REMEMBERING TUN DR ISMAIL

Remembering Tun Dr Ismail
15-11-2009
By Ron CK Sim



Almost two years ago, I asked a group of friends during one of our mamak stall sessions whether they know a man by the name of Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman. I received some weird stares. And quite expectedly, none of these three friends of mine actually had a clue of who this man was. - Who would you have preferred?

This is a clear proof of the failure of our education system, so I thought. Or was there a deliberate policy not to publicly acknowledge Tun Dr Ismail’s contribution to nation building – simply because his ideals, principles and sense of fairness were not in sync with our former PM of 22 years?

It is a shame to our country that Tun Dr Ismail’s biography titled “The Reluctant Politician” was only published 33 long years after his eventful passing, and by Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) which is based in Singapore! Why not a Malaysian publisher? Why the long wait?

The story goes that no Malaysian publishers dared to venture into the project lest it be seen that they were going against a certain Almighty PM! At least, Malaysians should be grateful that the long-awaited biography was authored by a fellow Malaysian, the renowned Dr Ooi Kee Beng, with Tun Dr Ismail’s eldest son, Tawfik, as consultant and adviser to the project.


To put it in historical perspective, Malaysia as a nation changed forever on that “fateful” night of 2nd August 1973. That night, Malaysia lost its most faithful and dependable son, DPM Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, because of a fatal heart attack. He was Malaya’s 3rd man throughout the negotiation for independence and nationhood, the formative years after independence, the communist insurgency, the formation of a new country called Malaysia and the Indonesian aggression thereafter, the eventual separation with Singapore, and the formation of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Up to then, he had held the posts of independent Malaya’s first Permanent Representative to the United Nations cum the Ambassador to the USA, as well as the ministerial portfolios of external affairs, internal security and home affairs – the latter portfolios seeing him put in charge of detaining people under the controversial Internal Security Act (ISA). He defended the necessity of the Act at that time of communist insurgency, stating that ”abuse of the Act can be prevented by vigilant public opinion via elections, a free Press and above all, the Parliament.”

Tun Dr Ismail retired in May 1967 as Malaysia’s respected and powerful Home Minister due to his worsening health. However, he was being hauled back (hence “The Reluctant Politician”) by Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, again as Home Minister and later as DPM, to restore stability to Malaysia during the aftermath of the May 13 racial riots. He was called “the man who saved Malaysia”.

Robert Kuok, a close friend of Tun Dr Ismail describes him: “He was a lovely man with strength of character, high principles, and a great sense of fairness. In my opinion, he was probably the most non-racial, non-racist Malay I have met in my life. And I have met a very wide range of Malays from all parts of Malaysia. Doc was a stickler for total fair play, for correctness; total anathema to him to be anything else. Every Malay colleague feared him because of this, including MAHATHIR.”

I recall that in March 2008, I read in NST Online that the then Selangor UMNO Information Chief said that “those who want the New Economic Policy scrapped are historically blind” and that “the NEP is a time-tested policy”. I was furious. I would denounce him as the actual one who is historically blind!

Tun Dr Ismail, being the most influential racial policy-maker of his time, to the extent that Razak seldom disagreed with him, realised the danger of the preferential treatment in favour of the Malays but thought it necessary at that time of uneven competition caused by colonial policy. He, a passionate golfer, often liked to describe the NEP using a golfing metaphor.

Quoting from his biography, he likened the NEP to a handicap which “will enable them to be good players, as in golf, and in time the handicap will be removed. The Malays must not think of these privileges as permanent: for then, they will not put effort into their tasks. In fact, it is an insult for the Malays to be getting these privileges.”

I was told that in the early 70’s, many Malaysians believed that Malaysia would one day have a medically-trained PM in the name of Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman (following on after our first two English-trained Barrister PMs). Never had they thought that it turned out not to be him but another medical doctor by the name of Mahathir Mohamad - the author of the infamous book “The Malay Dilemma”.

