Finding Aids Project: 13 May 1969 (Group 1)

13 May 1969

Finding Aids
Project

GROUP 1:
AZIZUL HAKIM BIN HAZMI@AZMI (2021846756)
AMMAR BIN AZIZAN (2021627958)
AMIRUDIN BIN MOHD RAEF (2021627958)
VALENTINA MENING LAUT (2021847338)
NUR ATHIRAH FARHANI BINTI ARSYIDI (2021854008)

PREPARED FOR:
PROFESOR MADYA DR. IRWAN KAMARUDDIN BIN ABD KADIR

Table of content

Acknowledgement
1. Explanatory Notes
2. Abbreviations
3. Introduction
4. Chapter

Chapter 1: The Treaty of Independence of the Federation of Malaya
Chapter 2: Tragedy of 13 May 1969
Chapter 3: Establishment of MAGERAN
Chapter 4: MAGERAN's efforts to restore national security
Chapter 5: Notable Individual that Responsible for MAGERAN
5. Conclusion
6. List of Archival Materials
7. List of Figures
8. Indexes
9. References

Acknowledgement

Praise to God the Almighty, that give us the strength and ideas to complete this
finding aid project. First of all, we would like to express our greatest gratitude to
Professor Madya Dr. Irwan Kamaruddin Bin Abd Kadir, the lecturer for the subject
Administration of Archives (IMR455) for the guidance, encouragement and
teachings during the completion of this assignment. His willingness to spend the
time with the class has been very much appreciated. Thank you for all the
knowledge that helped us and our classmates to finish this assignment.

In addition, thank you to everyone involved who helped us for information and
ideas. We would also like to thank our family and friends for their support because
without them, we would not have been able to complete this project.

Explanatory Notes

This finding aids project book is to prepared and facilitate the retrieving and use of
records and archival materials that related to the events on "13 May 1969". Various
information can be obtained from both electronic and non-electronic sources. The
list of available materials includes records related to a collection of types of
images, newspapers, manuscripts, videos and many more. This book also aims to
help researchers to find and obtain the desired material easily. All the materials
are listed according to the type of collection that documents a simple inventory
and description of selected materials. The content of this finding aid is based on
the materials available in the National Archives of Malaysia and other trusted
sources.

Abbreviations

No. Abbreviation Description
Majlis Gerakan Negara / National
1 MAGERAN
Operations Council
2 MCA Malaysian Chinese Association
3 MIC
4 UMNO Malaysian Indian Congress
5 YTM United Malays National Organization

Yang Teramat Mulia

Introduction

The bloody events of May 13 have marked a black spot in the country that will
surely never be forgotten by every citizen of Malaysia. The bloodshed and the
terrible chaos that took place on 13 May 1969 had almost destroyed the country.
The cause of tragedy is mainly started from a racist response among the Malays
and the Chinese after the events of Election Day 1969. This resulted of many
unwanted killings, destructions and the instability of understanding of the two
races. All frontliners from various sectors such as police, firemen and health
sectors quickly take action to settle down the injured and destructions of the
event. The Malaysian government decided to put the country in a state of
emergency to find a solution to stop this horrible event. MAGERAN was established
as an emergency administrative body to restore back the law and order from the
13 May incident in the 1969.

CHAPTER 1

The Treaty of Independence
of the Federation of Malaya

The Treaty of Independence of the

Federation of Malaya

The Treaty of Independ
ence of the Federation of Malaya was signed on 8 February 1956 at Lancaster House,

London. This agreement was signed between YTM Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, Chief Minister of the Federation
of Malaya on behalf of the government of the Federation of Malaya and Mr. Alan Lennox-Boyd, Secretary of
State of the British Colonies on behalf of the British Government. According to this agreement, the
independence of the Federation of Malaya will be declared on 31 August 1957. Among other matters stated in
this Independence Agreement are changes related to the Ministries and departments for the Federation of
Malaya and the abolition of the British Adviser. Representatives from the Federal Government of Malaya who
were also present at the ceremony were Dato 'Abdul Razak Hussein, Dr. Ismail Abdul Rahman, Mr. T.H. Tan, Mr.
Abdul Kadir Shamsuddin, Colonel H.S. Lee and representatives from the Malay Rulers consisting of Dato
'Panglima Bukit Gantang Haji Abdul Wahab bin Toh Muda Abdul Aziz (representative of the Sultan of Perak),
Dato' Nik Ahmad Kamil (representative of the Sultan of Kelantan), Dato 'Mohd. Seth Mohd. Said (representative
of the Sultan of Johor) and Encik Abdul Aziz Majid (representative of the Sultan of Selangor). While the
representative from the British Government who participated in this ceremony was Mr. John Hore, Minister of
State; Sir Donald MacGillivray, British Resident Commissioner for the Federation of Malaya; Mr. David
Watherston, Secretary General of the Federation of Malaya and Mr. Oscar Spencer, Minister of Economic Affairs
of the Federation of Malaya.

