♡ Tun Hussein Onn Biography; The 3rd Prime Minister (1976–1981) ♡

Tun Dato' Hussein bin Dato' Onn (12 February 1922 – 29 May 1990) was the third Prime Minister of Malaysia, serving in this role from 1976 to 1981. He was born in Johor Bahru, Johor, on 12 February 1922 to Dato Onn Jaafarand Datin Halimah Hussein, and is of 3/4 Malay and 1/4 Circassian ancestry. He was granted the soubriquet "Bapa Perpaduan" (Father of Unity).

Tun Hussein Onn was the son of Dato'Onn Jaafar, a Malayan freedom fighter.

Tun Hussein Onn married Tun Suhaila Noah in 1948.Tun Suhailah, widow of 3rd PM Tun Hussein Onn, dies at 82. Suhaila Noah was the daughter of Tan Sri Haji Mohamad Noah Omar. Hussein Onn and Suhaila Noah had six children.

Tun Hussein received his early education in Telok Kurau Primary School, Singapore and at the English College,Johore Bahru. After leaving school, he joined the Royal Johor Military Force as a cadet in 1940 and was sent a year later to the Indian Military Academy. Upon completion of his training, he was absorbed into the Indian Army and served in the Middle East when the Second World War broke.After the war, his vast experience prompted the British to employ him as an instructor at the Malayan Police Recruiting and Training Centre in Rawalpindi.

Tun Hussein came back to Malaysia in 1945 and was appointed Commandant of the Johor Bahru Police Depot. The following year he joined the Civil service in Malaysia

as an assistant administrative officer in Segamat,Johor.

Tun Hussein resigned from the civil service to go into politics. In 1949, he became the first youth chief of UMNO (United Malays National Organisation), a party his father helped established. In 1950, he was elected the UMNO secretary general. Tun Hussein however left UMNO in 1951 to join his father in forming the IMP(Independence of Malaya Party).

With IMP losing momentum, Tun Hussein went to London to study law at Lincoln's Inn. He came back as a certified lawyer and practised in Kuala Lumpur.

Tun Hussein returned to politics in 1968 after being persuaded by the then Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak to rejoin UMNO. He stood and won the general elections in 1969 and was appointed as the education minister. Tun Hussein's meteoric rise continued on 13 August 1973 when he succeeded the late Tun Dr Ismail as the Deputy Prime Minister. On 15 January 1976 he was appointed as Prime Minister of Malaysia after the death of Tun Razak.

Tun Hussein was renowned for stressing the issue of unity through policies aimed at rectifying economic imbalances between the various communities found in Malaysia. For instance, 20 April 1981 saw the National Unit Trust Scheme being launched. He also gave serious consideration to the concept of Rukun Tetangga and the fight against the drug menace.

He underwent a coronary bypass in early 1981. On 17 July the same year, he retired from active politics and relinquished his prime minister post due to health concerns. He was succeeded by Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

After his retirement as Prime Minister, he continued to contribute to welfare organisations. He was instrumental in the setting up of the Tun Hussein Onn Eye Hospital. He was also an advisor to Petronas the country's oil company and Chairman of Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS).

He died on 29 May 1990 in Seton Medical Center at San Francisco, California, at the age of 68. He is buried in Makam Pahlawan near Masjid Negara, Kuala Lumpur.

♡ Tun Abdul Razak Biography; The 2nd Prime Minister (1970–1976) ♡

NAME : Tun Abdul Razak Hussein

OCCUPATION : 

 Prime Minister

BIRTH DATE :

March 11, 1922

DEATH DATE :

January 14, 1976

PLACE OF BIRTH :

Pekan, Malaysia

PLACE OF DEATH :

London, United Kingdom

Political Involvement

Upon his return from the United Kingdom, in 1950, Tun Razak joined the Malayan Civil Service. Owing to his political calibre, he became the youth chief for United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). Two years later, he worked as the Assistant State Secretary of Pahang and in February 1955, at just 33 years of age, became Pahang's Chief Minister.

