they wanted anything from the local people they could take it.
This was the greatest blow ever to fall on the people of Sabah