Figure 1: YTM Tunku Abdul Rahman sign the Treaty of Independence of Federation
Malaya with Mr. Alan Lennox-Boyd at Lancaster House, London in 1956

The Independence of the Federation of Malaya was officially declared at 9.30 am on 31 August 1957. The
Independence Proclamation Ceremony took place at the Merdeka Stadium in front of more than 20,000 people
including the Malay Rulers, special guests from abroad, members of the Federal Government cabinet. and the
common people. At this historic ceremony the representative of Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Gloucester
handed over the Constitutional Letter to the Prime Minister marking the end of British patronage to Malaya.
The Declaration of Independence of the Federation of Malaya was read by YTM Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra.

After the declaration was read, Tunku Abdul Rahman Figure 2: Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra chanted
Putra chanted 'MERDEKA' seven times and was greeted 'MERDEKA' seven times at Merdeka Stadium
by thousands of people who flooded the Merdeka
Stadium (Figure 2). The ceremony was then followed by
a call to prayer which symbolizes Islam as the official
religion of the newly independent country, followed by
the raising of the flag of the Federation of Malaya,
accompanied by the national anthem 'Negaraku'. A
total of one hundred and one cannon shots were fired
to indicate that the Federation of Malaya had become
an independent and sovereign nation.

On September 16, 1963, at Kuala Lumpur's Merdeka Stadium, Malaysia's first prime minister, YTM Tunku Abdul
Rahman Putra Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah, officially proclaimed the country's
independence. The Federation of Malaya, the United Kingdom, North Borneo, Sarawak, and Singapore reached
an agreement on July 9,1963, which led to the declaration of Malaysia. The states of Sabah, Sarawak, and
Singapore were amalgamated with the Federation of Malaya upon the signing of the agreement. Also no longer
British colonies, the three states. The creation of Malaysia in 1963 was caused by the need to protect against
communist influence and threat, grant independence to Singapore, Brunei, Sabah, and Sarawak, share
economic benefits, and defend the rights of the bumiputera community in Sabah and Sarawak. Due to internal
strife on August 9, 1965, Singapore decided to break its relationship with the Malaysia Federation after two
years in Malaysia.

Figure 3: Proclamation of Malaysia

Trigger of This Tragedy

During the 1969 election campaign, election candidates as well as politicians from the
opposition parties, raised questions of Bangsa Malaysia related to the National Language
(Bahasa Melayu), the special position of the Malays as bumiputera and the citizenship rights of
non-Malays. This has given an opportunity to politicians who want to benefit from it in
elections. In the 1969 general election, the Alliance Party comprising UMNO, MCA, and MIC
failed to obtain a 2/3 majority in parliament despite still successfully forming a federal
government. This is described by the opposition party as a big victory for them. The number of
seats won by the Alliance Party in the Dewan Rakyat (Parliament) has decreased from 89 seats
in 1964 to 66 seats in 1969. After winning the election, they celebrated their success with
parade and at a time that provoked the Malays as if they could expel Malays from this land.
This provocation obvious trigger the Malay people in Malaysia.

CHAPTER 2

Tragedy of 13 May 1969

In the history of Malaysia, the Figure 4: The incident was contained
tragedy of 13 may 1969 has made a by the military.
black spot that is not forgotten by
all the people of Malaysia. The
bloodshed and chaotic riots that
broke out on 13 May almost
devastated the country. The
tragedy of 13 May 1969 resulted in
the loss of life and property and it
was closely linked to the 'General
Election of 1969'.

The factors of the tragedy Prejudice by the
of May 13 Japanese Army


During the Japanese occupation, the
Malayan community was treated
Economy problem differently. The Chinese community has
been treated so badly by the Japanese
Different economic activities have created military than with the Malays. The
different income gaps between races and situation follows Japan having been at
war with China previously caused the
provokes discontent and unhealthy feeling of mutual understanding of each
economic competition. This imbalance other still fresh in Memory. This biased
causes each race to envy each other. treatment has instilled feelings of
Person Malays envied the luxuries and hostility among the Malays and Chinese.
successes of the Chinese while the Chinese
and Indians envious of the advantages of
the Malays who get service opportunities in

the sector administration

Separate education system Religious and cultural differences

The education system in Malaya As we know some Malays are
was divided into four streams Muslims, the Chinese are

according to race, namely Malay, Buddhists while the Indians are
Chinese, Indian and English Hindu. This problem of unity occurs
schools
when they are disrespectful and
deliberately offend the emotions of

adherents of other religions.

