Tunku Abdul Rahman

Tunku Abdul Rahman , 1903-90, Malaysian political leader. A prince, he was the fifth son of Sultan Abdul Halim Shah of Kedah and was educated in England at Cambridge. Rahman entered the Kedah state civil service in 1931. In 1945 he helped found the United Malay National Organization, a nationalist political party of which he was president (1952-55). In 1955, after the Federation of Malaya's first elections, he was named chief minister; he vigorously opposed the Communist guerrillas in Malaya. When Malaya became independent on Aug. 31, 1957, Rahman was elected the country's first prime minister. An influential statesman in Southeast Asia, Rahman in 1961 put forward the plan for the Federation of Malaysia, approved in 1963. He retired as prime minister in 1970.

Abdul Rahman, Tunku (1903–90) Malayan statesman, Prime Minister of Malaya (1957–63) and of Malaysia (1963–70). A skilled negotiator, he secured Malayan independence from Britain (1957) and was one of the architects of modern Malaysia (1963).

Abdul Rahman Putra (Al-Haj Ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah), Tunku (b. 8 Feb. 1903, d. 6 Dec. 1990). Prime Minister of Malaya/Malaysia 1957–63, 1963–70 Son of the 24th Sultan of Kedah, he studied at Cambridge and qualified as an English barrister. Upon his return to Malaya in 1931 he entered the civil service, where he continued to work during the Japanese occupation. He co-founded the United Malays National Organization, and succeeded Dato Onn bin Jafaar (b. 1895, d. 1962) as leader in 1952. Recognizing that independence could only be achieved through cooperation between the various ethnic groups, he organized an alliance with the Malayan Chinese Association, and then the Malayan Indian Congress. Following the alliance's victory in the 1955 elections, he became Chief Minister and Minister for Home Affairs. He negotiated independence, and became Malaya's first Prime Minister. In 1962–3 he presided over the formation of the Federation of Malaysia, which he led as Prime Minister, successfully securing the support of both the Chinese and the Indian communities through pragmatic compromise. During the general elections in May 1969 there were widespread ethnic riots in the capital between Chinese and Malays. Faced with the breakdown of his attempt to rule on the basis of harmonious Chinese–Malay relations, he resigned in January 1970. Through active political journalism he remained an influential figure in Malaysia during the years of his retirement.