Razak stood in and won a seat in Malaysia's first general elections in July 1955 and was appointed as the Education Minister. He was instrumental in the drafting of the Razak Report which formed the basis of the Malayan educationsystem. Tun Razak was also a key member of the February 1956 mission to London to seek the independence of Malaya from the British.

After the general elections in 1959, he became the Minister of Rural Development in addition to holding the portfolios of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, which he held from 1957. His achievements include formulating the development policy known as the Red Book.

Infusing Young Blood

At the time of Separation of Singapore from the Federation of Malaysia in 1965, Tun Razak realised that UMNO needed more young leaders in the party. Faced with, amongst other things Lee Kuan Yew's considerable rhetorical skills, Razak wanted young Malay leaders – grounded in their own faith and culture – who would be able to speak and if necessary debate both in the Malay language and English language.

Razak understood that power resided in the Malay community and that for this power to be wielded effectively, the elite among the Malays had to be an elite determined by ability, aptitude and commitment to the nation as a whole. Class, birth and money were secondary in his calculations.

As a consequence of this initiative, the then young leaders of mixed heritage in UMNO, such as Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, were drafted into higher echelons of the political establishment.

In 1967 he was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for community leadership.

Prime Ministership

After the 13 May Incident in 1969, his faction in UMNO overthrew^{[citation needed]} Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra and imposed a State of Emergency, ruling by decree as the National Operations Council until 1970. On September 1970, Tun Razak succeeded Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra as the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Tun Razak set up the Barisan Nasional or National Front on 1 January 1973 to replace the ruling Alliance Party. He increased the membership of its parties and coalitions in an effort to establish "Ketahanan Nasional" (National Strength) through political stability.

Tun Razak is also renowned for launching the Malaysian New Economic Policy (MNEP) in 1971. He and the "second generation" of Malay politicians saw the need to tackle vigorously the economic and social disparities which fuelled racial antagonism. The MNEP set two basics goals – to reduce and eventually eradicate poverty, and to reduce and eventually eradicate identification of economic function with race.

Death

Due in part to leukaemia, Abdul Razak died on 14 January 1976 while seeking medical treatment in London. He was posthumously granted the soubriquet Bapa Pembangunan (Father of Development). He is laid to rest in Heroes Mausoleum near Masjid Negara, Kuala Lumpur.

Family

Tun Abdul Razak was descended from a long line of Pahang chieftains of Bugis descent. He was married to Tun Rahah Mohammad Noah; daughter of Tan Sri Haji Mohamad Noah Omar, the former Minister of Home Affairs and first Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat. He was the brother in law of Tun Hussein Onn, his successor as Prime Minister, who also married another Tan Sri Haji Mohamad Noah Omar's daughter, Tun Suhaila Mohamad Noah.

Abdul Razak's eldest son, Najib Razak, became the 6th Prime Minister of Malaysia on 3 April 2009, succeeding Abdullah Badawi. He has four other sons, Datuk Ahmad Johari Razak, Mohamed Nizam, Mohamed Nazim and Mohamed Nazir.

Awards and recognitions

Deputy Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak with US President John F. Kennedy at the White House in 1963

Honours

•  Malaysia  Malaya
  •  Seri Maharaja Mangku Negara (1959)^[1]
• Tun Razak was posthumously granted the soubriquet Bapa Pembangunan (Father of Development).

Places after him

Several places were named after him, including:

