NST : On The Record: Politics: The Tun Razak way
Yap Yok Foo
16th January 2001
On The Record: Politics: The Tun Razak way
By Abdullah Ahmad
LAST Sunday evening, members of Tun Razak's family, relatives, friends
and colleagues gathered at his residence, Seri Taman (now Tun Razak's
Memorial), for a tahlil, prayers for the departed, to commemorate the
25th anniversary of his death.
Though unsaid, it was also perceived as an occasion to pay a generous
and never-failing tribute to Tun Razak's intelligence, pragmatism,
political far-sightedness and, more importantly, his responsive and
sensitive spirit; his generosity and hospitality.
For the 400 people led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir
Mohamad and Tun Rahah, the drizzling Sunday evening recaptured old
memories. As we grow older, the past brightens then grows dim.
I felt sorry for a Razakian veteran, only four years older than me,
who appears prematurely aged.
Sad indeed, he could not recall the many present who were on the same
chartered Malaysia Airlines plane which took Tun Razak and us to
Beijing 27 years ago.
The arrivals and departures of the many once powerful and influential
figures did create considerable curiosity. But among the young - there
were a number of them in their teens - the distant and past
personalities hardly created an impression. Perhaps in their minds,
the reputation of old faces had been overly magnified.
Tun Razak bin Datuk Hussein was born in Pekan on March 11, 1922 and
became Prime Minister at 48. He was the nation's first Deputy Prime
Minister and Minister of Defence, the Father of the Malaysian modern
Armed Forces, when he was only 35 years old.
His contemporary at Raffles College and in England, Lee Kuan Yew, a
year younger, became Prime Minister of a self-governing Singapore at
35 in 1959.
Had he lived, Tun Razak would be 79 in March. Before the May 13, 1969
race riots, not a few doubting Toms and Harrys, gave the patrician,
reticent and outwardly cold (but warm in person) DPM much chance of
succeeding the charismatic and happy-go-lucky Tunku Abdul Rahman
Putra.
Tun Razak was the antithesis of the Prince and Premier. They were
brought together by their pact to fight for independence and to
jointly lead the nation if they succeeded.
Indeed, a Senior Minister in the First Cabinet (still living) told me,
which was of course meant to be conveyed to Tun Razak, that he
believed Tun Razak might not make it. He gave his reasons.
I immediately told Tun Razak what the man had said. A visibly shaken
Tun Razak spent a considerable time then and afterwards discussing the
matter with me, and concluded that there were no clear signs the Tunku
would leave office anytime soon. Then Tun Razak had been Tunku's loyal
deputy for a dozen years.
A trusted contemporary of his at the Malay College Kuala Kangsar
(MCKK) where Tun Razak was headboy, Datuk Seri Hussein Nordin, an MP,
had expressed similar reservations earlier on.
We often spoke and joked about it. One afternoon Tun Razak lamented to
me: "Maybe, I am destined to be the Malay Butler!".
He was referring to Rab Butler, the brilliant Deputy Prime Minister of
Britain, who was passed over in favour of Lord Home. He had to give up
his title in order to become PM, succeeding Harold Macmillan in 1962.
When I was a student at St John's College, Cambridge, Butler invited
me to a white-tie dinner in honour of Prince Charles at Trinity
College where he was Master and Prince Charles was once a student.
The Butler precedent suddenly became relevant and the talk of Kuala
Lumpur and as his "eyes and ears" I realised it was high time we took
the bull by the horns. Tun Razak agreed.
The traumatic 1969 race riots hastened Tunku's departure from
Malaysian politics and Tun Razak became PM on Sept 22, 1970. He had an
agonising time deliberating whether to choose Encik Khir Johari or Tun
Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman as his deputy. He made the final choice only
moments before delivering his acceptance speech at a special Umno
general assembly at Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka.
Tun Razak did not talk to either. It came as a surprise to both Khir,
and to Ismail, in particular. There were more people lobbying for Khir
than Ismail
Though Cabinet appointments and dismissals were his prerogative, Tun
Razak did ask my opinion and in the case of Khir, he particularly
sought the view of Datuk Wan Ahmad Omar, soon to be his principal
private secretary. Wan Ahmad, an Old World gentleman and
Cambridge-educated civil servant, came from Kedah. He knew Khir well
and other Kedah politicians.
I can tell you that it was much harder for Tun Razak to tell Khir he
was sending him as ambassador to Washington and concurrently the
permanent representative to the United Nations in New York.
