Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah
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Tan Sri The Malay language has a complex system of styles, titles and honorifics which are used extensively in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the southern Philippines. Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and several provinces in Indonesia regul ...
Tengku Razaleigh bin Tengku Mohd Hamzah ( Jawi: تڠکو غزالي بن تڠکو محمد حمزة; born 13 April 1937) is a
Malaysian Malaysian may refer to: * Something from or related to Malaysia, a country in Southeast Asia * Malaysian Malay, a dialect of Malay language spoken mainly in Malaysia * Malaysian people, people who are identified with the country of Malaysia regard ...
politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...
who served as the
Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
(MP) for Gua Musang from August 1986 to November 2022 and for Ulu Kelantan from August 1974 to August 1986. He is the longest-serving MP by serving from 1974 to 2022 for 48 years. He is sometimes referred to as the ''Father of Malaysian Economic Development'' for playing a pivotal role in establishing and implementing key foundations and policies in Malaysian economy. A descendant of Malay royalty, he is a great-uncle of the current
Sultan of Kelantan The Sultan of Kelantan () is the constitutional head of Kelantan state in Malaysia. The executive power of the state is vested in him as the monarch of the state. The current sultan, Muhammad V, is the 29th Sultan of Kelantan. He is the Head of ...
,
Sultan Muhammad V Sultan Muhammad V ( Jawi: ; born 6 October 1969) has reigned as the 29th Sultan of Kelantan since September 2010 and served as the 15th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia from December 2016 until his abdication in January 2019. He was proclaimed ...
. He was the
Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
(1976–1984), Minister of International Trade and Industry (1984–1987), former chairman of
Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966, which is headquartered in the Ortigas Center located in the city of Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. The bank also maintains 31 field offic ...
, former chairman of
Islamic Development Bank The Islamic Development Bank ( ar, البنك الإسلامي للتنمية, abbreviated as IsDB) is a multilateral development finance institution that is focused on Islamic finance for infrastructure development and located in Jeddah, Saudi ...
, founding Chairman and Chief Executive of Malaysian oil company, PETRONAS, and chairman of the 33rd Board of Governors of the
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...
and IMF. He is now the longest serving MP in Malaysia. His popularity has earned him nicknames such as "The People's Prince" and ''"Ku Kita"'' (Our Tengku). He is affectionately known as Ku Li, derived from the last syllables of Tengku Razaleigh; a common custom in the Kelantan dialect.


Early life and education

Razaleigh was born on 13 April 1937 in
Kota Bharu Kota Bharu, colloquially referred to as KB, is a town in Malaysia that serves as the state capital and royal seat of Kelantan. It is situated in the northeastern part of Peninsular Malaysia and lies near the mouth of the Kelantan River. The ...
to Tengku Sri Maharaja Tengku Muhammad Hamzah Ibni Almarhum Raja Dewa Tengku Zainal Abidin, who was once the
Menteri Besar of Kelantan The Menteri Besar of Kelantan or Chief Minister of Kelantan is the head of government in the Malaysian state of Kelantan. According to convention, the Menteri Besar is the leader of the majority party or largest coalition party of the Kelantan St ...
. Razaleigh was educated at English-medium schools and attended Sultan Ismail College before moving on to the
Malay College Kuala Kangsar The Malay College Kuala Kangsar (abbreviated MCKK; ; ) is a premier residential school in Malaysia. It is an elite all-boys and all- Malay school in the royal town of Kuala Kangsar, Perak. It is sometimes dubbed "the Eton College of the East". ...
(MCKK). He left MCKK disliking the boarding school environment there, and transferred to Anderson School in Ipoh, Perak. He received a Bachelor of Science in economics from the Queen's University of Belfast in 1959 and later pursued a law degree at Lincoln's Inn. However, upon his father's death, he was forced to return and never continued his studies.Tan, Chee Khoon & Vasil, Raj (ed., 1984). ''Without Fear or Favour'', p. 45. Eastern Universities Press. . Razaleigh took over the family business, and then joined the
United Malays National Organisation The United Malays National Organisation ( Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest continuous national political party within Malaysia (since its ...
(UMNO).


Involvement in Malaysia's economic development

Starting from the mid-1960s, with the support of then Prime Ministers
Tunku Abdul Rahman Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah ( ms, ‏تونكو عبد الرحمن ڤوترا الحاج ابن سلطان عبد الحميد حليم شاه, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 8 Febru ...
and
Tun Abdul Razak Tun Haji Abdul Razak bin Dato' Hussein ( ms, عبد الرزاق بن حسين, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 11 March 1922 – 14 January 1976) was a Malaysian lawyer and politician who served as the 2nd Prime Minister of Malaysia ...
, several initiatives were launched to increase Malaysia's economic growth. Being a favourite of both leaders, Razaleigh was hand-picked to fulfill many of these initiatives. This included major corporate takeovers of foreign conglomerates and industries which were previously foreign-owned.


