View source for Tawi Sli

{{short description|2nd Chief Minister of Sarawak (1966–1970)}}
{{EngvarB|date=June 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[Malay titles#Honorary styles|Yang Berbahagia]] [[Malay titles|Dato' Sri]] [[Penghulu]]
| name= Tawi Sli
| image = Tawi Sli.JPG
| honorific-suffix = [[Most Exalted Order of the Star of Sarawak|ABS PNBS]]
| nationality= Malaysian
| order=2nd [[Chief Minister of Sarawak]]
| governor = {{ubl|[[Abang Haji Openg]]|[[Tuanku Bujang Tuanku Othman]]}}
| term_start= 23 September 1966
| term_end=7 July 1970
| predecessor=[[Stephen Kalong Ningkan]]
| successor=[[Abdul Rahman Ya'kub]]
| deputy = Abang Abdul Rahim (1966-1970)<ref name="Hong Min 1982">{{cite book |last1=Hong Min |first1=Lim |title=18 years in Malaysia (Sarawak&Sabah) 1963-1981 |date=1982 |publisher=Malaysia Timor Publications |location=Kuching, Sarawak |pages=16–20 |url=https://archive.org/details/18-years-in-malaysia-1963-1981-sarawak-s-lim-hong-min |access-date=4 October 2020}}</ref>
| birth_date = {{birth date|1912|06|12|df=yes}}
| birth_place= Banting, [[Lingga, Malaysia|Lingga]], [[Sri Aman Division|Sri Aman]], [[Raj of Sarawak]]
| death_date= {{death date and age|1987|||1912|06|12|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Sarawak]], [[Malaysia]]
| party = {{plainlist|
* [[Sarawak National Party]] (SNAP) (1963–1966)
* Parti Pesaka Sarawak (1966–1974)
}}
| residence =
| spouse= Datin Sri Dorothy Inti Anak Robert Eddie (Deceased)
| children =
| occupation=[[Politician]]
}}
[[Malay titles|Dato' Sri Penghulu]] '''Tawi Sli''' (12 June 1912 – 1987) was the second chief minister of Sarawak.
==Personal life and education==
Tawi Sli was born in Banting, [[Lingga, Malaysia|Lingga]], [[Sri Aman Division|Sri Aman]], [[Sarawak]]. He hailed from an Anglican family. He received his formal education at St. Thomas school in [[Kuching]] until Form 3.<ref name="Tawi">{{cite news |title=Revisiting 48 years of leadership |url=http://www.theborneopost.com/2011/09/16/revisiting-48-years-of-leadership/|date=16 September 2011 |publisher=[[The Borneo Post]] |access-date=31 August 2012}}</ref>
==Early career==
After school, Tawi Sli worked as a teacher in a mission school while undergoing a three-year training programme to become a pastor. He served as a clerk with the government before he retired in 1961.<ref name="Tawi" />
==Early political career==
In 1963, Tawi Sli was appointed as [[Penghulu]] and he started to become active in politics. He was the secretary of [[Sarawak National Party]] (SNAP) of the [[Simanggang]] branch.<ref name="Tawi" /> He later resigned from SNAP and joined Parti Pesaka Sarawak in 1966.<ref name="Tawi" />
==Appointment to chief minister==
Tawi Sli was appointed as the chief minister of Sarawak by the then Governor of Sarawak, [[Abang Haji Openg]], during the [[1966 Sarawak constitutional crisis]] on 17 June 1966.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theborneopost.com/2014/02/12/previous-chief-ministers-of-sarawak/|title=Previous Chief Ministers of Sarawak|publisher=[[The Borneo Post]]|date=12 February 2014}}</ref><ref name="Porritt 2004">{{cite journal|last1=Porritt|first1=Vernon L|title=Turbulent times in Sarawak: the end of expatriate influence and the struggle for power over and within the state|journal=Borneo Research Bulletin|date=2004|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Turbulent+times+in+Sarawak%3A+the+end+of+expatriate+influence+and+the...-a0134382053|access-date=26 February 2023}}</ref> Tawi Sli immediately appoint five members into his Supreme Council (equivalent to Sarawak cabinet today) namely: [[Abdul Taib Mahmud]], and Awang Hipni from BARJASA, Umpau and Laing from PESAKA, and Abang Haji Abdul Rahman from PANAS. Two months later, Teo Kui Seng and Ling Beng Siong from SCA were appointed to Supreme Council. Meanwhile, Taib Mahmud became the deputy chief minister and minister of development and forestry. Ningkan's SNAP party withdrew from the Sarawak Alliance. [[Abdul Rahman Ya'kub]] retained his federal minister post. Taib Mahmud, Abang Haji Abdul Rahman, and Thomas Kana became advisors for Tawi Sli.<ref name="Porritt 2004"/>
In November 1967, Taib Mahmud resigned from the State Minister of Development after Tun Jugah accused Taib of spending too much money on building ''surau''s and mosques while ignoring the needs of Dayak people. Taib was then appointed as a member of Dewan Rakyat and became Federal Deputy Minister of Commerce and Industry.<ref name="Porritt 2004"/> In 1968, Angkatan Nahdatul Islam Bersatu (BINA) was formed. Abdul Rahman Ya'kub became the chairman of BINA while Taib Mahmud became the treasurer.<ref name="Porritt 2004"/>
===1966 Sarawak constitutional crisis===
{{Main|1966 Sarawak constitutional crisis}}
