Ismail Abdul Rahman

Ismail bin Abdul Rahman (; 4 November 1915 – 2 August 1973) was a Malaysian politician who served as the second Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia from September 1970 to his death in August 1973. A member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), he previously held several ministerial posts.

Ismail has been called "the man who saved Malaysia" for his actions as Minister of Home Affairs after the 13 May incident of racial rioting in 1969.

Early life Ismail was born on 4 November 1915 in Johor Bahru, Johor. He was the son of Abdul Rahman Mohamed Yassin, who was of Buginese descent. Abdul Rahman was the first President of the Dewan Negara (Senate) of the Parliament of Malaysia, and also the first chairman of Malayan Banking. His maternal grandfather was Abu Bakar Abdullah, an ethnic Chinese convert to Islam and former State Treasurer of Johor. After Ismail's mother, Zaharah Abu Bakar, Abdul Rahman's wife, died in 1936, Abdul Rahman remarried Kamariah, the sister of Onn Ja'afar, the Menteri Besar (Chief Minister) of Johor. The remarriage was encouraged by Sultan Ibrahim of Johor, who sought to unite the Johor aristocracy by blood. Abdul Rahman himself almost became Menteri Besar according to Ismail, but failed because he "refused to indulge in intrigues".

Education Ismail was raised by his maternal grandmother due to his mother's various illnesses and received his primary education at Sekolah Bukit Zaharah, although his education was interrupted by frequent trips to see distant relatives. Ismail's initial friends were predominantly Malay, but when he continued his education at the English College Johore Bahru, Ismail gravitated to non-Malays due to his interest in the opposite sex – Chinese girls often being given more freedom to mingle than their Malay counterparts in those days. Ismail later said: "I am convinced that this early mingling with the other races during the most impressionable stage of my life had a lot to do with my non-racial outlook." Ismail forged close friendships with the daughters of Cheah Tiang Earn, a friend of his father's. Eileen and Joyce Chuah would later both marry into the influential Kuok family, which Ismail got to know through them. Ismail also befriended the children of Joseph Chako Puthucheary, who would later become important players in Malaysian and Singaporean politics.

Early career In 1946, the British formed the Malayan Union, a polity seen as infringing on the special position of the Malays and the Malay Rulers. Ismail's family was heavily involved in the anti-Malayan Union campaign led by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). After the successful campaign led to the replacement of the Malayan Union with the Federation of Malaya, Ismail was appointed to the Johor State Legislative Assembly by Dato' Onn Jaafar, the Chief Minister of Johor. Ismail was also offered a seat on the Federal Legislative Council by Onn, but on the condition that Ismail join UMNO. Ismail refused, insisting that he would only join UMNO if it committed itself to fighting for Malayan independence. In the Johor state legislative assembly, his very first action was to declare his opposition to the UMNO-supported federation, which he considered in contravention of the Johor state constitution. While serving in the United States and at the United Nations, Ismail wrote personal notes to the Prime Minister, which were recently compiled and published in a book titled "Malaya's First Year at the UN". Ismail remained involved in local politics, however, and pressed for the Alliance coalition of UMNO, the MCA and the Malayan Indian Congress (MIC) to merge into one multi-racial party, instead of remaining as a coalition comprising three mono-racial parties.

Upon returning to Malaya in 1959, he was appointed as external affairs minister. The following year, a controversy arose when the Tunku stated that Malaya would eventually have to recognise the communist People's Republic of China. This was, in the Tunku's words, "a sudden change in our policy towards Communist China" that had been influenced by private talks between the Tunku and French President Charles de Gaulle. Ismail was outraged by this decision, which had been taken without consultation with him, and directly contradicted Ismail's stated policy of refusing to recognise the People's Republic of China as long as they backed the Malayan Communist Party, which had waged an armed insurgency against the government. Ismail threatened to resign, and apparently attempted to do so on four separate occasions. The situation was defused by the Tunku refusing to see Ismail, who eventually calmed down and put the incident behind him, behaving "as if nothing had happened."

13 May 1969 Incident In the 1969 general election, the Alliance suffered substantial losses. The MCA, which was hardest hit, decided to withdraw from the government as they felt they were no longer representative of the Chinese community. Ismail was very critical of this decision, and attempted to persuade the MCA President, Tan Siew Sin, to change his mind. Ismail warned that "this decision if not revoked would contribute to rioting and chaos in the country". On 13 May, after several controversial victory rallies were held by the victorious opposition, racial riots broke out in the federal capital, Kuala Lumpur. Ismail's daughter later said that her father "remained calm, but took out his pistol, put it into his pocket, and went out with my mother to dinner". On the morning of 14 May, a police escort was dispatched by Tun Abdul Razak, the Deputy Prime Minister, to escort Ismail from his home. Ismail was persuaded to rejoin the government as home affairs minister.