• There are several roads and highways in Malaysia and one in Indonesia named after Tun Razak such as Tun Razak Highway (Federal Route  connecting Segamat, Johor to Gambang, Pahang), Jalan Tun Razak in Kuala Lumpur(part of Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 1), Jalan Tun Abdul Razak in Johor Bahru (part of Skudai Highway), Jalan Tun Abdul Razak in Ipoh (also known as Maxwell Road), Jalan Tun Abdul Razak in Melaka City (street name for Melaka Bypass), Jalan Tun Razak in Kota Kinabalu and Jalan Tun Abdul Razak in Gowa,Indonesia (known as Jalan Hertasning Baru and Jalan Aroepala)
• Bandar Tun Razak in Kuala Lumpur and Bandar Tun Abdul Razak, Pahang are the towns named after Tun Razak.
• The most prominent landmark in Georgetown, Penang is the KOMTAR building, the Tun Abdul Razak Complex, housing stores and offices. Another building of the same name was also built in Johor Bahru.
• The SK Tun Abdul Razak primary schools in Kuala Kubu Bharu, Selangor.
• The SMK Tun Abdul Razak secondary schools both in Selekoh, Perak and Kuching, Sarawak.
• The Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre in Brickendonbury, England, is named in his.
• KD Tun Abdul Razak, a Scorpene class submarine of the Royal Malaysian Navy
• Tun Abdul Razak Chancellor Hall (DECTAR) at the National University of Malaysia (UKM) in Bangi, Selangor
• Tun Abdul Razak Library (PTAR) at MARA University of Technology (UiTM), Shah Alam, Selangor
• MRSM Tun Abdul Razak, MARA Junior Science College in Pekan, Pahang.
• Sekolah Berasrama Penuh Integrasi Tun Abdul Razak (SBPITAR), integrated boarding school in Pekan, Pahang
• Sekolah Dato' Abdul Razak (SDAR), all-boys boarding school in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan.
• Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UNITAR), private university in Kuala Lumpur.
• Tun Abdul Razak Residential College, one of residential college in Universiti Malaysia Perlis
• Tun Razak Hockey Stadium, located in the Jalan Duta National Sports Complex, Kuala Lumpur.
• Dewan Tun Abdul Razak is another gallery of Sarawak Museum.
• Institut Teknologi Tun Abdul Razak, private institution in Petaling Jaya, Selangor
• Tun Abdul Razak Hockey Cup
• Tun Abdul Razak Heritage Park, public recreational park in Kuala Lumpur
• Tun Abdul Razak Memorial
• Piala Tun Hj. Abdul Razak bin Hussein, trophy that is awarded to the winner of Pertandingan Bahas Piala Perdana Menteri in Hari Anugerah Kecemerlangan Sekolah Berasrama Penuh

♡ Tunku Abdul Rahman Biography; The 1st Prime Minister (1903–1990) ♡

NAME : Tunku Abdul Rahman
OCCUPATION : Prime Minister
BIRTH DATE : February 8, 1903
DEATH DATE : December 6, 1990
PLACE OF BIRTH : Alor Setar, Malaysia
PLACE OF DEATH : Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
FULL NAME : Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah (Jawi: تونكو عبدالرحمن ڤوترا الهاج ابن المرحوم سلطان عبدالحميد حاليم ش)

Tunku Abdul Rahman was a Malaysian politician who served as the first Chief Minister of the Federation of Malaya (1955–1957), before becoming the first Prime Minister of an independent Malaya (1957–1963), remaining Prime Minister following the formation of Malaysia in 1963, when Sabah and Singapore joined the federation, until his retirement in 1970. He was a Prime Minister of Malaysia (1963–1970).

Commonly known simply as "Tunku" or "The Tunku" (a Malay royal title), Tunku Abdul Rahman is widely regarded, even by his critics, as Malaysia's founding father, the architect of Malayan independence and the formation of Malaysia. As such, he is often referred to as Bapa Kemerdekaan (Father of Independence) or Bapa Malaysia (Father of Malaysia).


Synopsis

A Malayan governmental figure since graduating from college, Tunku Abdul Rahman became his country’s first prime minister and foreign minister after it gained its independence, continuing in that post when the federation of Malaysia was formed in 1963.

