Perdana Menteri Malaysia

Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj was born on 8th February 1903 in Alor Setar, Kedah. His father, Sultan Abdul Hamid was the ruler of Kedah of that time. He had several wives including Tunku’s mother, named Menjalara. His beloved mother was of Thai descent, daughter to Luang Novaborirak (Kleb), an important man of the royal court in Northern Thailand.

Tunku was born into royalty. He was a prince with many siblings and royal cousins of massive numbers but he was not eligible to inherit the throne of the state. It was fate that decreed one day, his leadership was chosen by the people instead of blood inheritance.

His youth was spent studying in a Malay school in Alor Setar before he was sent to study in a Thai school in Bangkok. Then he had returned to Kedah to resume his studies in a Malay school in 1916 before entering Penang Free School. After that he was sent overseas by his family to study at St. Catherine's College, Cambridge University, England. 

Although his academic record was not particularly admirable, he was the first Malay from Kedah to graduate from an English University in 1925 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Literature. He had returned to Malaya with a degree but his elder brother had sent him back to England to study law at Inner Temple. However, having lost interest in studying, Tunku had failed in his exams and returned to Malaya in 1931. 
Upon his return, Tunku started working in the civil service department and had held position as District Officer in Kulim and Sungai Petani. During the Japanese war, Tunku served as a savior to his family. When his father the Sultan was taken by the British to Pulau Pinang to keep him away from the Japanese, Tunku had kidnapped him and taken him to Kulim where his father was to live among his subjects during the Japanese Occupation.

TuTun Abdul Razak Bin Datuk Hussein was born on 11th March 1922 in Pulau Keladi, Pekan, Pahang. He was raised by his grandfather in Kampung Jambu, Langgar, Pekan in the true tradition of strict and controlled village life. He had received early education in a Malay school in the village. He was forced to walk 4 miles each way to go to school.

Tun Abdul Razak had shown an academic prowess since primary school as each year, he would be awarded prizes for achievements in studies.
It came as no surprise that he was sent to Maktab Melayu Kuala Kangsar and later, Raffles College in Singapore to further his studies. During his stint in both institutions, he was active in students’ organizations and sports activities. His brilliance once again shone through when he completed his law course in Lincoln’s Inn, London within only 18 months.

Tun Abdul Razak lost no opportunities while in London. He used the time available to delve into politics and began developing an open mind. Active in student’s activities, he formed the Malayan Forum (much influenced by British Labor Party) to create political awareness among the youths of the Federation of Malay States. He also joined the Fabian Association and Malayan Student's Union. In April 1950, he was forced to return to the homelands due to his father’s death. Upon return, he rendered his services to the government of Pahang as assistant to the government secretary and two years later, he was appointed as Secretary of the Government of Pahang. His successes in civil service run parallel with his involvement in gaining independence for the country.

Four months after joining UMNO, he was appointed as UMNO Youth Leader, followed by his appointment as Non-Official Member of the Federation Ruling Council on 1st February 1951. In the same year, he was appointed as deputy when Tunku Abdul Rahman was the Yang Dipertua UMNO. At the time, he was only 29 years old. From this point onward, a unique synergy of mind and will was formed, and the fight for the eventual success of independence had never been so passionate. Tun Abdul Razak had also once held the post of acting Menteri Besar of Pahang for several months in 1955. As the right hand man to Tunku, he made drafts to be written into the Constitution of Malaya and was part of the convoy sent to London to claim independence in 1956. When Independence was finally achieved he was only 35. His role as Deputy Prime Minister would span for more than 13 years.

During these times, his portfolio included the Ministry of National and Rural Development, Defense Ministry and Ministry of Internal Affair. As the first Education Minister he had written the Razak Report 1956, meant to unify the multiethnic people through education. In this report was stated that the Malay Language would be implemented as the National Language. By using this language as a teaching medium, and implementing the same syllabus in all schools, harmony and cooperation between students of different races may be nurtured. It was hoped that such basis of education would form a healthy and learned young generation that would spur on the wheels of the nation’s progress.

Tun Razak’s concept of democracy was based on a social and economic balance where all the people may play a part in the development of the country. A country’s growth is extremely important, as according to him, the strongest defense in a country’s pride and honor lies not only in its military strength, but also its progress.

A motion set to improve development in rural area was done in several steps. The first was to form a development motion that would cover every aspect of the country’s need. This is known as ‘Buku Merah’, complete with a ‘Bilik Gerakan’ that would record the every detail of plans for each district including the progress and failures of each plan.

