Abdul Razak Hussein


Abdul Razak bin Hussein was a Malaysian lawyer and politician who served as the second prime minister of Malaysia from 1970 until his death in 1976. He also served as the first deputy prime minister of Malaysia from 1957 to 1970. He is referred to as the "Father of Development" of Malaysia.
During his term as prime minister, Abdul Razak launched the Malaysian New Economic Policy, a program aimed at reducing the socioeconomic disparity between ethnic communities, particularly those of the ethnic Malay and Chinese. He also oversaw a realignment of Malaysia foreign policy away from his predecessor's pro-West and anti-Communist attitude and towards neutrality, with the country becoming a member of the Non-Aligned Movement in 1970. Abdul Razak was also the figure responsible for setting up Barisan Nasional, a political coalition which held power uninterrupted from its inception in 1974 to 2018.
His eldest son, Najib Razak, became the sixth prime minister in 2009; however, later became infamous for his involvement in the 1MDB corruption scandal, which led to his conviction on multiple charges of corruption, abuse of power, and money laundering.

Early life and education

Born in Kampung Pulau Keladi, a village located northwest of Pekan, Pahang on 11 March 1922, Abdul Razak is the first of two children to Hussein Awang bin Mohd Taib and Fatimah binti Daud. An aristocratic descendant holding the title Orang Kaya Indera Shahbandar, Abdul Razak studied at the Malay College Kuala Kangsar.
After joining the Malay Administrative Service in 1938, he was awarded a scholarship to study at Raffles College in Singapore in 1940. His studies at the college ceased with the onset of the Second World War. During the war he helped organise the Wataniah resistance movement in Pahang.
After World War II, Abdul Razak left for Britain in 1948 to study law. In 1950, he received a law degree and qualified as a barrister at Lincoln's Inn in London. During his student days in England, Abdul Razak was a member of the British Labour Party and a prominent student leader of the Malay Association of Great Britain, and formed the student association Malayan Forum.

Involvement in World War II

After his studies were interrupted in 1942 because of World War II, Abdul Razak returned to Kuantan, Pahang. There, he met his former colleague from the Malay Administrative Service, Yeop Mahidin, and expressed his interest in joining the Malay Regiment. Mahidin, who was also the founder of Askar Wataniah Pahang, recruited Razak into his new guerrilla force. Upon the completion of his training, Razak was instructed to join the Japanese Malayan Civil Service as an agent and informant.
Razak, as an aristocrat and son of a respected Malay leader in Pahang, was posted to his home state of Pahang as an assistant to District Officer and at the same time as a bridge for the Japanese to gain the trust of local Malays. Using his privileges as an aristocrat, Razak started networking with the Imperial Japanese Forces while maintaining his connection with Yeop Mahidin. His role as an informant inside the Japanese Administration was only known to a few. Because of this, Razak was labelled as a traitor by the rest of the Wataniah Pahang.
As the Malay population received preferential treatment compared to other ethnic groups, it was not fully trusted by the British to oppose the Japanese occupation. Nevertheless, the Askar Wataniah Pahang with its 200 members were absorbed into the Special Operations Executive and organised under Force 136.
Force 136 Pahang's missions' continuous success made the Japanese Administration begin to suspect that there were informants inside their administration. Force 136 Pahang quickly set up an extraction mission to recover their agent, Razak, who was still unknown to many of its members.

Early political career

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. 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 Malaya'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 education system. Tun Razak was also a key member of the February 1956 mission to London to seek the independence of Malaya from the British.
He was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence in 1957 and, after the 1959 general election, also held the Ministry of National and Rural Development portfolio. His ideas concerning rural development and agriculture were collected into the Red Book and Green Book respectively and served as the basis for government policy during his time in power.

Prime Minister

Gaining power

In the aftermath of the ethnic riot of 1969, known as the 13 May incident, incumbent prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman was subjected to criticism from Malay nationalists within UMNO, among them supporters of Abdul Razak, for his pluralist and accommodating attitude towards the country's non-Malay population. During the state of emergency that lasted from 1969 to 1971, Tunku's power as prime minister was eroded by Abdul Razak, who led the National Operations Council that ruled in lieu of the elected government, culminating in his resignation in 1970. The official narrative of the 13 May incident and the circumstances under which Abdul Razak became prime minister are still contested by some.

Domestic affairs

The government excised Kuala Lumpur from the state of Selangor in 1974, which served to detach five opposition parliamentary seats from the Selangor legislative council, helping prevent the state from falling into the hands of opposition parties. It also kept to the previous government's decision to suspend local government elections and through a parliamentary act allowed state governments to take over local authorities and appoint members to relevant bodies.

Foreign affairs

Abdul Razak also took up the Ministry of Foreign Affairs portfolio upon becoming prime minister and oversaw a realignment of the country's foreign policy away from the West and anti-Communism towards neutrality and non-alignment in international conflicts, as well as an increased focus on regional affairs through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Malaysia joined the Non-Aligned Movement in 1970, while the Anglo-Malayan military alliance was replaced with the Five Power Defence Arrangements in 1971. It also became a signatory of the Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality Declaration in 1971 as part of ASEAN.
Bilateral relations with the People's Republic of China were inaugurated with Abdul Razak's state visit and Malaysia's adoption of the One China Policy in 1974.

Death

Abdul Razak was diagnosed with leukemia in 1969 and given two years to live, but kept the diagnosis secret from his friends and family.
Abdul Razak died in office on 14 January 1976 while seeking medical treatment in London. He was posthumously granted the soubriquet Bapa Pembangunan. He was laid to rest in Heroes Mausoleum near Masjid Negara, Kuala Lumpur.

Awards and recognitions

Titles

Honours of Malaysia

Foreign honours

Namesakes

Several things were named after him, including:

In popular culture

Motion picture & television
Stage/Theatre
  • FFM nominee Rashidi Ishak portrayed Razak in 2009 local theatre production Tun Razak in Istana Budaya.