Tuesday, 04-Feb-2003 7:47 AM

UMNO -- a British running dog

I have a late 1940s black-and-white picture hanging on my living room wall of an UMNO Club’s meeting at Malaya House (later called ‘Malaysia Hall’) in London. In that picture are various personalities like Tunku Abdul Rahman (first Prime Minister of Malaysia), Tun Abdul Razak (second Prime Minister), Tun Dr Ismail, Raja Yaacob, Tan Sri Kadir, and many other Malaysian students who later went on to become Ministers, Governors, judges, corporate chiefs, and so on.

The picture can be regarded as a sort of who’s-who of pre- and post-Merdeka Malaya and, in that same picture, are my father, uncles, and many “Old Boys” of the Malay College Kuala Kangsar. My grandfather was then the Malayan High Commissioner to Britain (also an old boy) who later, when Malaya achieved independence, became the first Governor of Penang.

No study of early Malayan history would be complete without a mention of the Malay College Kuala Kangsar, or better-known as MCKK.

MCKK was founded 98 years ago on 2nd January 1905. It was then called the Malay Residential School and was initiated with a vision and mission to produce a vigorous and intelligent race of young men who would be in touch with modern progress but not out of touch with old traditions.

“...establishing at a suitable locality in the Federated Malay States, a special residential school for education, of Malays of good family and for the training of Malay boys for the branches of the government service ...”

Thus were the words of the British Inspector of Schools for the Federated Malay States, R. J. Wilkinson, during a Rulers Conference (Durbar) in 1903.

Wilkinson’s efforts paved the way for the birth of Kolet, as it is fondly referred to by the old boys of MCKK. Invariably, MCKK was the first residential school in Malaya, and its syllabus would contain the essence of modern education with knowledge of Islam and Malay culture.

Some say MCKK was a secret weapon of the British colonial masters of that time. They realised, one day, they would have to hand this country back to the locals. The British decided that the Chinese would inherit commerce while the Malays, the administration of this country. If they had to hand the administration of this country back to the Malays, reasoned the British, they might as well groom these Malays who would eventually take over.

The British knew their only hope for the future -- in an independent Malaya -- would be if they could deal with cricket-playing, whisky-drinking, English-thinking Malays, rather than with a bunch of ‘religious-minded fanatics’ who would probably kick the British out the first chance they got. And so these cricket-playing, whisky-drinking, English-thinking Malays would need to be groomed, and then sent to England for the final ‘polishing’.

England’s doors were first thrown open to the Malays immediately after the Second World War, and my father was amongst this first group of Malayans who stepped onto England’s shores. Others were the likes of Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Abdul Razak, and many future leaders of Malaya, most of whom received their education in MCKK.

In the beginning, MCKK was only open to the sons of royalty and of the elite; that is, sons of the Datuk Bergelar (titled Datuks) of the various Istana (palaces) all over the country. Then, more and more scholars but sons of the orang kebanyakan ('common people' or proletariat) were let in and the elite crowd dwindled to but a mere fraction of the total intake. Invariably, amongst some of these sons of the masses, were people not too fond of royalty or of the British colonialists.

What the British did not anticipate then was, educating the Malays had its drawbacks. While they were able to mould the minds of these young and impressionable boys to become more English than the Englishmen, education also gave the Malays the power to think. And think they did. And they thought, why allow the British to continue mismanaging this country when the locals can do exactly the same? (And the Malays did eventually take over from the British and screw up the country worse than the British did).

The Japanese occupation also brought new ideas into the heads of the Malays. If the all-mighty and all-powerful British could be defeated by a lesser-power like the Japanese, then the British are not that invincible after all.

1946 was a significant year for Malay nationalism. That was when UMNO was formed. UMNO was merely a collection of many societies, associations and what we would now call NGOs. With it saw the emergence of many independence fighters.

I cannot resist mentioning that many of these early independence fighters like Sir Dato Onn bin Jaffar (Hussein Onn’s father), Dato Abdul Wahab (Dato Panglima Bukit Gantang and one time Menteri Besar of Perak), Dato Laksmana Razali, Tun Aziz bin Abdul Majid (one time Governor of Melaka), Dato Haji Kamaruddin bin Haji Idris (Dato Suhaimi’s father), Tun Abdul Razak (Dato Seri Najib’s father), Raja Sir Tun Uda, Dato Bahaman, Dato Andika Indera, and so on, were mostly old boys of the MCKK.

MCKK had become the seat of Malay nationalism. This was probably the biggest blunder the British ever made in Malaya. If R. J. Wilkinson was still around today, he would probably say, “Give the Malays education, old chap, and they start having VISIONS!”

Ironically, the father of all visions (Vision 2020), Dr Mahathir, did not get his education at MCKK. Maybe that is why he turned out the way he did. Some say he did try to get into MCKK but was rejected, but this could not be confirmed.

The independence movement had begun and the British knew they could not resist it. But they needed an independence movement they could control. (As they say, if you can’t beat it, join it). And UMNO fit this bill perfectly. While many of the other non-UMNO political dissidents and independence fighters were rounded and up and jailed by the British, the UMNO “fighters” were left unscathed.

Was it a coincidence that the early UMNO leaders were mostly sons of the elite, nobility, and those who had received an education in MCKK and Britain? Certainly not! And Dato Andika Indera (another MCKK Old Boy) related a very interesting story that gave an insight into the British plan for UMNO.

“I was then the ADO (Assistant District Officer) for Dungun (Terengganu),” said Dato Andika. “The DO was, of course, an Englishman.”

“At that time, the UMNO leaders were touring the country to set up branches and campaign for support in the fight for independence. They were due in Kuantan that weekend and the DO suggested that I attend the gathering.” (Today, the FRU and their water cannons would be out in full force and the organizers arrested under ISA for holding an ‘illegal gathering’).

“The DO gave me five days leave so that I could attend the UMNO gathering in Kuantan,” related Dato Andika. “In those days, there were no bridges so it would take a day and a night to travel from Terengganu to Pahang, unlike today where it would take just three hours or so.”

“At first I did not want to go, but the DO convinced me that I should. He explained that I should join UMNO so that Malaya could one day achieve independence. He was not only supportive of the idea, in fact, he even gave me the money to go there.” (Dato Andika later set up the UMNO Dungun Division and became its first division leader).

The British were in full support of UMNO. Not only that, if anyone opposed UMNO, they would be arrested as “anti-British elements”. Clearly, not only was MCKK and a British education aimed at controlling the minds of the future Malayan leaders, but UMNO itself was an “independence movement” that not only received encouragement, but full British backing as well. The British wanted to ensure that the future Malayan political leaders as well as their political party would, as the Chinese say, become British running dogs.

RAJA PETRA KAMARUDIN