Jerita Kitai Orang Sarawak.: In Memory Third Rajah Muda Brooke.

KUCHING: The last Rajah Muda of Sarawak,
Anthony Walter Dayrell Brooke, passed away
peacefully at his home ‘Rumah Brooke’ in
Wanganui, New Zealand on Wednesday.

The London-based Brooke Heritage Trust said in
an email yesterday that the 98-year-old is
survived by his wife Gita, son James Lionel,
daughter Celia as well as grandchildren Jason,
Laurence and Sura.
“Born in England in 1912, Anthony received his
education at Eton and Magdalene Cambridge,
before pursuing studies in Malay and
Mohammedan Law at the School of Oriental and
African Studies, in his own words ‘to prepare him
for what may lie ahead’,” said Brooke Heritage
Trust trustee Matthew Edgeworth.
Anthony’s uncle Sir Charles Vyner Brooke was the
third Rajah of Sarawak, a kingdom founded by Sir
James Brooke in 1841 and ruled by the Brooke
family until the Japanese invasion of 1941.
Since Vyner had no male heir, Anthony was duly
appointed Rajah Muda and heir apparent in his
place.
“(As) the last member of the Brooke family to
have administered the Government of Sarawak
(1939-1940), Anthony also lived to be the last
Head of Government to personally declare war on
Hitler’s Germany.
“This he did in 1939, though the act itself was
mostly symbolic — Germany having no stated
aspirations towards Sarawak. The Japanese
however swept down the coast of South East
Asia in 1941, with Sarawak falling on Christmas
Day,” said Edgeworth.
With Vyner largely retired from public duties and
based in Australia, Anthony as Rajah Muda
headed the Provisional Government in Exile during
the War Years. His task was to represent the
state in its negotiations with foreign powers,
notably Great Britain.
After WWII ended, and with Sarawak liberated
from Japanese rule, Anthony strongly opposed the
annexation of Sarawak as a British colony in
1946.
He responded to calls from the Malay National
Union and the Sarawak Dayak Association, along
with the Sarawak Youth Movement, the Sarawak
Women’s Association, and other newly formed
political groups in Sarawak, to lead the
Independence Campaign against British Rule.
Campaigning vigorously for five years, he
withdrew in 1951, when the risk of a spread in
Communism seemed a greater threat to stability
in Sarawak.
Anthony then embarked upon a programme of
world travel, speaking with groups large and
small on the rights, responsibilities and power of
the individual in helping to bring about a
democratic world order. Co-founding with his wife
Gita a charitable trust, Peace Through Unity,
Anthony embarked upon a personal crusade that
would span 60 years, meeting world leaders and
spiritual thinkers from Chinese Premier Chou En
Lai to India’s Vinoba Bhave, who dubbed him
‘shanty doot’ (Ambassador of Peace).
“In 1963, Sarawak achieved full Independence
from Great Britain and welcomed Anthony back
as a guest of the state on two occasions, in 1964
and 1983, where he rekindled old friendships from
the Anti-Cession days,” said Edgeworth.
Edgeworth added that Anthony was a true idealist
who “believed unashamedly in the fundamental
goodness of the human heart”.
“Anthony, like all of us, was imperfect at times —
he was given to high ideals over pragmatism, and
impe-tuosity arguably cost him the throne, but he
was nonetheless an extra-ordinary man who lived
through extraordinary times.
“Prince, advocate, campaigner and eternal
optimist, he never failed to make an impression
on those whose lives crossed his path. He will be
remembered,” said Edgeworth.
Condolences may be sent to Rumah Brooke, 4
Allison Street, Wanganui 5001, New Zealand, or
The Brooke Heritage Trust, 78 York Street,
London, Great Britain.