Tun Razak was a PM who met the challenges of his time, says Nurul Izzah

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 15 ― Malaysia's second prime minister was a man who rose to the challenges of his time and worked hard to rebuild the nation torn apart by the bloody May 13 race riots in 1969, PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar said.

In remembering Tun Abdul Razak Hussein Al-Haj on the 39th anniversary of his death, Nurul Izzah Anwar praised him for bravely eyeing “reconciliation” among political parties ― including Gerakan, PPP and PAS ―  through the formation of Barisan Nasional (BN) in 1973.

Faced with multiple challenges then amid a turbulent period of the country's history, Umno under Tun Abdul Razak, which was then not a strong party, had taken a “risk” to set up the coalition, Nurul Izzah said.

“I think that was quite amazing because you are not talking about a time of calm and peace.

“It was a decision that was not supported by internal echelons of Umno. Many disputes...yet he forged ahead and that's something admirable,” the PKR vice-president said.

In another illustration of how Tun Abdul Razak engaged with the people, Nurul Izzah said the leader was the first person to invite her father Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to join Umno.

“So for me, that brought one word to mind which was engagement, the fact that a leader such as Tun Razak took time to engage a student and basically ask him to join his party,” she said.

Anwar was then a student leader and had turned down the offer, before eventually joining and rising to become Malaysia's deputy prime minister, before being sacked in 1998 and coming to his current position as the federal opposition's de facto leader.

But beyond Tun Abdul Razak's reconciliation efforts, his greatest hallmark was to “meet the challenges of his time” ― through the setting up of national oil giant Petronas, introduction of the rural resettlement scheme FELDA and his education policies, Nurul Izzah said.

Tun Abdul Razak’s former aide Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmad, who was at the same forum, cited the late leader’s success in bringing together Malaysians after the May 13 riots as one of his “greatest legacies”.

Abdullah said the country's second prime minister ― who stepped into office over a year after the riots that split Malaysians up along racial lines ― had managed to unite the different races.

“Tun Razak is a great unifier, he united the various races. If you want to remember, that's one of his greatest legacy,” the 78-year-old told a forum here titled “Remembering Tun Razak” last night.

Abdullah, who had served as Tun Abdul Razak's political secretary for 14 years, noted that race-based politics was gaining strength in Malaysia instead of losing steam as the then prime minister would have wanted.

“Tun Razak tried his best. He believed in uniting the people and there was a good chance after May 13,” the Umno member said.

“We were unfortunate to have lost him so early,” he later said, saying that Malaysia would be different today if the Umno leader had not passed on in 1976 after having served only six years as the country's prime minister.

Tun Abdul Razak's political contemporary Lim Kit Siang, who was also at the forum, spoke about the Umno man's “hands-on” approach in handling the country's administration.

It was under Tun Abdul Razak's administration that the National Consultative Council ― formed after the riots ― formulated the Rukun Negara, which was meant to be the roadmap to a more united and harmonious society, Lim said.

The forum last night was organised by DAP's Malay-language news portal Roketkini.

Tun Abdul Razak, now remembered in the footnotes of history as the nation’s Bapa Pembangunan (Father of Development), took over the reins of the country on September 22, 1970 at the age of 48.

He passed on due to leukemia on January 14, 1976, leaving behind five sons ― including the current prime minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.