Rosli Dhobi

In 2013, Jeniri Amir, a professor from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak specialising in political communication, wrote a book about Rosli Dhobi which included much new information. However, according to a book review written by Nordi Achie, another professor from Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Jeniri's book contained errors with only superficial analysis of newly found information regarding Rosli Dhoby.

In 2012, a declassified document from the British National Archives showed that Anthony Brooke had had no connection with the assassination of Stewart and that the British government had known this at the time. This was not revealed at the time as the assassins were found to be agitating for union with newly independent Indonesia as the British government did not want to provoke Indonesia which had only recently won its war of independence from the Netherlands, and the UK was already dealing with the Malayan Emergency to the north-west.

In 2009, a miniseries spanning the period from him joining the Rukun 13 up to his death sentence was produced by Malaysian production studio KL Motion Picture Co. titled Warkah Terakhir ("The Final Letter"), with actor Beto Kusyairy portraying Rosli. However, Rosli Dhobi heir Lucas Johnny claimed that the series contained several factual errors. For example, the miniseries portrayed Rosli Dhobi as trying to run away after stabbing the governor. In reality, Rosli was trying to stab the governor the second time but was stopped by the governor's bodyguards.

After 46 years resting in the prison compound, the remains of Rosli Dhobi were moved out of the Kuching Central Prison to be buried in the Sarawak's Heroes Mausoleum near An Nur Mosque in his hometown of Sibu on 2 March 1996. He was given a state funeral by the Sarawak government.

In 1975, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, minister of education at that time, changed the name of SMK Bandar Sibu to SMK Rosli Dhobi to commemorate the sacrifices of Rosli Dhobi.

After Sarawak joined Malaysia on 16 September 1963, a tombstone was put in place at his grave near the Islamic Heritage Museum.

Rosli was subsequently hanged on the morning of 2 March 1950 at the Kuching Central Prison. Fearing the resentment of the local population, the British government did not allow Rosli's body to leave the prison. Instead, his body was interred in an unmarked grave within the prison compound.

He was a member leader of the Rukun 13, an active organisation in the anti-cession movement of Sarawak, along with Morshidi Sidek, Awang Rambli Bin Deli and Bujang Suntong. It was a secret cell organisation, composed of nationalists, which carried out assassinations of officers of the British colonial government in Sarawak. He was well known for his assassination of Duncan George Stewart, the second governor of colonial Sarawak, in 1949.

On 3 December 1949, Duncan George Stewart, the aforementioned appointed governor of Sarawak, was murdered by Rukun 13 members including Rosli, Awang Ramli Amit Mohd Deli, Morshidi Sidek and Bujang Suntong in Sibu.

After a few months languishing in prison, Rosli Dhobi, Awang Ramli Amit Mohd Deli, Morshidi Sidek and Bujang Suntong were found guilty of murder and sentenced to death on 4 December 1949. This move was criticised by many, as Rosli was a juvenile at the time of assassination.

Researches and writings on the history of Rosli Dhoby and Rukun 13 has been lacking because of low awareness and interests in the subject. Besides, from 1949 to 1996, the Sarawak public generally regarded the struggle of Rosli and Rukun 13 negatively as a "bad guy", "imposter", and "rebel". Only after Sarawak state government has given a formal state funeral to Rosli and his friends in 1996, the public perception started to change to the positive side. There are limited primary records regarding Rosli and Rukun 13 as the formal members of the Rukun 13 did not document their experience in view of their struggle looks bad in the public eyes. The last Rukun 13 member passed away in 2009. However, several of the Pergerakan Pemuda Melayu (PPM) (Young Malays Movement) members still available in 2009. Deputy director of Sarawak state prison, Sabu Hassan, in a formal reply written to Nordi Achie, a researcher working at Centre for the Promotion of Knowledge and Language Learning, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, stated that Malaysian prison department did not keep any record and files for the four offenders while a portion of the documents were destroyed by the British during the colonial times.

Rosli started his career as a teacher and left his job in 1947 to teach in Sibu People's School. Before that, he worked at the Sarawak Public Works Department (PWD) and for Utusan Sarawak. Rosli was known to be a nationalist and a poet. Using the nickname Lidros, Rosli wrote a nationalistic poem titled "Panggilan Mu yang Suchi" (Malay: "Your Divine Call") which was published in Utusan Sarawak on 28 February 1948. The usage of nicknames was prevalent at the time since the British Colonial Authority vigorously monitored any attempts to spread words against them. He joined the Sibu Malay Youth Movement (Malay: Pergerakan Pemuda Melayu Sibu) under the leadership of Sirat Haji Yaman.

Rosli joined Rukun 13 in August 1948. He was introduced to the organisation by an old friend, Awang Rambli.

Rosli Dhobi (18 March 1932 – 2 March 1950) was a Sarawakian nationalist from Sibu of mixed Malay-Melanau descent during the British crown colony era in that state.

Rosli Dhobi was born on 18 March 1932 at No. 94, Kampung Pulo in Sibu, the second child in the washerman family. His father, Dhobi bin Buang originated from Indonesia and was a descendant of Raden. His mother, Habibah binti Haji Lamit came from a Sambas family and settled for a long time in Mukah. Little is known about his earlier life although friends regard Rosli as an approachable person despite his quietness. He had an elder sister and a younger brother: Fatimah (born 1927) and Ainie (born 1934).