CHAPTER 3

Establishment of MAGERAN

On 16 May 1969, the government established MAGERAN (Majlis Gerakan
Negara/The National Operations Council). The establishment of MAGERAN
was a government effort in addressing the problem of race relations as a
result of the bloody tragedy of May 13, 1969. Following the declaration of
Emergency, the government had to form a temporary council or body that
could manage the administration of the country. MAGERAN was fully
empowered to govern the country emulating the body as it did during the
state of emergency.

Figure 5: Photo of Tun Abdul
Razak Hussien with MAGERAN
Members; 07.02.1971

The MAGERAN Committee is elected from representatives of the multi-racial
leaders of the country. The majority of them are Malay leaders of six people while
the other two are non -Malay leaders.

Malay leaders consist of Tun Dr. Ismail bin Dato 'Abdul Rahman (Minister of Home
Affairs), Datuk Hamzah bin Abu Samah (Minister of Information and Broadcasting),
Tan Sri Ghazali Shafie (Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Tan Sri
Abdul Kadir Shamsuddin (Director of Public Service), General Tunku Osman Jiwa
(Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces) and Tan Sri Mohammad Salleh (Inspector
General of Police). Lieutenant General Dato 'Ibrahim Ismail was appointed as the
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MAGERAN. While the two non -Malay leaders are
Tun Tan Siew Sin, the MCA President and V.T. Sambanthan, President of the MIC.

CHAPTER 4

MAGERAN'S EFFORTS TO RESTORE
NATIONAL SECURITY

MAGERAN has been entrusted to restore national peace and ensure the well -
being of the people. In addition, the council is responsible for ensuring that the

administration of the country runs smoothly and perfectly following the
temporary suspension of Parliament and all State Legislative Assembly. Apart

from the central level, MAGERAN at the State and District levels was also
established to further streamline the administration of the country. In this way,

the council is able to organize a military government that can immediately
implement the decisions it directs without the need for consultation as is the

practice in democratic governance.

MAGERAN's first step to revive the country was to Figure 6: MAGERAN also took steps
immediately postpone the elections in Sabah and to overcome the problem of food
Sarawak and stop the publication of all newspapers supply, especially around Kuala
Lumpur and the state of Selangor.
in Malaysia.
In terms of security, MAGERAN has cooperated with
the police force to obtain intelligence information, as

well as take action in terms of control and raids on
subversive groups to ensure internal security.

MAGERAN acknowledges that the May 13 tragedy has mobilized all races to take certain
steps to create harmony and social justice. Among the steps taken was the establishment
of the National Unity Department and the National Consultative Council in January
1970. Both of these department have a direct relationship with MAGERAN. While
submitting the report, Tun Razak as the Director of MAGERAN has invited
representatives from various groups in the country consisting of religious, political,
economic and other groups to serve in the National Consultative Council. For this
ceremony, Tun Razak has chosen a total of 66 people from among the leaders of various
organizations to replace the parliament which had to be temporarily suspended at that
time. The objective of this council is to discuss steps towards creating unity and harmony
between the races so that the May 13 tragedy does not happen again. In addition, it was
done in preparation for the restoration of the parliamentary system of democracy in the
country.

On the eve of the first anniversary of the May 13 MAGERAN was established to restore
racial riots, MAGERAN had taken precautionary national peace following the tragedy of 13
measures by directing security divisions and the May 1969. This council led by Tun Razak
has succeeded in restoring national peace
military to take action to prevent unrest from
re-emerging. the state of the country can be said and inter -racial trust. It is clear that
MAGERAN is led by those who are
to have improved and peace could be fully authoritative not only among politicians of
restored. In an effort to restore the system of various races, but also public leaders.
parliamentary democracy, the government has MAGERAN was dissolved when the
parliamentary government was returned
decided to hold re -elections in Sabah and
Sarawak. Elections in these two states were so on 23 February 1971.
important to the government as more than two-
thirds of the parliamentary seats were needed
by Perikatan following the loss of many seats in

the 1969 election.

