1957-1970 Abdul Rahman

Abdul Rahman on the cover of a 1963
TIME magazine

Like many other strong rulers, Abdul Rahman seeked Western ideas and education, attending an English-run school in Alor Star and then a Siamese school in Bangkok. In 1915 he returned to Malay to complete his secondary education. Then in 1920 he sailed to England furthering his education, and after private tutoring enrolled in St. Catherine’s College at Cambridge University. After much education he returned to Malaysia with a degree in law, and knowledge from the Western World. Abdul Rahman was the Chief Minister of the Federation of Malaysia in 1955, and was the country’s first Prime Minister from independence in 1957. He was known as “Tunku”, or “The Tunku”. During World War II, Rahman remained at his government post even though the Japanese occupied Malaysia. After the war, Britain tried to regain its control over Malaysia, however finding that Malaysia had been damaged. Nationalism was beginning to unravel because of the damage the Japanese had left behind. Britain planned to centralize the power, and opposing their plans, Dato Onn formed the United Malay Nationalist Organization in 1946. In 1949, Abdul left the Kedah and went on to become Deputy Prosecutor in Kuala Lumpur.

As leader, Rahman’s first priority was to insure communist based riots however British and Australian forces dismissed this idea in 1960. After this, he proposed regional stability, resulting in the new nation of Malaysia in 1963. Despite his intentions, ethnic tensions continued, and the new Prime Minister formally evicted Singapore from the federation. Opposing the Union, he also weathered a political argument with Indonesia, however the quarrel concluded peacefully. 

Abdul Rahman giving a speech at an
UMNO assembly 

Malaysia had soon became a uniting, industrious combination of many ethnic groups and religions, however May 1969, the continuing resistance between the Malays and Chinese shattered violently in the streets. Before Rahman could declare a state of emergency, many lives were taken and much damage had been done. However once the riots concluded, Malays accused Rahman of playing for the Chinese under his rule of Malaysia. He resigned after thirteen years in office in 1970, later serving as a respected elder and wrote a column for the newspapers. Now, Abdul Rahman is remembered as the father of his country as well as an agent of ethnic and religious tolerance.