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.

His father, Dhobi bin Buang was an ethnic local Sibu Malay who had ancestral roots in Kalimantan, Indonesia and was a descendant of Raden ranked nobles.

His mother, Habibah binti Haji Lamit, came from a Sambas Malay family that was settled for a long time in Mukah which intermingled with the local native Melanau population.

Meanwhile, Abang Ahmad told Rosli that secrecy prevents the information from leaking to unintended parties.

Rosli responded that he would rock Sarawak by giving a nice punch against the British colonial masters.

In a meeting held at Telephone Road in Sibu, Awang Rambli stated that their previous protests did not bore any fruit during the last three years.

[5] By using the pseudonym Lidros, Rosli wrote a nationalist poem titled "Panggilan Mu yang Suchi" (Your Divine Call).

The usage of nicknames was prevalent at the time since the British Colonial Authority actively monitored any attempts that could undermine the stability of the government.

After the meeting, between 9 and 11 pm, Rosli, Yusuf and other friends went to the Encik Aninie Sepet's house to watch people drumming.

Yusuf handed over his identity card to be given back to the British and gave final advice to Rosli.

Rosli then went to Methodist primary school, standing in line to welcome the arrival of new British Governor Duncan George Steward.

[2] Despite suffering from a deep stab wound, Stewart was reported to have tried to carry on until blood began to seep through his white uniform.

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

[8] Sarawak was sent into tumultuous years, and the anti-cessionists' rebellion was crushed as the support by the locals dwindled due to Rukun 13's "aggressive" tactics, alongside opposition from some of the Malay leaders who were pro-British.

Even those who were imprisoned at Changi were allowed to return to Sarawak, to continue their sentence at Kuching Central Prison.

[citation needed] In 1961, Tunku Abdul Rahman, the prime minister of Malaya at that time, was trying to promote his plan for the formation of greater Malaysia in Sibu.

[9] After 46 years, Rosli's remains 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.

[7][10] In 2009, Malaysian television provider Astro screened a miniseries titled Warkah Terakhir ("The Final Letter") which described the story of Rosli Dhoby.

The miniseries was produced by Wan Hasliza with actor Beto Kusyairy portraying Rosli Dhoby.

The British government decided to keep this information a secret as the assassins were found to be agitating for union with newly independent Indonesia.

[12] From 1949 to 1996, the Sarawak public generally regarded the struggle of Rosli and Rukun 13 negatively as a "bad guy", "imposter", and "rebel".

[13] 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.

[13] In 2013, Jeniri Amir, a professor from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak specialising in political communication, wrote a book about Rosli Dhobi which included new information.

[4] According to a review by Nordi Achie, Jeniri's book contained errors with only a superficial analysis of newly found information regarding Stewart's assassination.