Although I had yet to be born in the early 70s but after having learned about the man, I now feel a real sense of “how it would have been” if Tun Dr Ismail were to helm the country during the years I innocently grew up. Given Tun Dr Ismail’s distrust towards Dr Mahathir’s extremist Malay nationalism, the latter would never become the PM who ruled Malaysia with an iron fist for 22 years!

As fate would have it, Tun Dr Mahathir was indeed a very lucky man, just as Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was, albeit with no happy ending for the latter!

That’s why I call 2nd August 1973 a “fateful date that changed Malaysia forever”.

To play an active role in shaping the destiny of our beloved country, one needs to know its history during those crucial years. History “in fact”, not the history presented by the ruling government. I have no doubt that we had been systematically put through those sweet (but mind-poisoning) school days to think the way UMNO wanted us to think.

To the young people among my countrymen, while we learned and remember fondly about our founding fathers like Tunku and Tun Razak, there is another man who held the nation together during its most crucial times, and by doing that lost his life for the nation.

Forget him not.

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Quote of the Day: “I will do for my country what I will not do for myself or my family.” ~ Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia (1970-1973)

Injury Time: Whilst I admire the quote, I admire the man even more. He is indeed ”The best PM Malaysia never had”.



Ron CK Sim (15:26:55) :

Thanks Dinesh. Me too wish to see more is written about the man and his time. Perhaps we have to wait for another Singapore’s initiative, since the current 1 Malaysia PM is no different from TDM in terms of his tolerance for dissent!

On the ISA, TDI demanded of his subordinates a stringent adherence to due bureaucratic process and exercised extreme caution in choosing senior personnel. He once wrote in his memoir:

“To ensure that each case for detention was fully investigated and the pros and cons well argued before it reached me, I arranged for it to pass through the hands of several responsible senior officers of the police and Home Ministry. When it finally came to me, I went through each case carefully and when in doubt, I always slept over it. It really took a lot out of me to approve cases for detention, because some of the people detained were well known to me. My only consolation is that on my retirement, nobody could accuse me of sending anybody to detention camp out of malice.”

If what he wrote is sincere, which I believe it is, one can see it was from bottom (the police, Home Ministry) up to him as Minister, instead of the recent detentions which I tend to believe was from top (Home Minister, DPM or even PM) ordering the police to detain. Sadly, none of the recent HMs has any conscience in their hearts like TDI.





written by Don 4672, November 15, 2009

I absolutely agree with Ron on his write up. I have an unforgettable experience relating to Tun Dr.Ismail as DPM the way back 1971. I was then a young MARA officer stationed at Johore Bharu MARA state office. I have processed a loan application for buying a school bus from an applicant that I didnt know his political bearing. I have no reason not to support his application and eventually MARA has approved this application. Before MARA could disbursed the loan MARA received a letter from Senior Private Secretary of DPM asking for an explanation why MARA approved a loan to DAP strong supporter by attaching a complain letter from one of UMNO man. I have drafted the reply and edited by my Boss then stating amongst 1. MARA recommend the application not based on political bearing but the feasiblity of the project. 2. He has been a good loanee and has setlled his earlier loan to buy a school van. 3.He fulfilled all the relevant requirements. At lastly I mentioned that MARA must support the effort to provide a better transport system to ferry Malay children from kampongs to urban to get a better school. After a few months we received an answer to our joy and happiness. The DPM’s Private Secretary reply to MARA as (more or less) “jawapan tuan telah dipanjangkan kemakluman YAB Tun Tim. Perdana Menteri dan saya diarahkan mengucapkan Syabas kepada usaha MARA dalam menaikkan taraf pelajaran anak anak Melayu. Teruskan usaha yang murni ini dan kes ini di anggap selesai”. Just imagine if I am the said officer presently, where do you think I will be? Timbaktu, Conggo? During Mahathir era and after even a Ketua Cawangan UMNO can pushed a transfer of a Head Master or any government officer. Government officers were made the servants of UMNO hooligans. I have one more an unforgetable encounter with the late Tun Dr. Ismail as DPM. He passed away when I was in Kelantan and I cried in grief for this great man. Alfatihah….