Tunku Abdul Rahman was born February 8, 1903, in Alor Setar, Kedah, in Malaya, a country then under British control. He was the twentieth child of Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah and Che Manjalara, the sultan’s fourth wife. In 1913, he went to study at Debsurin School in Bangkok, and in 1919, he was awarded a scholarship to further his studies at Cambridge University. After a lengthy trip from Singapore aboard a cargo ship, during which he contracted malaria, Tunku disembarked in the village of Little Stukeley, England. He graduated from Cambridge in 1925 and returned in 1926 for an honors degree in law. He sat for the bar exam in 1930 but failed to complete a section of the test and therefore did not pass on this first try.


Childhood

Tunku Abdul Rahman was born on 8 February 1903, in Alor Setar, Kedah, the seventh son of Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah, the twenty-fifth ruler of the Kedah Sultanate. Tunku's mother was Che Manjalara, the fourth wife of Sultan Abdul Hamid. At that time, cholera and malaria were very common all over Kedah and at least two of Tunku's brothers and his older sister died from cholera while Tunku himself suffered from intermittent attacks of malaria until he left for London in 1920.


College

When Tunku was 16, he won a scholarship to further his studies at Cambridge University.

After about a year, Tunku realised that he was making very little progress in his studies. After a meeting with Mr. Ezekiel, his guardian, in the office of the Crown Agents, Ezekiel arranged for Tunku to move to Cambridge and to be taught by and live with a Mr Basil Atkinson. Atkinson was an experienced tutor and he prepared Tunku to sit for university entrance examinations known as "Littlego". The following year, he took the entrance exams and he obtained high marks for all his papers with a Pass for the whole examination. He was accepted as an undergraduate at St Catharine's College, one of the colleges of the University of Cambridge.

Five years after sailing from Singapore, at the age of 23, he sailed home. The Crown agents secured Tunku a berth in a passenger ship, which stopped atPenang. Tunku Ibrahim, the Regent and his eldest brother, was unhappy with Tunku's choice of degrees and he ordered Tunku to return to England to be admitted to the English Bar. On Tunku's initiative, the Malay Society of Great Britain was formed, with Tunku Abdul Rahman of Negeri Sembilan as President and Tunku Abdul Rahman of Kedah as Honorary Secretary and the driving force. In May 1930, Tunku sat for Part One of the Bar examination. Although he managed to pass three papers, his failure in one paper resulted in him failing the whole examinations in Part One. Tunku sailed to Penang in January 1931. Since Tunku was on a State scholarship, he was automatically a government servant when he returned. Tunku Ibrahim, was still the regent and he told Tunku that he was in disgrace for failing the Bar examinations in London.


Personal Life

Tunku married at least four times. It was in Kulim that Tunku married his first wife, Meriam Chong who was the daughter of his friend, Chong Ah Yong, a Thai Chinese. Soon after Meriam's conversion to Islam, she learnt to pray, and when the fasting month began, she persuaded Tunku to do so too. A year after their marriage, Tunku's daughter Tunku Khadijah was born. A year later, a son Tunku Ahmad Nerang was born. A month after Meriam gave birth to her second child, she contracted a severe attack of malaria and died from a medical blunder, an injection of undiluted quinine.

On Meriam's death, Tunku wrote a letter to his former landlady in England,Violet Coulson. When the news of Meriam's death reached Violet, she dropped everything and turned up in Singapore. They were secretly married by the Kadi in the Malay mosque in Arab Street according to Muslim rites. After conversion, Violet's Muslim name was Puteh Bte Abdullah. Violet went to live in Penang because they had no approval of the Ruler or Regent. Tunku Ibrahim, the Regent, was strongly opposed to mixed marriages, but when he died unexpectedly in 1934 and was succeeded as Regent by Tunku Mahmud, the Sultan's younger brother, he consented to the marriage. Though their marriage went well, Tunku's responsibilities in the public service were all-consuming and after a separation where Violet returned to London, they were divorced amicably in 1947.

He then married Sharifah Rodziah Syed Alwi Barakbah, with whom he had no children but they adopted four, Sulaiman, Mariam, Sharifah Hanizah (granddaughter) and Faridah.