Ningkan went to the Kuching High Court, dissatisfied with the Governor's (Abang Haji Openg) action of dismissing him and installing Tawi Sli as the chief minister. The high court declared ''[[Ultra vires]]'' (beyond the powers) for the actions of the Governor. Eventually, Ningkan was reinstated by the court on 8 September 1966, which saw the necessity of a formal vote of no confidence.<ref name="Porritt 2004"/> Tawi Sli was the chief minister for 3 months (16 June 1966 to 7 September 1966) when the high court made the decision to reinstate Ningkan as chief minister.<ref name="Weiss 2014">{{cite book |last=Weiss |first=Meredith L. |date=2014 |title=Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Malaysia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I4XZBAAAQBAJ&q=sarawak+chief+minister+tawi+sli |publisher=[[Routledge]] |page=87 |isbn=978-1-317-62959-7}}</ref>
Ningkan tried to initiate a dissolution of the state assembly upon his reinstatement. However, the federal government declared state of emergency on 15 September, citing chaos in the state.<ref name= crisis>{{cite news |title=Background: Constitutional Crises |url=https://archive.org/download/BackgroundConstitutionalCrisesTheEdgeMalaysia/%27Background_%20Constitutional%20Crises%27%20-%20The%20Edge%20%28Malaysia%29.pdf|date=3 February 2009 |newspaper=[[The Edge (Malaysia)]] |access-date=31 August 2012}}</ref> The federal government then unilaterally amended the Sarawak Constitution to give the power to the state's governor to commence the Council Negri meeting.<ref name="Porritt 2004"/> Vote of no confidence was passed on 24 September and Tawi Sli swore in again as the chief minister.<ref name="Porritt 2004"/>
===Removal of expatriates from government services===
On 27 July 1966, Tawi Sli said that there is a need for "an independent country to be administered by its own local officers". During this time, two [[expatriate]]s were left in the Council Negri (now Sarawak state legislative assembly) namely Tony Shaw and John Pike after a purge by Ningkan from the Supreme Council (today Sarawak cabinet) during the 1965 land bill crisis. Tony Shaw and John Pike were also the former close advisors for Ningkan's government. Tony Shaw was given ten days to leave the state, however, Shaw protested due to inadequate time for preparation. Tawi Sli then announced on 30 July that Shaw would be on leave until the end of August. Shaw will leave Sarawak after a farewell lunch with Tawi Sli on 26 August. Shaw was paid the remainder of his contract compensations. John Pike was on leave overseas when Tawi Sli announced this decision. So John Pike was similarly compensated and was told not to return to Sarawak. Acting chief minister Taib Mahmud then announced that for the remaining 300 expatriate officers in the government, all of their contracts would not be renewed upon expiration. Therefore, by October 1967, all these expatriate officers will be replaced by local personnel.<ref name="Porritt 2004"/> Taib Mahmud was believed to initiate the departure of Tony Shaw and John Pike instead of Tawi Sli himself. Some had viewed the expatriates as an obstacle to fully integrating Sarawak into Malaysia because of the insistence of the expatriates that the Malaysian government should fully comply with every detail of the Inter-Governmental Agreement to protect Sarawak's interests. Others view the expatriates as obstacles to their own career pathways as the expatriates took away the jobs that are supposed to belong to the locals.<ref name="Porritt 2004"/>
==Honours==
*{{Flag|Sarawak}} :
**[[File:MY-SAR Order of the Star of Sarawak - ribbon PNBS-PBS-ABS (1964-1973).png|50px]] Member of the [[Most Exalted Order of the Star of Sarawak]] (ABS) (1964)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19641005-1.2.47|title=STATE'S HIGHEST HONOUR FOR 16|date=5 October 1964|work=[[The Straits Times]]|pages=7}}</ref>
**[[File:MY-SAR Order of the Star of Sarawak - ribbon PNBS-PBS-ABS (1964-1973).png|50px]] Knight Commander of the [[Most Exalted Order of the Star of Sarawak]] (PNBS) – '''Dato'''' (1967)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/beritaharian19671003-1.2.96|title=Tawi Sli dapat gelaran Dato Sarawak|date=3 October 1967|work=[[Berita Harian]]|page=8}}</ref>
==Later life==
He retired from politics in 1974 and later was involved in business until his death in 1987. His wife, Datin Sri Dorothy Inti, died in April 2015.
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{S-start}}
{{succession box|title=[[Chief Minister of Sarawak]]|before= [[Stephen Kalong Ningkan]]|after=[[Abdul Rahman Ya'kub]]|years=1966–1970}}
{{S-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sli, Tawi}}
[[Category:Malaysian Anglicans]]
[[Category:1912 births]]
[[Category:Iban people]]
[[Category:1987 deaths]]
[[Category:Chief ministers of Sarawak]]
[[Category:Sarawak state ministers]]
[[Category:People from Sarawak]]
[[Category:Members of the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly]]
[[Category:Sarawak National Party politicians]]
[[Category:Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu politicians]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of Sarawak]]