A function in remembrance of the late Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj last Friday saw its more than 100 guests enthralled by the magnanimity and humanity of Bapa Malaysia, and saddened by the lack of such qualities in present leaders.

Organised by DAP in conjunction with Tunku's centennial birthday, the function at the Crystal Crown hotel in Petaling Jaya had 10 panelists offering their candid personal accounts, memories and opinions about the country's first prime minister who led the nation from 1957 to 1970.

Born o­n Feb 8, 1903, Tunku was a prince in the Kedah royal family. He worked as a district officer and deputy public prosecutor before taking over the leadership of Umno from its founder O­nn Jaafar in 1951.

Tunku was instrumental in getting Singapore, Sarawak and Sabah to join Malaysia in 1963. In 1970, he stepped down as prime minister after a horrific racial riot in Kuala Lumpur the year before known as the May 13 tragedy.

He later became the secretary-general of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) and had written several books and a column o­n the country's political development until his death in 1991.

Man of his word

One of the speakers, former Malaysian ambassador to the United Nations PG Lim said she first knew Tunku when he went back to London in 1946 to finish his law studies, 25 years after he failed his examinations to enter the Bar.

Upon their return to Malaysia, Lim became a lawyer while Tunku became a deputy public prosecutor in Kuala Lumpur. They corresponded through letters occasionally and when he plunged into politics, he informed her about it.

"Tunku said Umno had no money at that time and he had to sell seven shop lots owned by the family to raise funds for the party," she recalled.

She remembers Tunku as a person who kept his word, citing an incident when a group of lawyers, including herself, rallied for trial by jury after a woman was sentenced to death in 1952 for possession of arms despite inadequate evidence and inconsistencies in the decision by the judge and two other assessors.

Tunku supported the idea and brought the proposal to the Federal Legislative Council in 1954 but it was rejected.

Later, after Independence, Lim said she received a letter from Tunku informing her that trial by jury was finally approved by the legislature and was to be implemented "as promised".

She also commended Tunku for his respect for the Constitution. "He o­nce wanted his pal to be the Chief Justice but this was rejected by the incumbent and he accepted that."

Another speaker, former vice-chancellor of Universiti Malaya Dr Syed Hussein Alatas said Tunku achieved "something that was unusual in universal leadership in the Third World" as he did not fall in disgrace like many other leaders who fought for independence for their respective countries.

"He could communicate with men from different backgrounds and classes. He was not a leader who made people feel small in his presence. Even if you did not agree with him, you still felt relaxed," he said.

He lamented that egoistic people were unfortunately emerging in universities, political parties and bureaucracy these days.

"Commemorating Tunku's birthday is therefore of great value to us o­nly if we keep the memory of the kind of personalities that we need in leading the country and parties," he said.

No interference

United Nations special rapporteur o­n the independence of judges and lawyers Param Cumaraswamy said Tunku firmly believed in fundamental rights and did not attempt to silence the opposition throughout his tenure as the head of government.

"No doubt oppressive legislation like the Internal Security Act and the Sedition Act were in force and continued to be applied during his term. But we never heard of abuses and if there were any abuses, we had access to his administration to draw its attention (to them).

"He never interfered with the independence of judiciary and did not resort to constitutional amendments to suit his needs," said the former Bar Council chairperson.

He said Tunku continued to express his concern over judiciary independence and human rights after his retirement from politics by criticising the sacking of former Lord President Salleh Abas and by heading the National Human Rights Society (Hakam).

Param said Tunku was "most saddened" when no arrangements were made for him to meet former South African president Nelson Mandela in Kuala Lumpur.

"It was Tunku who led the campaign in the 1960s to expel South Africa from the Commonwealth (for apartheid). For that Nelson Mandela remembered Tunku most fondly with gratitude.

"When Dr Mahathir Mohamad met Mandela in 1990 after the leader's release, the first question Mandela asked Mahathir was how was Tunku," he said.

He said Tunku left behind a legacy of integrity which he described as "a rare quality in Malaysian public administration eclipsed by the pursuit of materialism".

Even opposition figures such as DAP life adviser Dr Chen Man Hin and national chairperson Lim Kit Siang were full of praise for the country's first premier.

Speaking at the function, Chen said though he was a young doctor not interested in politics when Tunku led the nation to achieve Independence, he was greatly touched by the Merdeka spirit.

"We have achieved peace and stability because of the foundation of the Constitution, because of Tunku who believed in tolerance among Malaysians. He was an honest man. The country needs more people like him," he said.

Lim said although Tunku stepped down as prime minister three decades ago, his influence "continued to writ large in all aspects of Malaysian life".

"(Tunku's concerns included) nation-building, inter-religious understanding and harmony, democracy, the rule of law, human rights, issues like the Internal Security Act, press freedom and corruption - whether because of his humanity, compassion or humility," he said.

Real gentleman

Another speaker, Tunku Abdul Aziz Ibrahim, president of Kuala Lumpur Society for Transparency and Integrity, said the late leader was a "real gentleman" who had the ability to laugh at himself.

He said his father, a former police officer, had worked with Tunku when he was a deputy public prosecutor, in prosecuting a murder suspect.

Abdul Aziz said he took leave from school for several days to hear the case in court.

"On the last day, I remember the British judge told them: 'If your facts are as well developed as your highly developed imagination, this would have been an open-and-shut case'. Believe it or not, Tunku had a good laugh at the remark.

"Though the team did not secure a conviction, they retreated to the Royal Selangor Club to celebrate their failure," he said.

Abdul Aziz said corruption has turned "progressively worse" since Tunku's time. "In times of Independence, there was hardly any corruption because people lived well within their means."

