CONVERGENCE V33 JAN - FEB 2016

Chronicles
February 1903
Father of Malaysia’s Independence
He was Malaysia’s first Prime Minister after Malaysia gained
independence in 1957 and remained so after the Federation of
Malaysia was formed in 1963 until his retirement in 1970. He
was often referred to as Bapa Kemerdekaan (Father of
Independence) or Bapa Malaysia (Father of Malaysia). He became
the first Chief Minister of Malaya after winning the election in
1955. Born on 8 February 1903 in Alor Setar, Kedah, the man
who led Malaysia to independence is Tunku Abdul Rahman.
The twentieth child of Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah and Che
Manjalara, Tunku Abdul Rahman was the Deputy Public Prosecutor
in the Malayan Federal Legal Department, before leaving the
position to embark on a political career. Made the Chief Minister
of Malaysia then, Tunku Abdul Rahman declared his determination
to seek independence from Britain without bloodshed; which he
successfully secured with an immediate self-government for Malaya
and the promise of independence by August 1957 from the British.
It was at midnight on August 30 that the Union Jack was lowered
for the last time and the new Federation flag was raised in Merdeka
Square, Kuala Lumpur.
Tunku Abdul Rahman remained as the Prime Minister when the
Federation of Malaysia – which combined the countries of Malaya,
Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak under one umbrella – was formed
in 1963. Tunku Abdul Rahman died in 1990 at the age of 87.
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