Tun Razak had worked hard to ensure that farmers’ wages are equal in proportion to their effort. He formed many government agencies to achieve this goal and the most effective one had been Lembaga Kemajuan Tanah Persekutuan dan Negeri-Negeri. Progress has triple folded, as evident from the amount of developed land, types of crops planted, amount of students sent to school, a variety of entrepreneurships as well as financial help and technical assistance given. It was during his time that Tun Razak witnessed a more progressive involvement by the Malays and bumiputra in business sectors, particularly with the formation of agencies such as MARA, PERNAS and others.

In short, all forms of progress and development enjoyed by the people of the country up to this day were mainly fruits of the efforts and vision of Tun Abdul Razak. The formation of Malaysia in 1963 was an important political development in the history of Malaysia even if it was met with plenty of obstacles from certain parties. The capabilities of Tun Razak as Minister of Defense were truly tested at that time, but the crisis was solved peacefully in the end. It was only fitting that he was known not only as the Father of Progress, but also the Father of Peace.

Tun Hussein Onn was born on the 12th Februari, 1922 in Johor Bahru. He was the eldest son of Dato’ Onn bin Ja'afar and Datin Halimah binti Hussein. His early education was received in Singapore and secondary education was in English College, Johor Bahru. After completing school in 1940, he had rendered his service as a cadet in Pasukan Timbalan Setia Negeri Johor. In early 1941, he was sent to Military Academy in Dehra Dun India. After that he had went on to join the Hydrabad 19th Regiment in India.

He had served in the Middle East when the 2nd World War had broken out. When the war ended he was sent to India in the Military Espionage Division in the Military Base of New Delhi. Due to his vast experience, the British had appointed him as a trainer in the Police Recruit and Training Center in Rawalpindi. His rank at the time was that of a captain.

He had returned to Malaya in year 1945 and served Depot Police Commandant in Johor bahru. After 6 months of service in the military in Malaya, he entered the Malay Administration Service as Assistand Administrative Officer in Segamat District, and later as District officer in Kuala Selangor and Kelang. At the time the British had revealed their plans for Malayan Union and his father, the great Dato’ Onn had played an important part in protesting against Malayan Union by forming UMNO.

Fighting alongside his father, Hussein Onn had given up his post as District Officer to be involved in UMNO’s political activities. Dato’ Onn had given him the task of being UMNO Youth Leader, then known as Perikatan Pemuda UMNO. Later, in 1950 he was appointed as Grand Secretary of UMNO and by then is involved in the politics full time. He was also appointed as member of Majlis Undangan Negeri Johor and Majlis Undangan Persekutuan.

During the state of emergency, he was appointed Village Control Team Guarding Officer in Johor. Tun Hussein had left UMNO to follow his father, after a crisis broke out within the party in August 1951. After that Dato’ Onn had formed Parti Kemerdekaan Malaya, which unfortunately gathered little support. After retiring from politics, he had gone to London to study law at Lincoln's Inn, England and graduated as a lawyer in 1958.

In 1968, after much persuasion from Tun Abdul Razak, Tun Hussein Onn returned to UMNO. In June 1969 he was appointed as member of Majlis Kerja Tertinggi UMNO, and in the same year he had won the general election in Johor Bahru Timur. He was appointed as Education Minister in 22nd September 1970. As Education Minister, he was faced with several important issues regarding education, including the problems of students who never completed their terms in school. At the same time, an agreement between Malaysia and Indonesia was forged regarding the new spelling system introduced in Kuala Lumpur. In 1972, Tun Hussein Onn was chosen as one of UMNO’s vice president.

On 13 August 1973, he was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister, replacing Tun Dr. Ismail who had passed away. He then made a rather startling change to the Cabinet, where young ministers in UMNO were given a chance to hold important posts. He then named Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad as his deputy.

On the foreign affairs, as his predecessors, Tun Hussein Onn had maintained a good relationship with foreign countries including western countries and members of ASEAN. Late 1977, a crisis has occurred in Kelantan when Menteri Besar of Kelantan, Datuk Haji Mohamad Nasir was expelled from his post. UMNO had tried to discuss ways with PAS on how to solve the crisis but all forms of diplomacy has fallen to deaf ears. Due to the fact that the crisis may lead to further chaos, Tun Hussein Onn had declared a state of emergency in Kelantan. In March 1978, another election was held for Kelantan, in which BN had won the majority seats – effectively taking Kelantan from the opposition party after 18 years.

In a general election held on 1978, Barisan National bearing the manifesto “A man whom you can trust” (Tun Hussein) had obtained great victory by winning 131 seats out of 154 Parliamentary seats, aside from gaining hold of every state government. In UMNO, Tun Hussein Onn had everything in his power to maintain harmony and unity among the members and the leaders so that they will be prepared to face future challenges. As a man of principle, he had taken necessary actions to eradicate bribery and communist elements within the government and party.