Onn Jaafar

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

In this Malay name, there is no surname or family name. The name Jaafar is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by their given name, Onn. The word "bin" or "binti"/"binte" means 'son of' or 'daughter of', respectively.
Kuala Terengganu Selatan
In office
11 September 1959 – 19 January 1962
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byIsmail Kassim
Personal details
Born
Onn bin Jaafar

12 February 1895
Bukit Gambir, Johor Bahru, Johor
Died19 January 1962(1962-01-19) (aged 66)
Johor Bahru, Johor, Federation of Malaya (now Malaysia)
Resting placeMahmoodiah Royal Mausoleum
Political party
Spouses
  • Rafeah Abdullah
  • Jamilah Osman
  • Che Kah
  • Halimah Hussein
Relations
ChildrenHussein Onn
Parents

Rural Industrial Development Authority
(RIDA).

His son is

UMNO politician, Hishammuddin Hussein, and his great-grandson is Onn Hafiz Ghazi, the current Member of the Johor State Legislative Assembly for Layang-Layang and 19th Menteri Besar of Johor
.

Early years

Onn's father was

concubine by the Ottoman court to the sultan of Johor.[1][2] His mother was married three times and the last time was with his father. As Onn Jaafar's family had close relations with the Johor palace, Sultan Ibrahim treated him as an adopted son. He started his education in a Malay school in Johor Bahru. In 1904, he went to England to attend Aldeburgh Lodge School, a private school in Suffolk, with the then Tunku Mahkota of Johor until 1910. He excelled in sports and captained the school's cricket and football teams.[3]

He returned to Malaya and was enrolled at the Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK) where he studied there for two years from 1910 to 1911. According to biographer Ramlah Adam, one of the main reasons for him to enroll at MCKK was the need to improve his Malay language proficiency that had weakened considerably following his time in England.[3]

After graduating from MCKK, he worked as a trainee clerk at the Johor Government Secretary office and was made a permanent clerk a year later. He served in this capacity in several departments before joining the

Johor Military Forces in 1917 with the rank of lieutenant. Two years later, he rejoined the civil service. Soon later, he found himself in trouble with the Johor palace after expressing his unhappiness over the sale of his family's ancestral home. The royal palace did not take the issue kindly and terminated his service in June 1920. He rejoined the service again in 1921 as an Assistant Collector of Land Revenue.[3]

Malay nationalism and politics

Malays. Some of Onn's articles were critical of Sultan Ibrahim's policies, which led to strained personal relations with the Sultan. In particular, Sultan Ibrahim expelled Onn from Johor in 1927 after he published an article in the Sunday Mirror, a Singapore-based English tabloid, which criticised the Sultan's poor treatment of the Johor Military Forces personnel and the welfare of the Orang Asli. He went into exile in Singapore and became the editor of a Malay paper, Warta Malaya, in 1930. Over the next six years, he edited four other newspapers including Lembaga Malaya, Warta Ahad and Lembaga. Onn became very popular after he continued to cover issues on Malay grievances, and Sultan Ibrahim invited Onn to return to Johor in 1936.[3]

Following the Japanese occupation of Malaya in 1941, Onn was drafted into the administrative system and served as a food controller in Johor.

Along with his companions,

UMNO
's president on 1 May 1946.

Malayan Union

The

Johor state constitution
which explicitly forbade any foreign powers to assume legitimate control over the state. In early February 1946, seven political dissidents led by Awang bin Hassan organised a rally to protest against the Sultan's decision for signing the treaties, and Onn Jaafar, who was then serving as a district officer in
Batu Pahat, was invited to attend the rally.[5] The rally was held on 1 February 1946 at the Sultan Abu Bakar State Mosque, and protesters shouted nationalistic slogans and called for the dethronement of Sultan Ibrahim
. Malay nationalistic slogans were raised during the rally, many of whom were directed against the Sultan himself, whom they accused him for committing treason against the Malay race by signing the treaties.

News of the rally reached the Sultan Ibrahim on 22 February, who was then residing at Grosvenor House in London. Sultan Ibrahim approached the colonial office and expressed his withdrawal of support for the proposal scheme, but this did not appease the political dissidents and Onn continued to organise more rallies in the other Malay states to muster further support for his calls against the Malayan Union, and formed United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) in May.[6]

To appease the Malays and the UMNO leaders, including Onn himself,

UMNO and Onn was appointed the Menteri Besar of Johor in 1946.[7]

The establishment of the

Sultan Ibrahim
, who was not accustomed to working with Chinese businessmen.

UMNO and the state. Onn chose to the former, and resigned as the Menteri Besar of Johor in May.[9]

Leaving UMNO

Onn became increasingly disillusioned and disgusted with what he considered to be

Kuala Terengganu Selatan seat in the Malayan parliament in the 1959 elections under his new party.[10]

Neither party gained popular support against Tunku Abdul Rahman's new Alliance coalition and he was eventually eclipsed in Malayan political life.

Death

Dato' Onn died at the age of 66, on 19 January 1962 at the Officers' Ward, General Hospital, Johor Bahru.[11] He was buried next to his father's grave, Dato' Jaafar Haji Muhammad at the Mahmoodiah Royal Mausoleum in Johor Bahru.

Dato' Onn's tomb at the Mahmoodiah Royal Mausoleum, Johor Bahru.

Awards and recognitions

Places named after him

Several places were named after him, including:

Honours

Honours of Malaysia

Foreign Honours

In popular culture

References

  1. doi:10.12658/human.society.5.9.M0116
    .
  2. ^ "Taking root, branching out". The Star Online. 1 April 2007. Archived from the original on 4 August 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d Aristocrat who spoke his mind Archived 4 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine. 18 June 2007. The Star.
  4. ^ Bayly, Harper, Forgotten wars: Freedom and Revolution in Southeast Asia, pg 133-4
  5. ^ Bayly, Harper, Forgotten wars: Freedom and Revolution in Southeast Asia, pg 211
  6. ^ Bayly, Harper, Forgotten wars: Freedom and Revolution in Southeast Asia, pg 211-2
  7. ^ Bayly, Harper, Forgotten wars: Freedom and Revolution in Southeast Asia, pg 361
  8. ^ Bayly, Harper, Forgotten wars: Freedom and Revolution in Southeast Asia, pg 502-3
  9. ^ Ong, One Man's Will: A Portrait of Dato' Sir Onn bin Ja'afar, pg 184
  10. ^ Wong Chin Huat (17 August 2007). "Splits in Umno and Opposition unity". The Sun. Retrieved 29 September 2021 – via Malaysian Bar.
  11. OCLC 53896919
    .
  12. ^ Santhananaban, M. (16 April 2021). "LETTER | Putrajaya must honour Onn Jaafar". Malaysiakini. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  13. OCLC 53896919
    .
  14. ^ "STATE HONOUR FOR LADY IBRAHIM". The Singapore Free Press. 17 September 1947. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  15. OCLC 870691698.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link
    )
  16. ^ "Perak honours six with posthumous awards". The Star. 28 November 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  17. ^ "No. 39863". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 May 1953. p. 2973.

Further reading

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