TRIBUTE ABDUL - Perdana Library

TRIBUTE TO TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN
interest of the country. After twelve long years of suffering, hardship
and inconvenience, the Tunku together with his co-workers has
again succeeded in another great and outstanding task of freeing
Malaya from the Communists, though there may be some remnants
left.
Now is the third phase and perhaps the final and the last of the
Tunku's great contribution to this country. The idea of first merger
and then Malaysia was first mooted by the Tunku in early 1961.
Then came the news on the 16th September 1961 that Tunku Abdul
Rahman and the Singapore Prime Minister, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew,
agreed that Singapore should join the Federation. Then arose the
almost insurmountable objection - by merger, Singapore citizens
would be Federal subjects only and not Federal citizens. One
explanation after another was given and authorities were quoted,
trying to show and prove that a Federal subject would enjoy the
same rights as a Federal citizen. This got nowhere and many refused
to be convinced. On the 31st July 1962, there was in the news that
the Tunku and Mr. MacMillan had signed the agreement to bring
Malaysia into being. Then followed in quick succession the announcement
by the Tunku that Singapore citizens, when Malaysia becomes
a reality, would be Malaysian citizens or citizens of Malaysia
—a feather to the cap of the Tunku.
His humble way, his good humour, his simplicity and his
intense sincerity have won the affections and the confidence of the
people amongst whom he moves and works. He is no orator, he
speaks directly and simply, with few mannerisms, but he convinces
you and makes you feel at home. He creates, above all, trust and
understanding.
The Tunku is without bitterness and harbours no ill-feelings
- a great quality of a great man - as he always has a good word
for any member of the Malayan Civil Service, who is an expatriate,
when he retires or is Malayanised in spite of the fact that he has
served under the Colonial Government for a number of years.
When a slight aspersion was cast against the England-educated,
through no sins or faults of theirs, as decades ago the acquirement
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