LETTER | The oft-expressed statement that Umno was born in the palace, or precisely in Johor Bahru palace, must be examined very carefully, and in light of what had happened since its formation. A general statement that Umno was born in the palace may not be complete, and could lead to confusion and misapprehension of historical facts.

At the end of the Second World War, Britain was anxious to have fresh agreements with the Malay rulers to establish a Malayan Union of all the states.

This arrangement would effectively unite the Federated and Unfederated Malay States and the Crown Colonies of Penang and Malacca. Singapore would not feature in this new arrangement.

To secure the agreements, a British mission under former High Commissioner for Palestine Harold MacMichael arrived, and agreements with the Malay rulers were concluded.

Having signed the agreements, the Malay rulers had second thoughts about the new union, and in fact did protest. (See AJ Stokwell, “The Malayan Union Experiment 1942-1948”, pages 52, 53).

There was strong opposition to the Malayan Union, and Onn Jaafar spearheaded the formation of Umno in 1946 with the blessings of Sultan Ibrahim of Johor. Hence, it was commonly acknowledged that Umno was born in the palace.

The opposition to the Malayan Union led to fresh negotiations between the British and the Malay rulers. Umno also took part in those negotiations. The negotiations yielded the 1948 Federation of Malaya Agreement which saw the creation of the Federation of Malaya consisting of the Malay States, and the then colonies of Penang and Malacca.

It could be gathered from the historical evidence that the Umno that was founded in 1946 was to restore the dignity, privileges of the Malay Rulers, and also to protect the Malay community.

However, the events that followed is testimony of the fact Onn Jaafar himself felt that the time had come to change Umno’s image and its political identity. It should not represent Malays alone but all the people of Malaya. He wanted the name “United Malay National Organisation” changed to “United Malayan National Organisation”. 

The Tunku Abdul Rahman factor in Umno would not accept this, and Onn Jaafar left Umno to form a multi-racial political party.

In 1988, the Umno of 1946 was given a judicial burial as the court found it as a fact that it was an unlawful society due to the existence of non-registered Umno branches. Thus, the 1946 Umno ceased to exist. (See Mohd. Noor bin Othman & Ors v Mohd Yusof Jaafar & Ors [1988] 2 MLJ 128).

With the Umno of 1946 having lost its legality as a political party, Umno Baru was founded and swiftly registered. And its birthplace was Kuala Lumpur. It had no link with Umno 1946, except it took over all the assets of the old Umno.

Therefore, it must be remembered that there is a world of difference between the Umno of 1946 and Umno Baru. The struggle of Umno 1946 was against the British; the policy of Umno Baru was to re-affirm the new economic order for the Malays.

In the light of aforementioned events, it cannot be said that the present Umno Baru was born in the palace.

Aside from that, it would be prudent not to give credence to such a claim as it could mislead the innocent people, for they may mistakenly believe that this Umno Baru has the support of the rulers.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.