BWM Talk Series: Sabah: Untold Stories of the Past by Avtar Singh

Posted on May 21, 2024 Updated on May 30, 2024

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Organised by Badan Warisan Malaysia.

Live Webinar Details
Date: Saturday, 8 June 2024
Time: 10:30 AM (Kuala Lumpur, GMT+8)
Venue: Virtual – Zoom Webinar
Free Admission

Click HERE to register.

ABOUT THE TALK

Sabah: Untold Stories of the Past touches on little known aspects of history many Malaysians may not realize or know about Sabah and it’s history in brief. This includes the people of the land, migration in and out of Sabah, relationships with China and India, the establishment of a Brunei Sultanate that ruled over Sabah for over 400 years till the early to mid-19th CE when there is a decline in Brunei influence over Sabah coastlines and how it’s past relationship through marriage with members of the former Sulu Sultanate has led to claims of ownership in the mid-17th CE till today over Sabah.

The arrival of the Portuguese and then the Dutch and English change the landscape of trade and relationships between various kingdoms and Empires in South East Asia including Borneo.

Brunei’s decline in its Sphere of Influence and control over the Sabah coastlines was caused by a number of internal and external factors which led to Sabah first becoming an American colony before a hand over and signing over of ownership to the Europeans.

This leads us to the demands for independence and self-rule before talks for a merger to form Malaysia and the pressures of the world forced its political leaders to agree to a merger to form Malaysia.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Avtar Singh spent over 20 years in the retail industry in Malaysia and began a transition into private historical research and writing in 2016. He presented his first historical talk in 2019 on The Battle of Midway and how that particular battle changed the Pacific War. He has since collaborated on debunking the false narratives of the Sulu Sultanate’s claims over Sabah and presented several historical papers on Sabah History and has tried to present a more accurate version of history of Sabah that has largely been missing from history books and story-telling.

He presented his findings to a national audience on the false narratives of the Sulu Sultanate in mid-2023 that has helped the Malaysian Government to challenge claims over Sabah in European Courts.

He is currently attached to the Goethe Institute of Germany as a private historical researcher and currently produces his own podcast @AvtarSinghHistory.