TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN PUTRA AL-HAJ(1st Prime Minister of Malaysia)

8/6/2019 TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN PUTRA AL-HAJ(1st Prime Minister of Malaysia)

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-

HAJ

PRIME MINISTER OF MALAYSIA( 31ST AUGUST 1957 - 22ND SEPTEMBER

1970 )


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HISTORY LIFE

( 1903 1990 )

Tunku Abdul Rahman was born on February 8, 1903, in Alor Setar, Kedah.

He was born in the "Istana Tiga Tingkat" of the Three-Storey Palace which

looked like a pagoda in the palace complex known as Dalam Kota.

Tunku was the twentieth child of Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah, the

twenty-fourth ruler of Kedah.

Tunku's mother was Che Manjalara, the fourth wife of Sultan Abdul Hamid.

Tunku ran outside the palace enclosure to play with boys of his own age

who lived in the town.

His mother strongly disapproved of it but she was too preoccupied withcaring for the Sultan and Tunku's nurses were unable to control him.

At that time cholera and malaria were very common all over Kedah and at

least two of Tunku's brother and an elder sister died from cholera while

Tunku himself suffered from intermittent attacks of malaria until he left for

London in 1920.


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HISTORY LIFE

When Tunku was four years old, he was vaccinated.Although he tried to elude his mother's servants, hewas finally caught and taken to his grandmother'sroom where the painful inoculation took place.

When Tunku was nine years old, he was circumcisedtogether with seven other boys who were hisplaymates from town.

The event took place in a room in the palace complex.The Royal Circumciser performed the minoroperations in only a few seconds but the healing wasslow.

All the patients, including Tunku, remained in thepalace for three weeks. Malay and Javanese shadow

plays were performed nightly for their entertainment.


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EDUCATION Tunku received his early education at the Debsurin School, Bangkok

and Penang Free School. On a Kedah Government scholarship, he went on to study at St.

Catherine's College, Cambridge University, where he received his

Bachelor of Arts in law and history in 1925.

His leadership flair also unfolded in England. Realising the Malaystudents there were not represented by any organisation, he

established the Kesatuan Melayu Great Britain (Malay Association

of Great Britain) and became its first secretary.

He joined the Kedah Civil Service as a cadet in the Legal Advisor's

Office, and then district officer in several Kedah districts.

His attempt at completing his law studies at the Inner Temple in

England in 1938 came to a halt due the outbreak of the Second

WorldWar. He resumed his studies eight years later and came home

with his legal qualifications in 1949.


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CAREER

Abdul Rahman worked in the Kedah public service and was appointed asDistrict Officer ofKulim and Sungai Petani. In colonial Malaya, almost allthe District Officers were British. Abdul Rahman, who was the only MalayDistrict Officer at that time, had the people's interest at heart. This madehim cross swords with the British Administration many times.

The British Administration in Kedah could not do anything as he was a

prince and the son of the Sultan. However, him angering the colonialadministration cost him many chances of promotion to higher offices.

Some time later, he returned to England to complete his law studies at theInner Temple but was forced to stop in 1938. At the outbreak ofWorldWar II and he returned to Malaya.

During the Japanese Occupation of Kedah

, the Tunku was responsible for

saving many lives, both Malay and Chinese. He being of royal blood washighly revered by the Japanese and could not be touched by them, and heused this to his advantage. Many people from Kulim today lay claim toowing their lives to the Tunku.

He resumed his studies at the Inner Temple in 1947. And in 1949, hequalified for the Bar. During this period, Abdul Rahman met Abdul Razak

Hussein . He was elected president of the Malay Society of Great Britain.


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POLITICS After his return to Malaya in 1949, Abdul Rahman was first

posted at the Legal Officer's office in Alor Star. He later asked tobe transferred to Kuala Lumpur

, where he became a DeputyPublic Prosecutor. He was later appointed as president of theSessions Court.

During this period, nationalism was running high among theMalays

, with Datuk Onn Jaafar leading the United MalaysNational Organisation (UMNO) in the struggle against Britain'sMalayan Union

Abdul Rahman joined UMNO and became active in Malayan

nationalist politics. He was popular and later became head of theKedah branch of UMNO.

In August 1951 an internal crisis in UMNO forced Datuk OnnJaafar to resign as party president. Abdul Rahman was elected asthe new president, eventually holding the post for 20 years.


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ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE In 1954, Abdul Rahman led a delegation to London to seek independence for

Malaya. The British were reluctant to grant independence, using the excuse thatthere needed to be evidence that the different races in Malaya were able to worktogether and cooperate before independence could be obtained.

Race relations was the cause ofOnn Jaafar stepping down. He wanted UMNO to bopen to the Chinese and Indians but UMNO members were not ready to acceptthis. His successor, Abdul Rahman saw a way around this by forming a political

alliance with the Malayan Chinese Association called the Alliance Party. The coalition proved to be popular among the people. The Alliance was later

joined by the Malayan Indian Congress (MIC) in 1955, representing the Indiancommunity.

In the same year, the first federal general election was held, and the Alliance Party( Parti Perikatan) won fifty-one out of the fifty-two seats contested. Abdul Rahmanwas selected as Malaya's first Chief Minister.

Tunku Abdul Rahman proclaiming Malayan independence.

Later in 1955 Abdul Rahman, along with Tun Sir Tan Cheng Lock and Tun V. T.Sambanthan, made a trip to London to negotiate Malayan independence, and 31August 1957 was decided as the date for independence.

When the British flag was lowered in Kuala Lumpur on independence day, AbdulRahman led the crowd in announcing "Merdeka!" (Independence).