The Tunku arranged a meeting of several of his top aides, including Ismail. At the meeting, Tun Abdul Razak expressed support for declaring martial law, but was dissuaded by General Ibrahim Ismail, who told him that "I cannot provide any guarantee (that I will) be able to hold back the members of the armed forces who might take over control of the government." On 15 May, a state of emergency was declared and Parliament was suspended in favour of the National Operations Council (NOC), a body of top government officials. That day, Ismail announced to the media that "Democracy is dead in this country. It died at the hands of the opposition parties who triggered off the event leading to this violence." Privately, Ismail accused the opposition parties of playing "communal politics", by using the Islamic party, PAS, to appeal to the extremist Malays, and using the ostensibly multiracial parties such as the Democratic Action Party and Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia to appeal to the extremist Chinese. "Since the Alliance's policy is based on compromise," he said, "it could not therefore please all the Malays or all the Chinese but could only please the moderate Malays and the understanding Chinese." Ismail blamed the MCA as well, telling a friend that "it was with this tension, with this irresponsible decision by the MCA that the riot started".

At the time, some suggested that Tun Abdul Razak was a power-hungry ultra, seeking to displace the Tunku as prime minister. Although this was denied by both the Tunku and Abdul Razak, there was great concern among non-Malays as to how the NOC's policy would affect them, as the NOC was chaired by Abdul Razak and not the Tunku. Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, later finance minister, cited Ismail as a major factor in increasing public confidence in the government, stating: "The Chinese did not have much confidence in Razak, but they did in Ismail. Razak was always associated with Malay and rural affairs, et cetera. Ismail was a principled man — and was seen that way by the different races. He was the Rock of Gibraltar. Once he decided on something you could be sure that he had gone through the relevant details and studied them. What is confidence unless it is based on the people’s belief in the leader?"

Death On 2 August 1973, Ismail attended the silver jubilee celebrations of the Peninsular Malaysia Malay Students Foundation (GPMS). After a sudden explosion sound effect, Ismail's daughter, who was watching the event live on television, noticed her dad began to sweat profusely. Nevertheless, afterwards, Ismail visited his wife, who was recovering from the ligation, at the hospital as had been planned.

After having his dinner, Ismail retired to his study. Later, he rang the bell for his maid, asking for his daughter and telling her that "I am going to die. Please call my doctor and inform Gopal" (his private secretary). Ismail had suffered a massive heart attack.

Although, according to his biographers, Ismail was "usually considered as a very good Malay leader...Ismail knew that Malaysia is full of non-Malays." Unlike other UMNO politicians, Ismail avoided cultivating a political following: "He was there to build the country. That's it. He was actually a reluctant politician. So he wasn't a politician in the sense that he didn't cultivate 'my people'. He didn't care whether he made friends or not. That kind of person wasn't very popular".

Election results

Honours Honours of Malaya/Malaysia

Foreign honours

Legacy The legacy left behind by Ismail is often viewed in a positive light. It is conventionally held that his sudden death altered the course of Malaysian history – Tun Abdul Razak appointed Hussein Onn as his new deputy, and Hussein Onn would later appoint Mahathir as deputy prime minister after succeeding Razak, setting Mahathir on the course towards becoming prime minister. Despite this, historians have often overlooked Ismail; one biographer of his has said that:

Places named after him Several places were named after him, including: Taman Tun Dr Ismail, a township in Kuala Lumpur, and the MRT station serving it. SK Tun Dr Ismail, a primary school in Padang Rengas, Perak SK Tun Doktor Ismail, a primary school in Sabak Bernam, Selangor SMK Tun Dr Ismail (STUDI), a secondary school in Muar, Johor SMK Taman Tun Dr. Ismail (SMKTTDI), a secondary school in Kuala Lumpur SK Taman Tun Dr Ismail (1), a primary school in Kuala Lumpur SK Taman Tun Dr. Ismail (2), a primary school in Kuala Lumpur Kolej Tun Dr. Ismail, a residential college at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor Kolej Tun Dr. Ismail, a residential college at Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor Kolej Tun Dr. Ismail, a residential college at Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Kuala Perlis, Perlis Kolej Tun Dr. Ismail, a residential college at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai, Johor Kolej Tun Dr. Ismail, a residential college at Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Batu Pahat, Johor Sekolah Agama Tun Dr Ismail, a religious school in Bakri, Muar, Johor Jalan Tun Dr Ismail, a road in Johor Bahru, Mersing, Seremban and Kuala Lumpur Perpustakaan Tun Dr. Ismail, UiTM Johor Kampus Pasir Gudang Perpustakaan Tun Dr. Ismail, UiTM Johor Kampus Segamat Tun Dr. Ismail International School in Johor Bahru, Johor MRSM Tun Dr Ismail, MARA Junior Science College in Pontian, Johor Dewan Tun Dr. Ismail, the school hall at St. John's Primary School, Jalan Bukit Nanas, Kuala Lumpur Dewan Tun Dr. Ismail, World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur (previously known as Putra World Trade Centre) Kampung Kenangan Tun Dr Ismail in Muar, Johor

In popular culture Motion picture & television Malaysian actor Megat Shahrizal Mohd Yusof played Ismail in 2007 film 1957: Hati Malaya Malaysian actor Zizan Nin portrayed Ismail in 2013 film Tanda Putera and won the Best Supporting Actor award at Anugerah Skrin 2014.

Notes and references

Other references Britannica entry on Tun Dr. Ismail Abdul Rahman