TRIBUTE ABDUL - Perdana Library

TRIBUTE TO TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN
Tunku was committed by his own wish, by his own opinion, and by
a national mandate, and this was the crux of his difficulties - unlike
the other Prime Ministers he was committed to action.
However, the Tunku did not let the handicaps ahead daunt
him in any way. He knew some of the Prime Ministers already,
but others he had not met. As it was his first Conference, he had
no previous personal experience to guide him. For the people of
Malaya apartheid was the only issue, but the Tunku was well aware
there were many other important subjects on which he would have
to be the leader and spokesman for Malaya.
He lost no time in making his intention clear. Tn the middle
of the bubbling welcome at London airport, he spoke to the Press.
That night or next morning the whole world knew that the Tunku
had declared once again he was going to bring the question of
apartheid to the Conference. That was on Sunday night, May 1,
and the Conference opened two days later. For the next two weeks the
Tunku was fully occupied with the work of the Conference, a heavy
round of official and social engagements, and a constant stream of
callers such as students, old friends, Members of Parliament,
businessmen, and of course the Press.
At this point I think I should say something about the Press in
relation to the Conference, in the past when Commonwealth
Prime Ministers met in London, usually a statement would be
issued on the first day and a final communique on the last day. As
the proceedings were secret, newspaper men could glean very little
in the intervening period. They found these doldrums very trying.
but from the Prime Ministers' point of view very little could be
reported in the Press to disturb the serenity of their arrangements
Because of the terrific interest of the Press in apartheid, this
Conference turned out very differently. Reports in the morning
newspapers about the opening day were confusingandcontradictory.
While they all stated there would be informal discussion between the
Prime Ministers on apartheid, it was not at all clear how or where
this was to be done. The "Daily Mail" came up flatly with a
startling headline, "Victory for Louw", and declared there would
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