Bank Bumiputra Malaysia Berhad

On 4 June 1965, ''"Kongres Ekonomi Bumiputra"'' (Bumiputra Economic Congress), sponsored by the Ministry of National and Rural Development, was held in Kuala Lumpur for 3 days to generate an interest among Malays and other local indigenous groups to participate in commerce and industry. Seven working committees were formed to achieve these objectives.
Tun Abdul Razak Tun Haji Abdul Razak bin Dato' Hussein ( ms, عبد الرزاق بن حسين, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 11 March 1922 – 14 January 1976) was a Malaysian lawyer and politician who served as the 2nd Prime Minister of Malaysia ...
, the then deputy prime minister of Malaysia, announced that the Government had agreed to form a local Bank ("Bank Bumiputra") as recommended by the Economic Congress based on a majority of the 69 resolutions passed in the meeting. The Bank, with its initial capital to be provided by the Malaysian Government, would be established. The bank's ownership would ultimately be sold to the public through shares. On 15 July 1965, Abdul Razak announced the Government's decision to provide $5 million as the initial capital for Bank Bumiputra. He stated that the bank's main function was to assist rural businessmen in the form of loans. Bank Bumiputra Malaysia Berhad was formally launched by Tun Abdul Razak on 1 October 1965 with authorised capital of $25 million, instead of the $5 million announced earlier. The senior management was headed by Mohd Raslan bin Dato' Abdullah as managing director and Tengku Razaleigh as executive director. The other board members include S.O.K. Ubaidulla (president of the United Chamber of Commerce), L.E Osman, K. Mushir Ariff, Wan Yahya bin Haji Mohamad, K.D. Eu and Kuok Hock Nien. The general manager of the bank was Wong Aun Pui, a prominent local banker with 20 years of experience and director of many rubber and palm oil companies. In 1999, Bank Bumiputra was merged into Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings (which is the listed vehicle for
CIMB CIMB Group Holdings Berhad () is a Malaysian universal bank headquartered in Kuala Lumpur and operating in high growth economies in ASEAN. CIMB Group is an indigenous ASEAN investment bank. CIMB has a wide retail branch network with 1,080 bran ...
Group).


Perbadanan Nasional Berhad (PERNAS)

PERNAS (Perbadanan Nasional Berhad or National Corporation) was set up in November 1969 as a wholly owned government company to carry out the resolutions at the Second Bumiputera Economic Congress. Among the major shareholders were the Ministry of Finance, Bank Negara Malaysia (The Central Bank of Malaysia) and Bank Bumiputera Malaysia Berhad. Pernas was put under a solid footing under the chairmanship of Razaleigh (1970–1974). In view of the very low participation of Bumiputeras in the private sector and industries at the time, PERNAS' principles were to: * enter undertakings which would bring high economic returns, * enter into joint ventures where PERNAS was to be the majority shareholder with controlling interest over operations, * employ Bumiputeras at all levels of operations and undertakings. To achieve its objectives, many subsidiaries were subsequently set up. The first of which was Malaysia National Insurance Berhad (MNI), which was established in April 1970. This was followed with Pernas Construction Sdn Bhd, Pernas Engineering Sdn Bhd, and Pernas Securities Sdn Bhd. In 1973, Pernas Mining Sdn Bhd was set up and in the following year, Pernas Edar Sdn Bhd. Razaleigh became involved in what became known as the Haw Par imbroglio of the mid-1970s, working in concert with the Singapore-based Haw Par Brothers International Ltd, then one of the subsidiaries under the control of British wheeler-dealer Jim Slater, to acquire control of the British-owned tin conglomerate known as the London Tin Company, and the plantations conglomerate
Sime Darby Sime Darby Berhad () is a Malaysian trading conglomerate. Its core businesses operate and serve in the industrial, motors and logistics sectors as well as the healthcare, and insurance segments. Background The modern Sime Darby Berhad corpo ...
. This was to be achieved through a web of transactions in which both would end up in the control of PERNAS. Things came to a standstill when Singapore accused Haw Par of financial irregularities and later jailed a senior executive. But this proved a short-lived setback for Razaleigh. Within two years, he enlisted the help of the merchant bank Rothschild – which was also a part owner of Bumiputera Merchant Bankers – to engage in a share and proxy battle to wrest Sime Darby from British control and shift its headquarters to Kuala Lumpur. Control of the London Tin Company soon followed. In 1979, another takeover attempt was made to achieve control of Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd, when Malaysian money made a "dawn raid" on the plantation giant; this helped to kickstart a "domino effect" which sealed the fates of most other foreign owned plantations. Among the major corporate takeover exercise and formation of new businesses during Razaleigh's stewardship as Pernas chairman were * Insurance – Malaysia National Insurance Bhd, * Banking – Maybank Bhd, * Mining – the then-largest tin mining company in the world, London Tin Company, which was later renamed MMC Corporation Berhad. * Palm Oil and Rubber Producer –
Sime Darby Sime Darby Berhad () is a Malaysian trading conglomerate. Its core businesses operate and serve in the industrial, motors and logistics sectors as well as the healthcare, and insurance segments. Background The modern Sime Darby Berhad corpo ...
, Guthrie Berhad, Highlands & Lowlands Berhad. In 1971, Razaleigh led a trade delegation to China to initiate a prospect of a business relationship. During the visit to China, Razaleigh was granted a meeting with China's then Premier
Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 January 1976. Zhou served under Chairman Ma ...
. In 1971, total trade with China stood at a mere RM105.6 million. By 1980, this ballooned to RM1.6 billion. Since then, the contact between the two countries has steadily increased.


