Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul
Hamid Halim Shah (February 8, 1903 – December 6, 1990) usually known as
"the Tunku" (a princely title in Malaysia), and also called Bapa
Kemerdekaan (Father of Independence) or Bapa Malaysia (Father of Malaysia), was
Chief Minister of the Federation of Malaya from 1955, and the country's first
Prime Minister from independence in 1957. He remained Prime Minister after
Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore joined in 1963 to form Malaysia.
Early Life
Born in Istana Pelamin, Alor Setar, Kedah, Abdul Rahman was
the fourteenth son and twentieth child of Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah, the
twenty-fourth Sultan of Kedah. His mother, Cik Menjalara, was a daughter of
Luang Naraborirak (Kleb), a Thai district officer during the reign of King Rama
V of Thailand.
Abdul Rahman began his education in 1909 at a Malay Primary
School, Jalan Baharu, in Alor Setar and was later transferred to the Government
English School, now the Sultan Abdul Hamid College, Alor Setar, where he
studied during the day and read the Qur'an in the afternoon. Two years later,
when he was eight, he was sent to study at the Thebsirintrawat School (Debsirin
School) in Bangkok along with his three brothers. In 1915, he returned and
continued his studies at Penang Free School.
In 1918, Abdul Rahman was awarded a Kedah State Scholarship
to further his studies at St Catharine's College in the University of
Cambridge, where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1925. He was the
first student from Kedah to study in the United Kingdom under the sponsorship
of the Kedah State Government.
Upon his return home, Abdul Rahman worked in the Kedah
public service and was appointed as District Officer of Kulim and Sungai
Petani. Some time later he returned to England to complete his law studies at
the Inner Temple, but was forced to stop them in 1938 and, on the outbreak of
World War II, he returned to Malaya. He resumed his studies at the Inner Temple
in 1947 and, in 1949, he qualified for the Bar.
During this period Abdul Rahman met with Abdul Razak Hussein
(later known as Datuk and Tun). He was elected president of the Malay Society
of Great Britain, and Abdul Razak, who was twenty-six, was his secretary.
Early Political Career
After his return to Malaya in 1949, Abdul Rahman was first
posted at the Legal Officer's office in Alor Star. He later asked to be
transferred to Kuala Lumpur, where he became a Deputy Public Prosecutor. He was
later appointed as president of the Sessions Court.
During this period, nationalism was running high among the
Malays, with Datuk Onn Jaafar leading the United Malays National Organisation
(UMNO) in the struggle against Britain's Malayan Union. (see History of
Malaysia). Abdul Rahman joined UMNO and became active in Malayan nationalist
politics. In August 1951, and internal crisis in UMNO forced Datuk Onn to
resign as party president. Abdul Rahman was elected as the new president,
holding the post for 20 years.
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