CHAPTER 5
NOTABLE INDIVIDUAL

THAT RESPONSIBLE
FOR MAGERAN

Representatives of the nation's top leaders in the various races elect the Figure 9: Tan Sri
MAGERAN committee. The majority of them are Malay leaders, which is Ghazali Shafie
six, while the other two are non-Malay leaders. The Malay leaders included (Permanent
Tun Dr. Ismail bin Dato' Abdul Rahman (Ministry of Home Affairs), Datuk Secretary,
Hamzah bin Abu Samah (Ministry of Information and Broadcasting), Tan Ministry of
Sri Ghazali Shafie (Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Tan Foreign Affairs)
Sri Abdul Kadir Shamsuddin (Director of Public Service), General Tunku
Osman Jiwa (Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces), and Tan Sri Mohammad Figure 10: Tan
Salleh (National Police Chief). While two members of the non-Malay Sri Abdul Kadir
leaders were Tun Tan Siew Sin, the President of MCA and V.T.
Sambanthan, the President of MIC (Leon Comber, 1981). Shamsuddin
(Director of
Figure 7: Tun Dr. Figure 8: Datuk Public Service)
Ismail bin Dato' Hamzah bin
Abdul Rahman Abu Samah Figure 11:
(Ministry of Home (Ministry of General Tunku
Affairs) Information and Osman Jiwa
Broadcasting) (Chief of Staff of
the Armed
Forces)

Figure 12: Tan Tun Razak, as deputy prime minister at the time, was appointed
Sri Mohammad as Director of MAGERAN. In essence, as a Director of
Salleh MAGERAN, Tun Razak has almost unlimited executive power.
(National He was allowed to make his own decisions on the government
Police Chief). and administration of the country in parallel with the declaration
of the Emergency. In other words, "dictator" is the most
Figure 13: appropriate term for himself, even though he is worried about
Tun Tan the power he has (Shaw, 1976). On the other hand, this is
Siew Sin, the attracting attention among politicians or academics to judge Tun
President of Razak's dictatorship during his time at the helm of MAGERAN.
For example, on Ooi's observation (2007), "Tun Razak could be
MCA virtually (have become) a dictator at that time, but he never
used his power in that direction. Next to him was Doc Ismail"
Figure 14: V.T. (2007, p. 223).
Sambanthan,
the President
of MIC

Noordin Sopiee rather dramatically notes, that "Tun has worked harder than any
dictator in history to remove dictatorial power from his own hands and try to shun it"

(The Straits Times, January 15, 1976). Wahab Majib argued that, "the idea of a 'good-
natured dictator' once played on Tun Razak's mind, however, it was forgotten by Tun

Dr. Ismail's insistence that parliament be restored as soon as possible (Ooi, 2007).
Based on these statements, Tun Razak as Director MAGERAN is seen as trying to avoid

using the arbitrary use of the powers he has. In fact, Tun Dr. Ismail was said to have
been an 'administration' to Tun Razak during his tenure as Director of MAGERAN.

Conclusion

We can conclude that racism issues give worst outcomes in multi race country
like in Malaysia. The 13 May incident teach us that a good rivalry among
different political parties should be implemented in our country and not having
a fight or a bloodshed that can cause more problems especially to the people
and the country itself. The government of Malaysia at the time have taken a
quick response by announcing a state of emergency and establishing an
emergency administrative body, MAGERAN to avoid the incident becoming
worse.
We can see the aftermath of the bloody incident and it really is a shameful sight
as a country with different races. Racism needs to be stopped in our mindset and
all of us Malaysian must gather our strength, ideas and specialty to make the
country a better place to live.

IMAGE List of Archival Materials

Accession Number

Photo of Tun Abdul Razak Hussein with 2001/0047530W
MAGERAN members; 07.02.1971 2001/0026592W
2001/0026710W
Independence, signing of the Merdeka agreement, 2001/0022241W
London; 08.02.1956

Declaration of Independence, shouts of Merdeka, Merdeka
Stadium, Kuala Lumpur; 31.8.1957

Malaya Independence, Proclamation of Independence;
31.8.1957

IMAGE List of Archival Materials

Accession Number

Allahyarham Tun Dr. Ismail Bin Dato' Hj. Abdul 1981/0000005T
Rahman, Timbalan Perdana Menteri kepada Perdana
Menteri Malaysia ke-2 Tun Abdul Razak

List of Archival Materials

DOCUMENT Accession Number

Tragedy Notes 13 MEI 1969 - Reaction of foreign powers 2011/0010703W
2012/0008955W
13 May tragedy 2012/0009511W
2001/0018862W
The real story of May 13.
1992/0007387W
A rough outline of the concept for creating
a united society - MAGERAN

The MAGERAN action committee to expedite industrial land
applications

List of Archival Materials

DOCUMENT Accession Number

MAGERAN - A study on the implications of 1992/0007388W
increasing land tax rates.
2011/0014465W
The 13 May 1969 tragedy, by Nik Anuar Nik Mahmud, Prof. Dr

