Source: History insights - MalaysiaThe Agnes Keith House is one of Sandakan’s most talked-about tourist destinations and it’s definitely difficult to miss. But wait – who is Agnes Keith?
For many Malaysians, her name might not ring any bells. Sabahans on the other hand, certainly light up at the mention of her name. After all, the state’s unofficial motto of “Land Below the Wind” originates from her work as an author, and her writings offer a rare insight into Sabah’s storied past.
Born on July 4, 1901 in Illinois, USA, Agnes Newton Keith would eventually find a passion for writing on the cusp of adulthood.
She first came to Sabah back in 1934 after marrying one Henry George Keith, fondly known to her as Harry, a conservationist who worked for the British North Borneo Company.
Given her husband’s important role as the company’s Agriculture Director, Agnes dutifully followed him to Sandakan. It should be noted that Harry was so influential in his work, that the largest species of the Rafflesia plant, Rafflesia keithii, was named in his honour in 1984.
Despite the early discomforts of settling in a foreign land, Agnes still embraced her new phase of life as she travelled deep into Sabah’s lush interior alongside her beloved husband.
Encouraged by Harry to start journaling her experiences, she participated in a writing contest and related her experiences living in rustic Sabah.
Her inspiring entry was selected as the winner in its category, and she would later publish it as a book called “Land Below the Wind”.
In it, she expounded on her new life in a strange land, as well as the unique people and animals she had encountered in Sabah. The book received positive reviews, with one newspaper noting it as “an original and engaging description of a country and people of extraordinary interest.”
However, during the Japanese invasion of Borneo, the Keiths, like many other Europeans on the island at the time, were rounded up and sent to live in internment camps.
Thankfully, the family survived the conflict unscathed, largely due to Agnes’s willingness to cooperate with her captors.
In fact, a fellow prisoner noted that the Japanese camp commandant had also read Agnes’s work, thereby ensuring that her family was treated relatively well. The Keiths’s imprisonment finally ended with the liberation of their camp on Sept 11, 1945.
Agnes would move to Canada for a short while, during which she worked on her second book, “Three Came Home” which recounted her time in imprisonment.
The book vividly captures her trauma, as evidenced by her writing, “The story of war is always the story of hate; it makes no difference with whom one fights. The hate destroys you.”
In the same book, she also wrote, “War brutalises all whom it touches; if it did not do so it could not be endured.”
Surprisingly, despite the depressing subject, Agnes ensured to humanise both captors and captives, believing that the war had dehumanised everyone and was thus causing everyone to suffer.
The bestseller book later received a film adaptation, with movie star Claudette Colbert playing the role of Agnes.
When Agnes returned to Sandakan in 1947, she was saddened that the Sabah she loved had been been ravaged by the conflict.
Despite their former home being destroyed during the conflict, the Keiths soon erected a new home, called the Newlands. Today, it survives as the famous Agnes Keith House.
Aside from being a tourist destination, the house has also garnered a reputation for being supposedly haunted, with mysterious apparitions having been sighted by Agnes herself.
Her third book on Sabah, “White Man Returns” was written during this period and it told of her family’s post-war experience.
She was clearly proud of her new home, as she wrote, “The new house is beautiful. Round trippers on world boats would come up to see it, carrying their cameras and calling, ‘Why, look!'”
Agnes would leave Sabah for good in 1952, following her husband on his travels, before finally settling down in Canada. There, she passed away peacefully at the age of 80.
Till today, her books remain popular in Sabah as they played a huge role in introducing the beauty of Sabah to the world.
While the Sabah of Agnes’s time has long passed, many still identify with her experiences, as the allure of Sabah continues to blossom and bloom under the wind.
Source: Free Malaysia Today
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13/1/2025: 11.35 p.m