Stephen R. Evans

Datuk Seri Panglima Stephen Robert Evans SPDK, JP is a politician, public administrator and author from Sabah, Malaysia.

Evans was born in Kampong Bariawa Laut, a small village in Keningau District, North Borneo (now Sabah). His father was Richard F. Evans, District Officer and later Resident of the West Coast for the North Borneo Chartered Company Government, which ruled North Borneo up to the 1942 Japanese invasion in World War II.

Evans studied in a Japanese primary school in Keningau during the occupation. After the war he was schooled at Catholic mission schools at Sandakan, at Jesselton (now Kota Kinabalu) and at Kuching, Sarawak. He attended universities in Britain, United States and Australia, gaining B.Sc. and MA degrees in Public Administration and Diplomas in Journalism and Agriculture. In 1966, he was awarded a Columbo Plan Scholarship from the New Zealand Government to study Public Administration and Local Government.

Evans had a distinguished career as a politician in Sabah. He served as a Member of Parliament from 8 August 1974 to 1 June 1977, and a Senator from 15 December 1977 to 20 June 1978. He was re-elected as an MP from 15 July 1978 until 29 March 1982. In 1986, he was elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly, serving from 5 May 1986 until 26 June 1990. Evans was awarded a PGDK, Commander of the Order of Kinabalu (second class Datukship: Datuk) by the State Government in 1977 and in 1989 he was conferred the State’s highest award, SPDK, Grand Commander of the Order of Kinabalu (first class Datukship: Datuk Seri Panglima).

Evans also served as a Justice of the Peace, and is a life member of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and the Malaysian Parliamentary Association. He authored several books, and twice won the Borneo Literature Bureau’s Literature Competition. He is fluent in English, Malay, Kadazan/Dusun and Murut.