List of Archival Materials

Video Accession Number

Series of historical chats: History of Malaysia 13 2012/0002436W
May 1969 and the administration of MAGERAN
2009/0002813W
Ceremony to narrate the history of the events of 13 2004/0001147W
May 1969

Transcript of interview with Encik Abdul Samad Bin
Maat Nali on 7 September 2000 about his
experience as a policeman during the 13 May 1969
event and emergency

List of Archival Materials

Audio Accession Number

Malaysian historical association talk series "MAGERAN in 2012/0003321W
Kelantan 1977" 12 June 2010 2013/0017327W

Oral history interview: Leong Chee Who, Sac I (b)
Datuk Dr.
Cassette 4, side A: Explanation of the events 13 May 1969
the catalyst of communists returning to Malaysia;
communist activities spread ideas and propaganda in
some chinese schools such as Soon Jin Chinese school,
Loke Yew road; explanation 11 strategies to eliminate
communist activities in 1976

List of Archival Materials

Audio Accession Number

Oral history interview: Mohd Yunus Othman, Dato 'DCP (B) 2011/0012366W
Cassette 2, side B changes made when he was camp
commander. Differences between 69 DENAGN commands for
police. On paying training for 69 commando members. His
career while camp commander. His opinion on the current
situation and duties of the police. Events 13 may 1969 and
Penang hartel. His advice to police new officers.

List of Archival Materials

Audio Accession Number

Oral history interview: Wan Taha Wan Muhamad, S/INSP. 2011/0012358W
(B) The hajj was recorded on 16/9/2008 at the government
office of the special war training branch (Dobi line),
headquarters of 69 commando, special operations force,
Ulu Kinta, Perak. Pensioner 69 commando, Royal
Malaysian Police (pdrm). Title: vat 69 (69commands). Year
covered: 1964-2008.
Cassette 1, side A: Training of forest police team in Ulu Kinta,
Perak on duty to control the event of 13 May 1969 in Kuala
Lumpur. Cassette 1, side A: his duties in Lembah Pantai
during the 13 May 1969 event. The situation of Kuala Lumpur
during the 13 May event.

No. Figure List of Figures

Description

1 Figure 1 YTM Tunku Abdul Rahman sign the Treaty of Independence of Federation
Malaya with Mr. Alan Lennox-Boyd at Lancaster House, London in 1956

2 Figure 2 Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra chanted 'MERDEKA' seven times at Merdeka
Stadium

3 Figure 3 Proclamation of Malaysia

4 Figure 4 The incident was contained by the military.

5 Figure 5 Photo of Tun Abdul Razak Hussien with MAGERAN Members; 07.02.1971

6 Figure 6 MAGERAN also took steps to overcome the problem of food supply, especially
around Kuala Lumpur and the state of Selangor.

No. Figure List of Figures

Description

7 Figure 7 Tun Dr. Ismail bin Dato' Abdul Rahman (Ministry of Home Affairs)
8 Figure 8 Datuk Hamzah bin Abu Samah (Ministry of Information and Broadcasting)

9 Figure 9 Tan Sri Ghazali Shafie (Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

10 Figure 10 Tan Sri Abdul Kadir Shamsuddin (Director of Public Service)

11 Figure 11 General Tunku Osman Jiwa (Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces)

12 Figure 12 Tan Sri Mohammad Salleh (National Police Chief)

No. Figure List of Figures

Description

13 Figure 13 Tun Tan Siew Sin, the President of MCA

14 Figure 14 V.T. Sambanthan, the President of MIC

Indexes

A 16 F 8,9,11,12
Army Federation
9,11,12
B 9,11,12 I
British 12 6,7,18,19,20,21,22,23,
Brunei Independence 24,25,26,27,28,29,30

C 21,28 M 5,13,21,22,23,25
Committee
MAGERAN 25,26,29,30
D 25,26
Democracy N

E National
Election Day 1969 7
T

Tun Razak

References

http://ofa.arkib.gov.my/portal/index.php/en/

http://www.arkib.gov.my/web/guest/home

Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (MJSSH), Volume 5, Issue 12,
(page 170 - 178), 2020 DOI: https://doi.org/10.47405/mjssh.v5i12.585

The Official Portal of Royal Malaysia Police. (n.d.). Peristiwa 13 Mei. Rmp.Gov.My.
Retrieved July 6, 2022, from https://www.rmp.gov.my/infor-korporate/polis-diraja-
malaysia/sejarah/peristiwa-13-mei

THANK YOU