Tan Sri The Malay language has a complex system of styles, titles and honorifics which are used extensively in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the southern Philippines. Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and several provinces in Indonesia regul ...

Datuk Seri Panglima Joseph Pairin Kitingan (born 17 August 1940) is a Malaysian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

who served as the 7th

Chief Minister of Sabah The Ketua Menteri Sabah or Chief Minister of Sabah is the head of government of the Malaysian state of Sabah. Since September 2020, the position has been held by Hajiji Noor from the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU), Perikatan Na ...

from April 1985 to March 1994 and

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for

Keningau Keningau ( ms, Pekan Keningau) is the capital of the Keningau District in the Interior Division of Sabah, Malaysia. It is the fifth-largest town in Sabah, as well one of the oldest. Keningau is between Tambunan and Tenom. The town had an es ...

from August 1986 to May 2018. He is founding President of the

United Sabah Party The United Sabah Party ( ms, Parti Bersatu Sabah, abbreviated PBS) is a political party of Sabah. The PBS was founded by Joseph Pairin Kitingan in 1985 and it is Sabah's oldest local party. In August 2020, PBS confirmed that they would be usin ...

(PBS) and brother of

Jeffrey Kitingan Jeffrey Gapari Kitingan (born 22 October 1948) is Malaysian politician. He served as the Deputy Chief Minister II of Sabah from 2020 to 2023 and State Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries since 2020 (also served in the same position for a ...

, the Deputy Chief Minister II and State Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries of

Sabah Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory ...

and President of

Homeland Solidarity Party Homeland Solidarity Party (STAR; ms, Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku ) is a Sabah-based political party. The party was founded on 1 July 2016 by Datuk Seri Panglima Dr. Jeffrey G. Kitingan. He is Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan's younger brothe ...

(STAR) as well as uncle of

Maximus Ongkili Datuk Seri Panglima Dr. Maximus Johnity Ongkili (born 26 October 1953) is a Malaysian politician who has served as Chairman of the Energy Commission of Sabah (ECOS) since February 2023. He served as Minister in the Prime Minister's Department ...

, the

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department The Minister in the Prime Minister's Department is a member of Cabinet of Malaysia who administers a portfolio through the Prime Minister's Department. List of Ministers in the Prime Minister's Department The following individuals have been appo ...

in charge of Sabah and

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...

affairs and President of PBS.

Personal life

Pairin was born in

Papar The Papar (; from Latin ''papa'', via Old Irish, meaning "father" or "pope") were, according to early Icelandic sagas, Irish monks who took eremitic residence in parts of what is now Iceland before that island's habitation by the Norsemen ...

but his hometown is in the interior district of Tambunan. He attended

La Salle Secondary School La Salle Secondary School is a high school located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. La Salle is a medium-sized school, consisting of an average student count of 700. The school schedule is composed of four courses and MSIP. The student body is pred ...

, an all-boys school, located in

Kota Kinabalu , image_skyline = , image_caption = From top, left to right, bottom:Kota Kinabalu skyline, Wawasan intersection, Tun Mustapha Tower, Kota Kinabalu Coastal Highway, the Kota Kinabalu City Mosque, the Wism ...

. He won a

Colombo Plan The Colombo Plan is a regional intergovernmental organization that began operations on 1 July 1951. The organization was conceived at an international conference, The Commonwealth Conference on Foreign Affairs held in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri L ...

scholarship and went on to read law at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

and upon completing his study, he came back to Sabah to work as a State Counsel with the Sabah Legal Department and was later made Deputy Public Prosecutor. Subsequently, he practised law with a local legal firm. Pairin is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, married to Genevieve Lee, a retired teacher. They have two sons, Alexander and Daniel, who are both trained lawyers. His brother Jeffrey Gapari Kitingan is also a politician, a former vice-president of

Parti Keadilan Rakyat The People's Justice Party ( ms, Parti Keadilan Rakyat , often known simply as KEADILAN or PKR) is a reformist political party in Malaysia, formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and the older Malaysian People's Party. Th ...

(PKR) after being former member of Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS), Parti Angkatan Keadilan Rakyat (AKAR), and

United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation The United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation ( ms, Pertubuhan Kinabalu Progresif Bersatu; abbrev: UPKO) is a multiracial political party based in Sabah, Malaysia. The party was rebranded from its previous party's name, United Pasokmomogun Ka ...

(UPKO),

(PKR),

State Reform Party Sarawak People's Aspiration Party or ( ms, "Parti Aspirasi Rakyat Sarawak", abbreviated ASPIRASI), is a political party based in Sarawak, Malaysia, renamed and rebranded from previously State Reform Party abbreviated STAR. Background and histo ...

(STAR Sarawak) and finally heading his own party of

(STAR Sabah). Jeffrey also previously intended to join the

United Malays National Organisation The United Malays National Organisation ( Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest continuous national political party within Malaysia (since its ...

