Tunku Abdul Rahman In Memory

Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra al-Haj ibni Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah is the son of the Sultan of Kedah. Obtained education at Inner Temple University in law majors in the United Kingdom. He was an independence fighter and the first Prime Minister of Malaysia in 1957.

Among the Tunku Abdul Rahman's contributions were fighting for independence for Malaya. After taking office as President of UMNO replacing Dato Onn Jaafar, he has set up a Alliance Party which combines three major parties, namely UMNO, MCA and MIC. The establishment of this party received a favorable response from the plural society in Malaysia when the Federal Election was held in 1956. The Alliance Party obtained a simple majority by winning 31 seats from 32 contested seats which enabled the Alliance Party to form the government. Then the party was trying to fulfill their election pledge to liberate Malaya by establishing the Independence Movement. The delegation was represented by several individuals from the Alliance Party as the government and the representatives of the Malay Rulers including Tun Dr Ismail, Tun Abdul Razak of the Alliance Party and Panglima Bukit Gantang Haji Abdul Wahab as the Malay Rulers. The meeting was held in London with the Secretary General of the Colonies until the conclusion of the London Treaty to enable the formation of a sovereign government in Malaya. This clearly shows that Malaya's independence effort succeeded with interfaith interaction by supporting the Alliance Party and getting independence on August 31, 1957.

In addition, Tunku Abdul Rahman's largest contribution was the formation of Malaysia as a sovereign state. The idea was raised by Tunku when interviewed by foreign journalists at Hotel Adelphi in Singapore. This idea is based on the formation of a country incorporating Malaya, Singapore, Brunei, Sabah and Sarawak. It also aims to liberate British colonies that are not yet independent, as well as joint revenue sharing. However, this idea is opposed by neighboring countries, namely the Philippines and Indonesia. This is because Indonesia states that the formation of Malaysia is a form of neoconolisma or new colonization. While the Philippines demands Sabah as a part of the Philippines because it deals with the Sultanate of Sulu in the Philippines. However, this was resolved when the idea gained international support such as members of the United Nations and the Commonwealth of Nations. As a result, the formation of the Malaysian Idea was realized with various obstacles faced and received support until Malaysia was formed on 16 September 1963.

Tunku Abdul Rahman's contribution was also seen in his efforts to eliminate the threat and communist movement. This movement, comprising former MPAJA members who received weapons during the opposition of Japan during the Second World War era, had committed domestic violence since the defeat of the Japanese Army in Malaya. The effort to abolish the movement was initiated by the Tunku by holding talks with Chin Peng Communist Party secretary-general (PKM) in Baling, Kedah. The negotiations are known as Baling Negotiations which witnessed a starting point for a more aggressive force to abolish this movement after the negotiations failed. The efforts undertaken by the British before independence to abolish the movement continued and there was an increase made by the Tunku to intensify efforts to abolish this movement. Among them is the creation of a special unit against this movement in the forest that became the nest of the movement such as the Vet 69 specially trained in guerrilla warfare tactics. As a result, the movement was eliminated after 12 years of emergency declaration was withdrawn in 1960.

In conclusion, Tunku Abdul Rahman's struggle provided various successes to Malaysia and gave him the title of "Father of Independence" and "Father of Malaysia" which was admired by the world.