Khir took the appointment, I know, with considerable reluctance.
However, I must record here that Khir, to his credit, always put the
interests of Umno and the nation above his own.
A project by credible scholars should be started to seriously study
and reflect the many sides, achievements and the unfinished agenda of
the second PM.
I first knew Tun Razak in my final year in school and became close to
him when I was a young reporter of this paper between 1957 and 1960.
He sent me for training in the US and upon my return in 1962, I worked
for and with him until he died on Jan 14, 1976.
There is so much to write about and to evaluate his massive
contribution to Malaysian politics, Government and even Foreign
Affairs, especially in the Malaysia-Indonesia reconciliation, the
formation of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) and
Malaysia's radical foreign policy realignment beginning in 1970.
In spring 1974, Tun Razak travelled to China, a first by a Malaysian
Prime Minister, to give tangible expression of our non-aligneed
foreign policy.
I accompanied Tun Razak most of the time but the journey to China
created in me greater political realism and historical awareness that
whether at home or in international relations, it is imperative to
pursue a policy that seeks to avoid tension, to strengthen
co-operation and enhance harmony.
Tun Razak's China historic visit was a delight on the personal level
and definitely enhanced the Government's standing among
Chinese-educated Malaysian Chinese.
In the general election in summer, the newly established BN scored
landslide victories in Parliament and State assemblies. For Tun Razak,
the 1974 general election was his first election as Prime Minister and
also his last (he died two years later).
In spite of being so successful at an early age at MCKK, in London and
later on in the civil service and ultimately as a politician, there
were also, besides peaks of delight, troughs of failure if not despair
in the illustrious man's life.
I can recall vividly what the former Senior Minister said to me:
"Dollah, your advice, as reflected in Tun Razak's public statements,
appears to be inflicting wounds on the DPM (Tun Razak). You should
counsel him to go along with the current mood and political
temperature, not temper it."
Dissenting politics continues despite coalition politics (Tun Razak's
enduring legacy), both within the Barisan Nasional (BN) as well as the
Opposition's so-called Alternative Front.
Tun Razak had, 27 years ago, institutionalised a larger than the
tripartite Alliance vehicle for political pluralism within the
Malaysian context, giving voice to the passionate contemporary
controversies as long as it did not endanger the Malaysian whole.
BN's two-thirds majority victory in the 1999 general election
notwithstanding, it does look _ only slightly more than a year
afterwards - like the BN is a failing brand soap.
It is foolish, even suicidal, for the Opposition and opportunists to
prematurely write off Umno and BN. Umno is changing even though the
shift is not yet visible. Umno and the Government are in the process
of restoring the credible accountability. I urge the sooner the
better.
From 1999 it is going to be a steep climb upwards. But a cleaner, more
transparent and leaner Umno and Government will get to the summit,
provided they face the new political realism squarely and sincerely.
The people will support a rejuvenated Government and Umno. Get rid of
buffoons, passengers, carpetbaggers and time-servers. Then, the voters
will support the ruling party as they always did before.
Malaysians are a practical people. They will find their way to the
truth about things despite the Opposition's blanket of propaganda
against Umno and the Government.
When the voters, the young in particular, see changes, they will
figure out for themselves. The saving virtue of Malaysians is that
they do not believe everything which is alleged by the Opposition.
However, it is imperative that the Government must come out clean and
be seen to be clean, trustworthy and efficient.
Tun Razak left an unmatched standard of personal integrity. He lived
simply and even frugally, something his political successors and those
nearest and dearest to him ought to seriously ponder. When he died Tun
Razak was not a wealthy man.
It was and is a pleasant lamunan (reverie) to recall the good times as
we waited for the Magrib prayers. How powerful one was and what
courage one showed in the face of political adversity.
Nostalgia, as Carolyn Heilbrun said in an article in the New York
Times a decade ago, is a dangerous emotion because it is powerless to
act in the real world and yet it glides easily into hatred and
resentment against those who have taken our Eden friends.
The great consolation last Sunday evening was that only the "good and
beautiful" people were present.
I am now reading V.S. Naipaul's Between Father and Son, the story
about the melancholic but loving father whose broken dream of
succeeding as a writer would be realised in the singular achievement
of his son.
Tun Razak, thank God, departed, not distressed by unfulfilled
ambitions.
**************From Uncle Yap**************
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