THE MEMOIRS OF MUSTAPHA HUSSAIN - Malaysia Today

Contesting the Post of UMNO President 371
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Contesting the Post of UMNO President (1951)
This episode of my life is about my contesting the UMNO President’s
post to replace the late Datuk Onn Jaafar. In 1950, UMNO President
Datuk Onn had put forward a proposal to make UMNO (United Malay
National Organisation) the United Malaya National Organisation. But his
idea was too advanced for his conservative political party. The Malays
of 1950, except for former MNP members, were unprepared to accept
a broader concept of nationalism. The proposal would be Datuk Onn’s
last within UMNO. Consequently, Datuk Onn left UMNO to found the
Independent Malaya Party (IMP). His son, Enchik Hussein (later Tun
Hussein Onn, third Prime Minister of Malaysia) also quit UMNO to join
his father.
I was still running the Tengah Restaurant at the Kuala Lumpur
Sunday Market and leading a hand to mouth existence most days. When
Datuk Onn made known his wish not to be re-nominated as UMNO
President, UMNO members, big and small, were busy searching for a
prospective candidate. At that time, the Malayan Emergency was still on.
Many of my friends, leaders and members of the banned left-wing Malay
parties API, AWAS, GERAM and MNP were in detention in several
camps: Pulau Jerejak, Ashby Road Camp in Ipoh, Tanjung Bruas in
Melaka and Majidi in Johore. Sutan Jenain was nowhere to be seen.
Friends told me he was a Class A detainee at the St John Island near
Singapore, awaiting deportation to Indonesia. I suddenly realised I had
no friends with whom to discuss the latest and hottest political news. My
world was indeed a lonely one. I also realised that left-wing Malays no
longer owned a vehicle (party); the only Malay vehicle available was the
feudalistic and elitist UMNO. Could this vehicle serve us if the steering
was switched from right to left?
One night in July 1951, my cousin Aziz Ishak, former leader of the
banned GERAM and now an Utusan Melayu representative, came to
enquire if I had heard Datuk Onn’s announcement. He then asked
pointedly, “What are you waiting for?” I replied, “Please give me some