KENINGAU, Sept 9 — The relocation ceremony of the Keningau Oath Stone or Batu Sumpah, steeped in the Kadazandusun and Murut customs, was carried out smoothly today.
Keningau district officer Yusop Osman said the Oath Stone was lifted and transported to its new home using a truck and it was followed closely by bobolian (shaman) Muri Gulim and his 1,000-member group who marched closely for one kilometre.
Yusop said the relocation of the Oath Stone from the Keningau district secretariat office to the Keningau Warisan Museum costing about RM1.025 million.
“Today’s ceremony, steeped in the Kadazandusun and Murut customs, is similar to the time when it was first erected on Aug 31, 1964,” he told reporters today after witnessing the ceremony that was officiated by Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister’s political secretary Raymond Ahuar.
The Oath Stone was of historical importance, not only for Keningau and Sabah, but Malaysia as a whole as its existence closely related to the formation of Malaysia.
On Aug 31, 1964, the then Federal Labour Minister Tan Sri V. Manickavasagam officiated the placing of the Oath Stone, witnessed, among others, by Sabah Chief Minister Tun Fuad Stephens and Dusun community leader Datuk G.S Sundang.
It served to assure the Sabahans that their rights to religious freedom, land, culture and customs are guaranteed. — Bernama
