Digital Scrapbook Competition

Page (i)

Participant's name : SANGEETA D/O RABART KENNADY
Class : FORM 4
E-mail address : [email protected]
School name : SMK(P) SULTAN IBRAHIM, JOHOR BAHRU, JOHOR
School’s Address : JALAN ABDUL RAHMAN ANDAK, YAHYA AWAL, 80000 JOHOR
BAHRU, JOHOR
Participant's picture :

Introduction

Racial unity is one of the important factors for Malaysia to achieve the status of a developed
country in addition to rapid development and economy. In Malaysia, unity in a multi-racial
community is part of our history and heritage. It has been an important source of racial
integration for many years and certainly plays an important role in making Malaysia a
harmonious place to live, study, work and play. Unity is in fact an invaluable gift, to be preserved
and appreciated by all multiracial citizens like Malaysians. Truly, this is what Malaysia
represents – a spirit of togetherness and unity that Tun Hussein Onn had envisioned for the future
nation.

Biodata

Tun Hussein Onn is a Malaysian politician who served as the 3rd Prime Minister of Malaysia
from January 1976 to his retirement in July 1981. He was given the title of ‘father of unity’
because he succeeded in strengthening the spirit of unity among the multi-racial Malaysian
community. Tun Hussein Onn was born on 12 February 1922 in Johor Bahru and was the light of
the eyes of Dato ’Onn Jaafar and Datin Halimah Hussein.

Tun Hussein married Tun Suhailah Noah in 1948. Hussein Onn and Suhaila Noah had six
children, including their fourth child, Hishammuddin Hussein, the Minister of Defence from
2013 to 2018. Their eldest daughter, Datin Roquaiya Hanim, died on 17 September 2005, at the
age of 56 from breast cancer in Kuala Lumpur. He passed away on a Tuesday on the 29th of May
in 1990, at the age of 68 at Seaton Medical Center, San Francisco, USA due to a heart attack, and
was buried on Friday at the Tomb of the Heroes, National Mosque, Kuala Lumpur.

Education

Tun Hussein Onn received his early education in Telok Kurau Primary School in Singapore
and then at The English College in Johore Bahru is also known as Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar,
abbreviated as English College, EC and MSAB. After leaving school, he joined the Johor
Military Forces as a cadet in 1940 and was sent to the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun,
India. Upon completion of his training, he was absorbed into the Indian Army served in the
Middle East when the Second World War broke.

Career

After the war, his vast experience prompted the British to employ him as an instructor at the
Malayan Police Recruiting and Training Centre in Rawalpindi. Tun Hussein came back to
Malaysia in 1945 and was appointed Commandant of the Johor Bahru Police Depot. The
following year he joined the Malaya Civil Service as an assistant administrative officer in
Segamat, Johor. He was later posted to the state of Selangor, becoming Klang and Kuala
Selangor's district officer.

Tun Hussein, who came from a family with a deep nationalistic spirit and political roots,
resigned from the civil service to go into politics. In 1949, he became the first youth chief of
UMNO. He stood and won the general elections in 1969 and was appointed as the education
minister. Tun Hussein's meteoric rise continued on 13 August 1973 when he succeeded the late
Ismail Abdul Rahman as the Deputy Prime Minister. On 15 January 1976, he was appointed as
Prime Minister of Malaysia after the death of Tun Razak.

Contributions

Tun Hussein Onn was looked upon as being very sincere in his struggle for racial unity and
had a reputation for being firm against anyone who tried to create racial unrest in the country and
due to this he was known as the 'father of unity'. He’s contributed a lot for the country and here
are a few of them :

● Tun Hussein had improvised the Ministry of Education when he was the Minister of
Education in 1970.

● Modernize and enlarge the Malaysian Armed Forces in 1975.
● Established ‘PEMADAM’ an organization that defends the fate and welfare of former

drug addicts throughout Malaysia in 1976.
● Continuing Tun Abdul Razak's development agenda (The New Economy Policy) in 1978.
● Launched fourth Malaysia’s plan in 1981.
● Launched ASN (Skim Amanah Saham National) in 1981.
● Became the chairman of the Strategic and International Research Institution (ISIS) in

1983.

Leadership values t​hat can be emulated by the current generation

The late Tun Hussein Onn was a man of great honesty, integrity, conviction, and steely
courage, who put service to the country ahead of himself. He was a leader to be admired and
emulated.

Tun Hussein Onn is definitely someone Malaysians can look up to. The firmness and nature of
his natural leadership opened the way for him to lead the country by applying the noble values
that were n​ eeded to build a strong country. In his view, every individual who recognizes
themselves as a Malaysian citizen must maintain prosperity and peace to ensure the harmony of
the national life can be maintained.

As a leader, Tun Hussein completed assignments responsibility and did not defer his leadership
duties. He was also a very firm person, who was adhered to the principles of his life. Therefore
in my opinion as an SLB member, there are many values that can be taken from Tun Hussein.
One of them is humility. There’s a saying that goes “humble leaders make the best leaders”.
Humble and willful leaders understand the fact that leadership is all about working for the
greater good. They lead to transform, and not dominant. They are aware of their strengths and
weaknesses and always yearn to learn and contribute more. Apart from that I also think that
Hussein Onn was a very invasive person as a leader. Innovative people are always open to new
ideas and discussions. They listen to everyone actively and also motivate others to think out of
the box. This quality gives them an edge over others since they are always hunting for creativity
and innovations.

Conclusion

The peace and prosperity of this country depends on the racial unity of all Malaysian citizens.
Tun Hussein Onn is now remembered as the Father of Unity to remember all his services and
efforts in fostering unity in this country. His efforts in fostering the spirit of unity among the
various races have been successfully achieved in the context of Malaysian society. Let’s strive to
emulate the values that Tun Hussein fought and struggled dearly for. Let us be united and share
the same determination he had. We can do so much more to ensure a brighter future for our
nation, for Malaysia belongs to us all, and it will be our children and grandchildren that will
inherit this land.

Resources

https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep13570.6?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep13570.4?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
https://www.themalayapost.my/allahyarham-dato-sir-hussein-onn-father-of-unity/
https://www.coursehero.com/file/23620477/Jelaskan-sumbangan-Tun-Hussein-Onn-dalam-pemb
angunan-ekonomi-negara/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_Onn
https://www.slideshare.net/Dhass97/sejarah-dan-sumbangan-yabhg-tun-hussein-bin-dato-onn
http://pelajarpolitekniknilai.blogspot.com/2014/09/tun-hussein-bin-dato-onn.html
https://www.astroawani.com/foto-malaysia/men-who-led-malaysia-210/hussein-onn-1754
https://www.malaysianbar.org.my/article/news/legal-and-general-news/general-news/tun-hussein
-onn-1976-81-father-of-unity
https://www.bharian.com.my/berita/nasional/2019/02/531690/perpaduan-kaum-penting-untuk-m
alaysia-jadi-negara-maju-tpm
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2020/08/31/behind-the-scenes-of-malaysias-racial-unit
y-efforts
https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2020/12/653571/harmony-unity-key-malaysias-success
https://www.bharian.com.my/berita/nasional/2019/09/605018/perpaduan-kaum-di-malaysia-perl
u-terus-utuh
http://noorkhaery-citarasasantai.blogspot.com/2009/11/tokoh-tun-hussein-onn.html