(UMNO), but his application were rejected.

Political career

Pairin began his active political career in 1975. He was elected a Member of the Sabah Legislative Assembly for the Tambunan electorate in 1976 under the

Sabah People's United Front Sabah People's United Front or in Malay ''Parti Bersatu Rakyat Jelata Sabah'' is more commonly known by its abbreviation BERJAYA, was a political party based in the state of Sabah, Malaysia. BERJAYA was formed by former United Sabah National Or ...

(BERJAYA) party ticket, a party which was led by Harris Salleh (Chief Minister 1976–1985) and was appointed as a Minister in the cabinet of the ruling party. Tambunan has become his stronghold ever since. Over time, Pairin became disillusioned with the party's leadership, and opposed some of the party's policies. He felt that the party had deviated from its original struggle. He however, remained firm with the party and subsequently, he was forced to leave the ruling party coalition in 1984.

Leadership

In December 1984, he challenged as an Independent candidate against the ruling party to defend his seat in the Tambunan by-election. His leadership in a state within a federation which had the official religion of Islam, was also questioned because of his religion. Pairin easily won and defended his seat with significant majority. In March 1985, Pairin formed Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS). Despite overwhelming odds, he succeeded in registering PBS as a political party in the eleventh hour; thus paving the way for the party to contest against the incumbent state government in the 1985 Sabah state election in April. PBS won a majority of 25 out of the 48 seats contested in the 1985 state elections. However, BERJAYA and the

United Sabah National Organisation The United Sabah National Organisation ( ms, Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Sabah Bersatu; abbrev: USNO) was a political party in North Borneo and later Sabah, Malaysia. The widely known Sabah's Muslim indigenous especially Suluk- Bajau ethnic based ...

(USNO) joined forces submit their candidate as the chief minister, but after riots by BN followers, the newly formed coalition between BERJAYA and USNO was dissolved giving PBS the majority government. Pairin was sworn in as the seventh Chief Minister of the state of Sabah. He held the post of Sabah Chief Minister from April 1985 to March 1994, during which he spearheaded his party's triumphant outings in four successive state elections (1985, 1986, 1990 and 1994). In the 1994 state election, PBS won the election, however shortly after being announced the winner, almost all PBS assemblymen defected to Barisan Nasional. Pairin was not allowed to be sworn in as Chief Minister. Tun Sakaran Dandai of UMNO was then sworn to be the eighth Chief Minister of Sabah. On 6 June 2015, Pairin asserted a "clear connection of the incident to the

2015 Sabah earthquake The 2015 Sabah earthquake ( ms, Gempa Bumi Sabah 2015) struck Ranau, Sabah, Malaysia with a moment magnitude of 6.0 on 5 June, which lasted for 30 seconds. The earthquake was the strongest to affect Malaysia since the 1976 Sabah earthquake. ...

that has brought about so much damage and loss of lives" by a group of European nude tourists on Mount Kinabalu Pairin is also the ''Huguan Siou'' or Paramount Leader of the

Kadazan-Dusun Kadazan-Dusun (also written as Kadazandusun or Mamasok Kadazan-Dusun) also less-known as "Mamasok Sabah" are two indigenous peoples of Sabah, Malaysia—the ethnic groups Kadazan and Dusun. The Kadazandusun is the largest native group of Bu ...

community by virtue of being the president of the Kadazandusun Cultural Association (KDCA), the community's principal cultural association. However, there is a growing concern that Pairin is no longer suitable to hold the Huguan Siou title and that he should give way to the younger generation.

Honours

Honours of Malaysia

* : ** Commander of the

Order of the Defender of the Realm The Most Esteemed Order of the Defender of the Realm ( ms, Darjah Yang Mulia Pangkuan Negara) is a Malaysian federal award presented for meritorious service to the country. The Order Motto are 'Dipeliharakan Allah-Pangkuan Negara' (By the Grace ...

(PMN) – Tan Sri (2010) * : ** MY-PAH Order of Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang - Grand Knight - SSAP

Grand Knight of the Order of Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang (SSAP) – Dato' Sri (1988) * : ** MY-SAB Order of Kinabalu - SPDK

Grand Commander of the Order of Kinabalu (SPDK) – Datuk Seri Panglima (1986)

Election results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kitingan, Joseph Pairin 1940 births Living people People from Sabah Kadazan-Dusun people Malaysian Christians Malaysian Roman Catholics 20th-century Malaysian lawyers Malaysian political party founders United Sabah Party politicians Sabah People's United Front politicians Chief Ministers of Sabah Sabah state ministers Members of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly Members of the Dewan Rakyat University of Adelaide alumni Commanders of the Order of the Defender of the Realm Grand Commanders of the Order of Kinabalu 21st-century Malaysian politicians