Road to Independence
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Bapa Kemerdekaan (Part 2)
Road to Independence
In 1954 Abdul Rahman led a delegation to London to seek
independence for Malaya, but the trip proved to be unfruitful. In the following
year, the first federal general election was held, and the Alliance Party
(Perikatan), a coalition of UMNO, the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA) and the
Malayan Indian Congress (MIC) won fifty-one out of the fifty-two seats
contested. Abdul Rahman was elected as Malaya's first Chief Minister. The
Alliance was later joined by the Malayan Indian Congress (MIC) in 1955,
representing the Indian community.
Later in 1955 Abdul Rahman made another trip to London to
negotiate Malayan independence, and 31 August 1957, was decided as the date for
independence. When the British flag was lowered in Kuala Lumpur on independence
day, Abdul Rahman led the crowd in announcing "Merdeka!" (freedom!).
Photographs of Abdul Rahman raising his hand, and recordings of his emotional
but determined voice leading the cheers, have become familiar icons of
Malaysian independence.
Prime Minister
Abdul Rahman dominated the politics of [[independent
(nation)|independent Malaya (which became Malaysia in 1963), and led the
Alliance to landslide wins in the 1959, and 1964 general elections.
The formation of Malaysia was one of Abdul Rahman's greatest
achievements. In 1961 he made a speech at the Foreign Correspondents
Association of Southeast Asia in Singapore, proposing a federation Malaya,
Singapore, Sabah, Sarawak, and Brunei. On 16 September 1963, with the
federation of all these states except Brunei, Abdul Rahman was formally
restyled Prime Minister of Malaysia.
However, the racial factor was worsened with the inclusion
of Singapore, which increased the Chinese proportion to close to 40%. Both UMNO
and the MCA were nervous about the possible appeal of Lee Kwan Yew's People's
Action Party (PAP, then seen as a radical socialist party) to voters in Malaya,
and tried to organise a party in Singapore to challenge Lee's position there.
Lee in turn threatened to run PAP candidates in Malaya at the 1964 federal
elections, despite an earlier agreement that he would not do so (see PAP-UMNO
relations).
This provoked Abdul Rahman to demand that Singapore withdraw
from Malaysia. On 7 August 1965, Abdul Rahman announced to the Parliament of
Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur that the Parliament should vote yes on the resolution
to have Singapore to leave the Federation, choosing to "sever all ties
with a State Government that showed no measure of loyalty to its Central
Government" as opposed to the undesirable method of repressing the PAP for
its actions. Singapore's secession and independence became official on 9 August
1965
Abdul Rahman initiated the establishment of the Association
of Southeast Asia (ASA) in 1961, grouping Malaya, Thailand and the Philippines.
This grouping was later replaced by a larger grouping, the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which was formed on 8 August 1967.
At the 1969 general election, the Alliance's majority was
greatly reduced. Demonstrations following the elections sparked the May 13
racial riots in Kuala Lumpur. Some UMNO leaders led by Tun Abdul Razak were
critical of Abdul Rahman's leadership during these events, and an emergency
committee MAGERAN took power and declared a state of emergency.
Abdul Rahman's powers as Prime Minister were severely
curtailed, and on 22 September 1970, he was forced to resign as Prime Minister
in favour of Tun Abdul Razak. He subsequently resigned as UMNO President in
June 1971, in the midst of severe opposition of the 'Young Turks' comprising party
rebels such as Mahathir Mohammad and Musa Hitam. The duo later became Prime
Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia respectively.
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