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TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN

PROCLAIMING MALAYAN

INDEPENDENCE ON31ST AUGUST 1957


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THE SCRIPT OF THE

PROCLAMATION OF

INDEPENDENCE BY TUNKU


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THE CADILLAC FLEETWOOD

1959 USED BY TUNKU AT THE

COMPOUND OF THEMEMORIAL


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INVOLVEMENTS IN ISLAM

After making Islam the official religion in 1960, Abdul Rahmanestablished the IslamicWelfare Organisation (PERKIM), anorganisation to help Muslim converts adjust to new lives asMuslims. He was President of PERKIM until a year before hisdeath.

In 1961 Malaysia hosted the first International Qur'an RecitalCompetition, an event that developed from Abdul Rahman's ideawhen he organised the first state-level competition in Kedah in1951.

On the occasion of his 80th birthday, Abdul Rahman stated in the

9 February 1983 edition of the newspaperThe Star

that the"country has a multi-racial population with various beliefs.

Malaysia must continue as a secular State with Islam as theofficial religion." In the same issue ofThe Star, Abdul Rahmanwas supported by the third Malaysian Prime Minister, HusseinOnn, who stated that the "nation can still be functional as asecular state with Islam as the official religion."


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PREMIERSHIP

Abdul Rahman dominated the politics ofindependent Malaya (which became Malaysia in1963), and led the Alliance to landslide wins in the 1959, and 1964 general elections.

In 1961 he made a speech at the Foreign Correspondents Association of Southeast Asia inSingapore, proposing a federation Malaya, Singapore, Sabah, Sarawak, and Brunei. On 16September 1963, with the federation of all these states except Brunei, Abdul Rahman wasformally restyled Prime Minister of Malaysia.

The racial factor was worsened with the inclusion ofSingapore, which increased the

Chinese proportion to more than 40%. Both UMNO and the MCA were nervous about thepossible appeal ofLee Kuan Yew's People's Action Party (PAP, then seen as a radicalsocialist party) to voters in Malaya, and tried to organise a party in Singapore to challengeLee's position there. Lee in turn threatened to run PAP candidates in Malaya at the 1964federal elections, despite an earlier agreement that he would not do so (see PAP-UMNOrelations). This provoked Abdul Rahman to demand that Singapore withdraw fromMalaysia.

On 7 August 1965, Abdul Rahman announced to the Parliment of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpurthat it should vote yes on the resolution to have Singapore leave the Federation,Singapore's secession and independence became official on 9 August 1965.

At the 1969 general election, the Alliance's majority was greatly reduced. Demonstrationsfollowing the elections sparked the May 13 racial riots in Kuala Lumpur. Some UMNOleaders led by Tun Abdul Razak were critical of Abdul Rahman's leadership during theseevents, and an emergency committee MAGERAN took power and declared a state ofemergency.


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SPORTS INVOLVEMENT

Being an avid sportsman, Tunku Abdul Rahman was a firmbeliever that sports can be a good catalyst in bringing aboutgreater social unity among Malaysians of various races andreligions. Therefore he supported and initiated many sportsevents.

One of the events Tunku initiated was an internationalfootball tournament, the Pestabola Merdeka (IndependenceFootball Festival) in 1957.

The following year, he was elected as the first president ofAsian Football Confederation (AFC), a post he held until

1976. Tunku also loved horse racing and was a regular at the

Selangor Turf Club. He claimed that his lucky number is 13,and that he would win horse races that were held on the13th of the month, especially on Friday the 13th for him.


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LATER LIFE

In 1977, having acquired substantial shares in The Star, a Penang-based

newspaper, Abdul Rahman became the newspaper's Chairman. His columns,

"Looking Back" and "As I See It", were critical of the government.

In 1987 Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad banned the newspaper. This led to a

split in UMNO, with Abdul Rahman and another former Prime Minister, TunHussein Onn, setting up a new party called UMNO Malaysia, but its registration

was quashed by Mahathir Mohamad, who set up his own UMNO Baru ("New

UMNO").

Abdul Rahman later supported Semangat 46, a splinter group of UMNO led by

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. He campaigned actively for the latter in the General

election of 1990, but was already in very poor health.

The well-educated, visionary Tunku clashes with Mahathir's brand of nationalism

that was meant to help the economically and socially stunted Malays of Malaysia

(allegedly due to the effect of colonial British 'divide and rule' system).


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AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

Tunku Abdul Rahman was appointed to the Order ofthe Companions of Honour (CH) by Queen Elizabeth IIin 1961.

He was appointed an honorary Companion of the

Order of Australia in 1987. Tunku Abdul Rahman Stamp Issues: In 1991, he

adorned part of the collection of Past Prime Ministersof Malaysia stamps issue.

In 2003, stamps of Tunku Abdul Rahman were issuedto commemorate his 100th birthday anniversary andto pay tribute to him as he was the first primeminister ofMalaysia since Malaysia became anindependent nation in 1957.


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DEATH

Tunku Abdul Rahman died on

6 December 1990 at the ageof eighty-seven, and was laid

to rest at the Langgar RoyalMausoleum in Alor Star.


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REFERENCE

URL : http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunku_Abdul_Rahman

URL : http://www.malaysiavacationguide.com/Tunku-Abdul-Rahman.html

URL : http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Tunku_Abdul_Rahman.aspx

URL : http://www.malaysiavacationguide.com/malaysiahistory.html

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TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN PUTRA AL-HAJ(1st Prime Minister of Malaysia)