Wanting to have more children of his own, he secretly married another Chinese woman named Bibi Chong, who converted upon marriage. He had two daughters with her, Tunku Noor Hayati and Tunku Mastura


Professional Life

In 1931, Tunku Abdul Rahman received an appointment as a cadet to the Kedah civil service and was later an assistant district officer in Kulim. In 1933, he passed the cadet's law exam on his first attempt, and finally, in 1939, he retook the English bar exam he had failed nine years before and passed. In 1949, he was called to the bar and was then named deputy public prosecutor in the Malayan Federal Legal Department, a position he left in 1951 to embark upon a political career.


Law Studies

Tunku applied for 18 months' study leave and arranged to return to England to resume his law studies. He arrived in Liverpool on 27 December 1946 and travelled by train to London, and remained there for the next 18 months.

When he passed all his law exams, Tunku sailed back to Malaya on the P.&.O. Corfu in January 1949 to be met by his wife, children and friends in Penang. A few days later he called on the Secretary to the Government to inform him that he was now a qualified advocate and solicitor, but the reception was neutral. Tunku was instructed to report to the State Legal Advisor for duty as a deputy public prosecutor.[1] His work was routine and he spent his days reading case files.


A Life In Politics

Abdul Rahman became president of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) and spearheaded the alliance between the UMNO and the Malayan Chinese Association (1951) and that of the UMNO and the Malayan Indian Congress (1955). His Alliance Party won a sweeping majority in the election of 1955, and Abdul Rahman became the first chief minister of Malaya. In August, he used his first broadcast as chief minister to declare his determination in seeking independence from Britain without bloodshed.


Malayan Independence

In January 1956, Abdul Rahman led a mission to London to negotiate for Malayan independence, in the end securing immediate self-government for Malaya and the promise of independence by August 1957. That promise was kept, and Abdul Rahman became independent Malaya’s first prime minister (a post he would retain when the Federation of Malaysia, which consolidated the countries of Malaya, Singapore, Sabah, and Sarawak under one umbrella, was formed in 1963). At midnight on August 30, he stood at the flagpole in Merdeka Square, in Kuala Lumpur, when the Union Jack was lowered for the last time and the new Federation flag was raised.

In September 1970, with his power slipping and Singapore gone from the Federation for five years, Abdul Rahman relinquished his post as prime minister. He died in 1990 at the age of 87.

♡ Prime Minister of Malaysia ♡

Dato' Sri Haji Mohammad Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak is the sixth and current Prime Minister of Malaysia.

The Prime Minister of Malaysia (Malay: Perdana Menteri Malaysia), abbreviated PM, is the indirectly elected head of government (executive) ofMalaysia. He is officially appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the head of state, who in HM's judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of that House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat), the elected lower house of Parliament. He heads the Cabinet, whose members are appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the prime minister's advice. The Prime Minister and his Cabinet shall be collectively responsible to Parliament. The Prime Minister's Department (sometimes referred to as the Prime Minister's Office) is the body and ministry in which the Prime Minister exercises its functions and powers.

♡ Malaysia Day ♡

Malaysia Day is held on 16 September every year to commemorate the establishment of the Malaysian federation on the same date in 1963. It marked the joining together of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak, and Singapore to form Malaysia.

The formation of the new federation was planned to occur on 1 June 1963, but was later postponed to 31 August 1963, to coincide with the sixth Hari Merdeka. Several issues related to objections of neighbouring Indonesia and the Philippines to the formation of Malaysia delayed the declaration to 16 September of the same year. The postponement was also done to allow theUnited Nations team time to conduct referendums in North Borneo (now Sabah) and Sarawak regarding the two states participation in a new federation. The formation of Malaysia was made possible with the signing of the International Treaty the Malaysia Agreement 1963 between the United Kingdom, the Federation of Malaya (constitued by 11 states created under the Federation of Malaya Agreement 1957 ; as one component); Sarawak , North Borneo (renamed Sabah) and Singapore of the remaining component States. The Malaysia Agreement 1963 set out the terms and conditions for the component States to be federated under a new constitution into one new nation called Malaysia. It is under this Agreement that the "Malaysia Bill", (Annexture A) , the constitutions of Sarawak, Sabah and Singapore were created by agreement of all the parties (Singapore seceded on 7 August 1965). Through the introduction of the Malaysia Bill to the Malayan Parliament on 9 July 1963, and consent from Tuanku Syed Putra, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, on 29 August 1963.

