An old photo shared by Chang Yi on Facebook shows Prince Philip waving to the crowd from the motorcade when he visited Miri.
MIRI: Many Mirians, especially those more senior in age, took to social media to mourn the passing of Prince Philip, beloved husband of Queen Elizabeth II.
The Duke of Edinburgh died on Friday at the age of 99.
Among those who shared their cherished memories was Christopher S. Jiram who recalled the visit of His Royal Highness (HRH) to Miri in 1959.
“The visit was announced by our principal during school assembly. I was 13 years old at the time,” he told The Borneo Post yesterday.
The colonial government, he remembered, hired a few buses to transport Tanjong Lobang School students to an open concert organised by the Resident at the then GCM Padang.
“The open concert was to entertain HRH during his visit here. As I missed the bus at the end of the concert, I got a lift from my teacher George Ong.
“His Royal Highness’ visit to Miri at the time, must have coincided with the Chinese New Year, as I remembered having visited a few Chinese houses,” shared Christopher.
“The next morning, we were made to line up along the road at the entrance of his residency to bid the Duke farewell.
“Due to the crowd, and my height, I was only able to see his famous hat as the motorcade passed by,” he recalled.
Bill Liao also shared his recollections of the visit 62 years ago.
“My father was a Miri councillor then and he had a photo shaking hands with Prince Philip. Sadly, we have lost the photo,” he wrote.
Awang Draup was another Mirian who said he was among those lining up along the road to catch a glimpse of HRH.
Prince Philip made a 41-hour visit to Sarawak in 1959. He arrived in Kuching, proceeded to Sibu and then Miri as final stop before heading to Brunei.