Where did the name "Penampang" come from?

Penampang comes from the word "pampang" which, in the Kadazan Language, means "rock". Pampang is a type of rock that is very hard.

St. Michael's Catholic Church is made from this pampang that are found in abundance at Pogun Savat hills. Its construction was completed not long after the end of the Second World War.

How or when the 'en' was added is not known to date. No one has volunteered an opinion. One possible meaning is "to cause (a person or thing) to be in" (Dictionary.com). Can this mean that the pampang is found in this particular place? Thus, Penampang? Who was responsible for inventing this word? Was it one of the early white missionaries such as Fr. Alexander Prenger or Fr. Duxneuner? Was the word in circulation among the people before it was made official? Will we ever know?

Penampang became synonymous with Catholicism and the stage where missionary priests were arrested by Japanese soldiers before they were herded into a lorry bound for Tenom. None of these priests survived to tell their stories.

Penampang was made the administrative centre of the Catholic Church in North Borneo when Fr. August Wachter became the Prefect Apostolic in 1927. But even before this, Penampang became a place where white priests liked to spend time to rest.

But when the Prefecture became a Vicariate, and later a Diocese, Penampang lost to Kota Kinabalu, formerly Jesselton, as the seat of the Bishop.

Penampang played a significant role in Kadazan nationalism even before the idea of the Federation of Malaysia was mooted. It continues to play an important role in the politics of the country in so far as the Sabahan people are concerned. The Kadazan cultural association, the forerunner of the Kadazandusun Cultural Association was born at Penampang before Malaysia.

Penampang again came into the picture, playing a leadership role when white priests and nuns were expelled from Sabah during the time of Tun Mustapha as the Chief Minister of Sabah. Datuk Peter Mojuntin spoke out boldly against the injustices to the Christians of Sabah.

Now, something seems to be missing among the natives of  Penampang.

Whither Penampang?

Writer: Pascalis Claudius Lotinggi
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