 Tun Abdul Razak bin Haji Dato' Hussein Al-Haj
(March 11, 1922-January 14, 1976) was the second Prime Minister of Malaysia,
ruling from 1970 to 1976. Born in Pulau Keladi, Pahang on March 11, 1922, Tun
Razak is the only child to Dato' Hussein bin Mohd Taib and Hajah Teh Fatimah bt
Daud.
Of aristocratic descent, Abdul Razak studied at the Malay College Kuala Kangsar.
After joining the Malay Administrative Service in 1939, 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
organize the Wataniah resistance movement in Pahang.
After the Second World War, Tun Razak left for Britain in 1947 to study law. In
1950 he received a law degree and qualified as barrister at Lincoln's Inn in
London. During his student days in England, Tun Razak was a member of the
British Labor Party and a prominent student leader of the Kesatuan Melayu Great
Britain (Malay Association of Great Britain). He also formed the Malayan Forum,
an organization for Malayan students to discuss their country's political
issues.
Upon his return, Tun Razak joined the Malayan Civil Service. Owing to his
political caliber, he became the youth chief for United Malays National
Organization (UMNO). 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. He stood in and won the country's first general elections in July 1955
and was appointed as the Education Minister. Tun Razak was also a member of the
February 1956 mission to London to seek the independence of Malaya from the
British.
After the general elections in 1959, he became the Minister of Rural Development
in addition to holding the portfolios of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of
Defense. His achievements include formulating the development policy known as
the Red Book. On September 1970, Tun Razak succeeded Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra as
the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
After the May 13 Incident in 1969, his faction in UMNO overthrew Tunku Abdul
Rahman and imposed a State of Emergency, ruling by decree until 1970. On
September 1970, Tun Razak succeeded Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra as the Prime
Minister of Malaysia.
Tun Razak is also renowned for launching the Malaysian New Economic Policy (MNEP)
in 1971. He and the "second generation" of Malay politicians saw the need to
tackle vigorously the economic and social disparities which fuelled racial
antagonism. The MNEP set two basics goals - to reduce and eventually eradicate
poverty, and to reduce and eventually eradicate identification of economic
function with race.
Tun Razak set up the National Front on January 1, 1973 to replace the ruling
Alliance Party. He increased the membership of its parties and coalitions in an
effort to establish "Ketahanan Nasional" (National Strength) through political
stability.
Due in part to leukemia, Abdul Razak died on January 14, 1976 while seeking
medical treatment in London. He was posthumously granted the soubriquet Bapa
Pembangunan (Father of Development). He is laid to rest in Heroes Mausoleum near
Masjid Negara, Kuala Lumpur.
Family
Tun Abdul Razak was descended from a long line of Pahang chieftains of Bugis
descent. He was the brother in law of Tun Hussein Onn, his successor as Prime
Minister.
Abdul Razak's eldest son, Najib Tun Razak, became the Deputy Prime Minister of
Malaysia under Abdullah Badawi in 2004. He has four other sons, Datuk Ahmad
Johari Razak, Mohamed Nizam, Mohamed Nazim and Mohamed Nazir.
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