Career
He was appointed as the first customs examiner and revenue collector by the British North Borneo (Chartered) Company in Tawau, 1894. A year later, Tawau development was entrusted to his hands by the British administration. He became the first Pengulu or Orang Kaya (OKK) in Tawau, Sabah.
Tawau (also known as Tanjung) became a modern town under Kee Kim Swee"s lead, as he engineered Tawau into a business and commercial area in the early 1900s.
Kee Abdullah (Kee Kim Swee) was born in 1863. He had a step-parent known by the name Kipas, a Dusun Tidong woman from Brunei.
In 1883, at the age of 20 years, as the courteous and respected Agent of the Company in Brunei, Kapitan Kee Kim Swee was appointed as Datuk Temenggung over the Chinese community by Sultan Abdul Momin. In 1885, while on a trading journey with his father to Sandakan, their Tongkang boat encountered a mishap and capsized at the Marudu Bay.
His father of Hainanese origin died in the incident and was buried in a Chinese cemetery in the district of Kudat, Sabah.
Kee Kim Swee survived and was rescued by villagers. He settled in the residence of a Suluk man named Dato Husin until his recovery. In 1894, Kee Kim Swee was recruited by the British North Borneo Chartered Company as a customs examiner and revenue collector in Tawau.
One of his many tasks was to collect a one-dollar poll tax from the residents.
His unique ability to converse in Arabic, and also Jawi literate, served as a link between the native and Chinese groups with the government. Thus, he was often called upon for his view and to provide representation.
Kee Sulaiman (1897–1977)
Kee Othman (1898–1970)
OKK Kee Abu Bakar (1899–1953)
Kee Abdul Aziz (unknown)
Child name not recorded
Kee Aishah (1906–1985)
Kee Sidek (1909–1945)
Kee Hatifah (1910–1969)
Kee Ali (1913–1975)
Kee A. Kamaruddin (1915-unknown)
Kee A. Omar (1916–1931)
Child name not recorded
Kee Abdul Jalil (1919–1990)
Kee Dzawiyah (1920–1921)
Some of the children"s names were not recorded.
