Dato Onn’ Jaafar

Yesterday, Tun Mahatir called us to “Remember the Tunku’s work”. No doubt, Tunku Abdul Rahman, the man who we call “Bapa Kemerdekaan” has indeed brought independence to our country.

However, when I was studying the Malaysia’s history back in Form 3, it was Dato Onn’ Jaafar that had catches my attention. He was the founder of UMNO. He was the one who sees that the vision of uniting the three majority races could free us from the colonial.

In 1950, Dato Onn has insisted to open the party to non-Malays, but to no avail. Thus, he left UMNO and formed another party (I don’t remember its name) which consists of Malay, Chinese and Indian believing that his dream will come to pass.

I tried to find online biography of Dato’ Onn Jaafar, but could only find a few. The best I could I get is this (a summary of the Book called “Imbasan peristiwa-peristiwa sebelum merdeka” ):

Dato’ Onn Jaafar was a central figure in this glorious struggle. He was the first Malay leader to be accepted by all the Malays of the Peninsular. It was no mean achievement, for the Malays in those days felt greater loyalty to their states and their rulers than to their race. But Dato’ Onn Jaafar succeeded in making them shed their narrow parochialism. This is the greatest achievement of Dato’ Onn apart of course from his success in preventing the British from expropriating the land of the Malays as they did the land of the Palestinians. Dato’ Onn helped save this country from the fate of Palestine. And so this book is important reading for those wanting to know the man who at the darkest hour of the Malays and this country, emerged to unite the Malays and galvanise them to fight one of those thoughtless schemes of the European colonialists, which could result in endless tragic wars and sufferings.

Dato’ Onn Jaafar is one of the historical figures I truly admire. I hope Malaysians will also remember him in the reflection of the Independence Day.