THE TWO GREAT TAUSUG HEROES
BY: HADJI ALI USMAN JILAH This story has long been stucked with me. I am revealing it as remembrance for the vital contributions to the struggle by the two patriots Kalingalan Caluang and Tuan Hadji Mohammad Nur Omar who shared the same time. It started 83 years ago in 1942 during World War Two when the Tausug put up stiff resistance against Japanese accupation. Impressed by the Tapikan a.k.a. Fighting 21 the two Bornean leaders and a Chinese doctor came to Sulu to ask help to form a creditable military resistance movement in Sabah. Captain Kalingalan sent Tausug combantants to Sabah headed by Datu Mustafa using the sea facility of Tuan Hadji Mohammad Nur. They established organization, training, and arsenal. Their camp bombed wipping out everything. Datu Mustapha survived until the British Liberation Forces arrived in Sabah in 1945 and installed him Chief Minister as a reward. Kalingalan and Hj. Mohammad Nur did not ask anything from a beholden Chief Minister. However, the benefits of their good deeds journeyed to the next generations and reaped its payment in 1968 in the form of Sabah's full support to the revolutionary forces in Mindanao and Sulu. First, by allowing the training of 90 recruits in jungle warfare in Pulau Panghor in 1968, training of 300 in base attack in 1972, training of 60 in artilliary bombardment in 1973, and welcoming thousands of refugees with open arms. All this, were the works of two Tausug zealots Captain Kalingalan Caluang and Tuan Hj. Mohammad Nur Omar remembered by their friend Chief Minister Tung Datu Mustapha of Sabah. This story is based on real events and is factual and became informational through this writer. Thank you for reading Reference: Jilah, H. A. U. (2025, August 26, 1:49 p.m.). The two great Tausug heroes [Facebook post]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1PmH8Ukym9/