Malaysia: The Making of a Nation

4. 1970–76: Malay Dominance, Economic Integration and National Unity under Tun Razak

National Unity, NEP & Tun Abdul Razak • 121© 2002 Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore 121 C H A P T E R F O U R 1970 –76 Malay Dominance, Economic Integration and National Unity under Tun Razak … the government policy on national unity is not by process of assimilation but by integration, that is, by mutual adjustment of diverse cultural and social traits, acceptable to all races in the country. Tun Abdul Razak, Straits Times (Malaysia), 16 May 1972 Due to his strong determination in championing the cause of the Malay peasants when he was Minister of National and Rural Development, he was branded by the non-Malay communities as racialist, as biased against the Chinese, as a religious fanatic who would discontinue, even reverse, the liberal and humanitarian policies so wisely pursued by the Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman…. Eventually, using wisely and honestly the great power conferred upon him by his office, he finally won the acceptance and respect of his fellow countrymen.” Paridah Abd. Samad, Tun Abdul Razak: A Phenomenon in Malaysian Politics, p. 213 THE GROWING assertion of Malay political primacy during Tun Abdul Razak’s administration marked the most radical change from the Tunku’s administration. However, given the mixed ethnic composition of Malaysia, and in the wake of the 13 May inter-racial riots in 1969, he still felt that an official declaration of Malay political primacy or a statement claiming Malaysia was a “Malay” nation-state would cause further tensions. Consequently, this was not done. Reproduced from Malaysia: The Making of a Nation, by Cheah Boon Kheng (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2002). This version was obtained electronically direct from the publisher on condition that copyright is not infringed. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the prior permission of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. Individual articles are available from 122 • Malaysia: The Making of a Nation© 2002 Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore In view of this, Tun Razak’s nation-building efforts take on a difficult, tragic dimension. Although a Malay nationalist at heart, and anxious to please the Malay nationalists within and without his UMNO party, he also desired to preserve and strengthen Malaysia as a plural, multi-ethnic nation. He could have opted for an all-Malay government, but did not do so. A devoted and loyal Deputy to the Tunku, he probably hesitated to dismantle the latter’s national integration policies entirely. He had waited for at least 15 years to take over from the Tunku. Unlike the Tunku, he was an indefatigable administrator, who seldom took time off to relax. His nationbuilding efforts are all the more remarkable when it is realized that when he became Prime Minister in 1970, he had already been diagnosed as suffering from leukaemia. Paridah Abd. Samad, in her intimate biography of the man, reveals that doctors gave him less than six years to live. Realising the short time he had left to accomplish as much as he could for the nation, he became a “man in a hurry”. His illness was kept a secret from all except from one or two persons. One of them was his Deputy, Tun Dr Ismail, a medical doctor, who, however, did not survive him. Tun Ismail died of a heart attack on 2 August 1973 at the age of 57. His successor as Deputy Prime Minister was the Minister for Education, Datuk Hussein Onn, Tun Razak’s brother-in-law. In mid-1975, says Paridah Abd. Samad, Tun Razak’s health deteriorated. People close to him observed that he had been losing weight rapidly. He looked tired and gaunt. His bush jackets hung loosely on his shoulders. His jowls had begun to sag. Rumours spread about his health, yet the public was not told a word. One night in December 1975 a critically ill Tun Razak quietly boarded a French aircraft specially diverted from Singapore to pick him up. While Kuala Lumpur was officially claiming he was on holiday, he was making a desperate dash to Paris and from there to London where he entered a clinic. On 14 January he died following a relapse from which he never recovered.1 He was 53. His sudden death brought shock and dismay to the nation. Tun Razak died in the same week as China’s Prime Minister Zhou En-lai. “Asia had lost two prominent regional figures at one time,” recalls his biographer.2 “The two men had much in common. It...