Apart from the 1970 National Economic Policy, which provided opportunities for corruption, he said another factor, which had given rise to the malaise of bribery and graft, is the lack of autonomy of the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA).

"The difference between then and now is that under Tunku's regime, the first ACA director Harun Hashim (who later became Federal Court judge) was given full power to act. Tunku did not tell Harun whom he should investigate and whom he should not.

"Corruption cannot be confronted if there is no political will. Having the best laws, rules and procedures today is not good enough if the government is not serious. The government can be serious by making the ACA an independent commission, not under the scrutiny of the executive but an all-party parliamentary committee," he said.

New Straits Times editor-in-chief Abdullah Ahmad, in a speech delivered by the daily's associate editor Rehman Rashid, said it was remarkable that Malaysia achieved Independence without shedding blood in an anti-imperialist war.

"When the country declared Independence in 1957, it left no o­ne behind - not the lowliest peasants, penniless immigrants and noblest royal families.

"Tunku personified the country as the best Malaysians could be as a people and a nation. It is bitter-sweetly ironic that people honour Tunku's memory today because Tunku was no politician," he said.

Former Bar Council chairperson Zainur Zakaria said though he did not know Tunku in person, he was impressed with the foundation for racial harmony espoused by the Umno-MCA-MIC alliance just before the 1952 Kuala Lumpur municipal election.

He said it was a wise that Tunku decided to let Singapore leave Malaysia in 1965. "I believe had Singapore remained, we would be facing more difficulties in our relationship than it is now."

Candid nature

Also full of accolades, was the president of the International Movement for a Just World (Just) Dr Chandra Muzaffar.

"Tunku's strengths lay in small human attributes and his candid nature. He was sincere and free of hypocrisy, something rare in politics today," he said.

Chandra had the audience in stitches when he recalled the humorous side of the late leader.

He said Tunku was o­nce asked what kept him youthful and energetic and the latter replied "groundnuts and beer".

"There was another time when he was in China as the president of the Asian Football Confederation. Tunku said he loved playing football but that was mistranslated into 'Tunku is a playboy'.

"When Tunku was told about this, he pointed at the interpreter and said 'You are absolutely right'," said Chandra.

The Just president said Tunku was "genuinely multiethnic" in his outlook and attitude, adding that he o­nce demonstrated with taxi drivers against a price hike in Kuala Muda (Kedah) where he was the district officer under the British rule.

"The British were angry and wanted to remove Tunku. People from different communities, including my grandfather who was the Kedah Indian Association president then, submitted a petition to the British to retain Tunku.

"They talked about how good a person he was and barely mentioned anything about his administrative skills," he said.

Chandra also noted that Tunku's greatest achievement was introducing a power-sharing formula in a multiracial Malaysia.

"It was also not easy to implement jus soli to give citizenship rights to all born in Malaya as this was met with strong resistance from the Malay community."

He said if o­ne chose to look at rituals and appearances, Tunku might not be the best of Muslims but "Tunku's fundamental values and attitude will prove that he was indeed a very spiritual person".

Elaborating further, he said Tunku had a sense of separating party affairs from public office, as evident in his decision to take leave to campaign for the Alliance Terengganu and Kelantan.

"He made sure his work for the party as Umno president did not infringe o­n his prime ministership.

"This quality is rare these days. Tunku may have used power under circumstances which were not for the best of everybody's interests but he had admirable restraints from using power," he said.

The shortcomings

As with any great leaders past and present, Tunku had his own set of shortcomings and weaknesses.

Chandra said the leader had "static notion of multiethnic relationships" despite his great love for the country and the people.

"He failed to realise that changes had taken place and society could no longer be compartmentalised where Malays held the political power and Chinese the economic power.

"Rising education level had brought about aspirations to have more but this was overlooked until the racial riots erupted in 1969," he said.

He said Tunku had placed more importance o­n personal relations than accountability in his administration.

"He had a neo-feudalistic notion of power and politics and this resulted in a patron-clientele relationship between him and the people around him."

Chandra also said Tunku lacked the policy commitment to distributive justice compared with his successor Tun Abdul Razak Hussein who implemented the NEP to bridge the economic gap between the bumiputera and non-bumiputera.

Utusan takeover

Former Utusan Melayu editor-in-chief Said Zahari told the guests that his relationship with Tunku was cordial until the latter proposed for Umno to take over Utusan in 1961.

"The influence of Utusan over Malays was so important to Tunku. He wanted to use the newspaper to ensure Umno's victory term after term. This is where our conflict began. I was sad about the decision because earlier during the struggle for Independence, we had worked well and Tunku was a dear friend.

"Every staff, not just the reporters, felt that Utusan should remain an independent newspaper - serving as a watchdog of the government, giving credit where credit is due and criticising the government when it is necessary. But Tunku thought differently," he said.

He said although Tunku might have acted o­n wrong advice from within Umno, the fact was that the control of the media by ruling parties since Umno's takeover of Utusan has created much repercussions o­n media freedom.

"The problem with Nanyang Siang Pau (taken over by MCA in May 2001) was exactly the same problem we had 40 years ago. The mainstream newspapers today know for themselves that there is no freedom to write, to criticise and to report anything contradictory to the government's stand.

"I do not think I can work as a journalist at any newspaper these days. It is difficult - it is either you support them or you do not write at all," said the former journalist.

Despite the faults, Chandra summed up the remembrance of the late leader by saying: "The greater a person is, the greater weaknesses he would have. But if you weigh the pluses and minuses o­n a balance sheet, Tunku was a great human being."