Tunku Abdul Rahman 
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Dummipedia, the simplified free online encyclopedia
Tunku Abdul Rahman (1903 - 1990), also called Bapa Kemerdekaan (Father of Independence) or Bapa Malaysia (Father of Malaysia), was the Federation of Malaya's first Prime Minister from independence in 1957 until 1970.
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| Yang Teramat Mulia Sir Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah, CH | |
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| In office August 31, 1957 – September 22, 1970 | |
| Preceded by | office created |
| Succeeded by | Abdul Razak |
| Born | February 8, 1903 Alor Star, Kedah 
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| Died | December 6, 1990 (aged 87) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 
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| Political party | UMNO |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
| Religion | Islam |
| Spouse | • Violet Coulson (divorced 1946) • Meriam Chong (married 1933, died 1935) • Sharifah Rodziah Syed Alwi Barakbah (married 1939) |
| Parents | Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah and Cik Menjalara |
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2. Born in Alor Star, Kedah, the son of the Sultan of Kedah, Abdul Rahman studied at St Catharine's College, Cambridge where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1925. After working for some time in the Kedah public service, he returned to England to complete his law studies at the Inner Temple, qualifying for the Bar only in 1949.
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3. During this period, nationalism was running high among the Malays, with Onn Jaafar leading the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) in the struggle against Britain's Malayan Union. Abdul Rahman joined UMNO and later became head of the Kedah branch. In 1951, an internal crisis in UMNO forced Onn Jaafar to resign as party president and Abdul Rahman was elected, eventually holding the president post for 20 years.
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4. In 1954, Abdul Rahman led a delegation to London to seek independence for Malaya, but the trip proved to be unfruitful. The British were reluctant to grant independence unless there was evidence that the different races in Malaya were able to work together and cooperate in a new and independent country. Abdul Rahman saw a way around this by forming the Alliance Party (Perikatan), a political alliance with the Malayan Chinese Association and the Malayan Indian Congress (MIC). In 1955, the first federal general election was held, with the Alliance Party winning 51 out of the 52 seats contested. Abdul Rahman was elected as Malaya's first Chief Minister. Later in 1955, Abdul Rahman made another trip to London to negotiate Malayan independence and August 31, 1957 was decided upon. He dominated the politics of independent Malaya (which became Malaysia in 1963), and led the Alliance to landslide wins in the 1959, and 1964 general elections.
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5. The formation of Malaysia on September 16, 1963 was one of Abdul Rahman's greatest achievements, for which he was formally restyled Prime Minister of Malaysia. At the 1969 general election, however, the Alliance's majority was greatly reduced. Demonstrations following the elections sparked the May 13 racial riots in Kuala Lumpur. MAGERAN, an emergency committee, took power and declared a state of emergency. In September 1970, Abdul Rahman was forced to resign as Prime Minister in favour of Abdul Razak. He subsequently resigned as UMNO President in 1971, in the midst of severe opposition from the 'Young Turks' such as Mahathir Mohamad and Musa Hitam.
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6. In 1977, Abdul Rahman became the Chairman of The Star, a Penang-based newspaper. His columns, "Looking Back" and "As I See It", were highly critical of the government. Abdul Rahman could barely contain his contempt for Mahathir's brash nationalism (i.e. Ketuanan Melayu) that went totally against the Rukun Negara and brought about serious racial segregation. In 1987, the newspaper was banned by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Abdul Rahman died in 1990 at the age of 87. more... at Wikipedia
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