Kota Kinabalu: The massive crowd which showed up at Le Meridan, Wednesday, for the launch of a 752-page 1.7kg “Last Colonial Officer of North Borneo – The Enduring Legacy of Antony Lamb” spoke volumes about the man the book honoured.
Author-publisher Datuk CL Chan , Tony’s bosom friend of 50 years , wished Tony had done an autobiography but he never did because Tony was always focused on the next expedition to the wilderness.
Advertisement
Hence, Chan decided to undertake the project which took him two-and-half years, using archival interviews and family photos to ensure the preservation of Tony’s life story from colonial North Borneo to Sabah in Malaysia.
He relied heavily on personal family papers provided by Tony’s widow, Datin Athea Phillips, and Tony’s UK-based sister, Jane Lamb.
Guest of Honour was Tan Jiew Hoe, Senior Vice President of Singapore Gardening Society, who knew Tony and often worked together on research and publications of botanical books on Borneo.
He said it would be a huge blow had the life story of a “botanical titan” went undocumented.
“I remember Tony as one of Borneo’s greatest champions, defined by his immense botanical knowledge, deep humility and rare gift for making science accessible and engaging to everyone, from academics to villagers,” Tan said.
On Tony’s Enduring Legacy, Tan highlighted how he served as a vital bridge between science, society and conservation, teaching people to respect and safeguard nature rather than just classify it. He said Tony’s published works on orchids and wild fruits of Borneo remain indispensable references.
Tan also congratulated Chan on a “monumental achievement”. Both said Tony’s legacy lives on in the forests he helped protect, the gardens that continue to bloom, and the generations of botanists, conservationists and nature lovers lavishly inspired.
The book launch heard six speeches, namely Chan Hin Ching , publisher for Opus Publications Sdn Bhd which published the book, Datin Anthea, Alex a son of Tony, daughter Serna, CL Chan and Tan, in that order.
Born in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Tony arrived in North Borneo from Cambridge in 1962, dedicated nearly 40 year of service to the Sabah Agriculture Department and built a reputation as a “walking botanical encyclopaedia”.
He lived among local communities, survived not only harrowing jungle expeditions, such as a shock encounter with massive python as he waded into a river near Maliau Basin which he told this writer and even a helicopter crash in Tawau in 1964!
Lamb played an instrumental role in creating the Tenom Agriculture Park for then CM Tan Sri Harris Salleh, which former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir praised on a visit.
At the Orchid Centre, which this reporter visited in 1986, “Tony was on hand to show me round, including what he called ‘the smallest orchid in the world’ – Podochillus tenuis, so tiny that I had trouble seeing it, let alone photograph it.”
He is credited with discovering or co-describing over 150 new plant species and was awarded a Datukship by the State Government
Despite his international stature, Lamb resonated a deep humility and a rare ability to make complex science accessible to students and villagers alike, said Tan.