Prior to the formation of Malaysia, Sarawak gained its Self-Government Administration on 22 July 1963, while North Borneo (which was renamed Sabah) began Self-Government Administration from the United Kingdom on 31 August 1963, thus coinciding with the sixth anniversary of the Malayan independence.

Since 2010, Malaysia Day has been a public holiday. Prime Minister Najib Razak made the decision after a question-and-answer session at Parliament on 19 October 2009, giving Malaysians two celebrations related to the country's independence.

♡ The History of Malaysia Independence Day ♡

Hari Merdeka (Independence Day) is a national day of Malaysia commemorating the independence of the Federation of Malaya from British colonial rule in 1957, celebrated on 31 August each year. This should not be confused with Hari Malaysia (Malaysia Day) when Malaysia was formed on 16 September 1963 together by Federation of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore.

Events leading up to independence

The effort for independence was spearheaded by Tunku Abdul Rahman, the first Prime Minister of Malaysia, who led a delegation of ministers and political leaders of Malaya in negotiations with the British in London for Merdeka, or independence along with the first president of the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA) Tun Dato Sir Tan Cheng Lock and fifth President of Malaysian Indian Congress Tun V.T. Sambanthan. Once it became clear that the Communist threat posed during the Malayan Emergency was petering out, agreement was reached on 8 February 1956, for Malaya to gain independence from the British Empire. However, logistical and administrative reasons led to the official proclamation of independence in the next year, on 31 August 1957, at Stadium Merdeka (Independence Stadium), in Kuala Lumpur, which was purposely built for the celebrations of national independant day.

31 August 1957

On the night of 30 August 1957, crowds gathered at the Royal Selangor Club Padang in Kuala Lumpur to witness the handover of power from the British. Prime Minister-designate Tunku Abdul Rahman arrived at 11:58 p.m. and joined members of the Alliance Party's youth divisions in observing two minutes of darkness. On the stroke of midnight, the lights were switched back on, and the Union Flag in the square was lowered. The new Flag of Malaya was raised as the national anthem Negaraku was played. This was followed by seven chants of "Merdeka" by the crowd. Malaysia's flag is based on that of the United States, a country whose democratic ideals the young nation sought to emulate upon gaining independence from Great Britain in 1957. The 14 stripes represent Malaysia's states, while the square in the upper left contains the moon and sun of Islam.

Tunku Abdul Rahman later gave a speech hailing the ceremony as "greatest moment in the life of the Malayan people". Before giving the address to the crowd, he was given a necklace by representatives of the Alliance Party youth in honour of this great occasion in history, with a map of Malaya inscribed on it. The event ended at one in the morning the next day.

On the morning of 31 August 1957, the festivities moved to the newly completed Merdeka Stadium. More than 20,000 people witnessed the ceremony, which began at 9:30 a.m. Those in attendance included rulers of the Malay states, foreign dignitaries, members of the federal cabinet, and citizens. The Queen's representative, the Duke of Gloucester presented Tunku Abdul Rahman with the instrument of independence. Tunku then proceeded to read the Proclamation of Independence, which culminated in the chanting of "Merdeka!" seven times with the crowd joining in. The ceremony continued with the raising of the National Flag of Malaya accompanied by the national anthem being played by a military band and a 21-gun salute, followed by an azan call and a thanksgiving prayer in honour of this great occasion.

The day followed with the solemn installation of the first Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Tuanku Abdul Rahman of Negeri Sembilan, at Jalan Ampang, and the first installation banquet in his honour in the evening followed by a beating retreat performance and a fireworks display. Sports events and other events marked the birth of the new nation.