Fleet Holdings

Fleet Holdings was created to reduce UMNO's financial dependence on non-Malay supporters, such as Chinese businessmen, and to break the foreign hold over Malaysia's media companies. The Youth division of UMNO had protested strongly about foreign control over the Malaysian publishing media and passed a resolution requesting the then Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak, to obtain control of the publishing company, the Straits Times Press. As a result, Fleet Holdings Sdn Bhd was formed in 1972 by Razaleigh as the Treasurer of UMNO on the instructions of Tun Abdul Razak. This company was started with Razaleigh's own money and its purpose was to take control of the local media not just in the form of capital, but in management terms as well. In the year that it commenced operations, Fleet Holdings paid RM32 million to control 80% of Straits Times Press (later renamed
New Straits Times Press The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad (NSTP) is a Malaysian conglomerate of publishing companies, owned by Media Prima. The NSTP publishes several newspapers, including the ''New Straits Times'', ''Berita Harian'' and ''Harian Metro''. His ...
). After its successful venture in media, Fleet Holdings expanded into other fields, including banking, car rental, leasing, communications, filming, insurance, and others. When Razaleigh gave up control of the company in 1983, total asset value of Fleet Holdings stood at more than RM500 million with liabilities amounting to only RM56 million. By 1987 however, liabilities exceeded RM448 million and the company was struggling to service its monthly interest payments of RM3 million. Fleet Holdings became the subject of a bitter dispute between Mahathir and Razaleigh before the UMNO party's split. Through Fleet Group, UMNO held substantial stakes in Bursa Malaysia listed companies, including The New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd, Time Engineering Bhd (now known a
Dagang NeXchange Bhd
, Bank of Commerce Bhd, Commerce International Merchant Bankers Bhd (both banks later subsumed into
CIMB CIMB Group Holdings Berhad () is a Malaysian universal bank headquartered in Kuala Lumpur and operating in high growth economies in ASEAN. CIMB Group is an indigenous ASEAN investment bank. CIMB has a wide retail branch network with 1,080 bran ...
Group) and Faber Group Bhd (now known as
UEM Edgenta UEM Edgenta Berhad (, “UEM Edgenta”) is a Malaysian total asset business. Listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad with market capitalisation of RM2.3 billion as at 30 August 2017, UEM Edgenta provides consultancy prima ...
). Many of the assets have since been sold to government investment companies and other investors.


Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS)

Due to a dispute between the Sarawak Chief Minister
Abdul Rahman Ya'kub Tun Datuk Patinggi Haji Abdul Rahman bin Ya'kub ( ms, عبدالرحمن بن يعقوب, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 3 January 1928 – 9 January 2015) was a Malaysian politician of Melanau descent from Mukah. He was the third C ...
and his nephew Abdul Taib Mahmud (at the time the Federal Natural Resources Minister) over oil rights, then Prime Minister Abdul Razak dispatched Razaleigh to visit Rahman at the latter's private residence. Razaleigh suggested the formation of a company instead of a statutory body where the former would distribute profits equally between the Federal and the State governments. Rahman was agreeable to this proposal. Upon Razaleigh's return to Kuala Lumpur, the Prime Minister tasked him with drafting, in secret, the Petroleum Development Act to be completed before the
1974 Malaysian general election General elections were held in Malaysia between Saturday, 24 August and Saturday, 14 September 1974.Nohlen ''et al''., p152 Voting took place in all 154 parliamentary constituencies of Malaysia, each electing one Member of Parliament to the Dew ...
. Rahman was in regular contact with Razaleigh to ask for updates about the terms offered by the Federal government. Razaleigh told Rahman about the abolishment of the concessions system and that 5% of oil revenues will be redirected back to the respective oil-producing States as royalty payments. A similar amount would go to the Federal government. Rahman considered this a fair deal and gave his blessings. While all other oil-producing States in Malaysia signed the petroleum agreement, Tun Mustapha, the chief minister of
Sabah Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory o ...
, stubbornly refused, complaining of the meagre 5% oil royalty. Mustapha requested for 10-20% of revenue as royalty, failing which he would pull Sabah out of Malaysia. However, Razaleigh refused to budge. This left the Malaysian Federal government with no choice but to make another deal with
Harris Salleh Harris bin Mohd Salleh (born 4 November 1930) is a Malaysian politician who served as the 6th Chief Minister of Sabah from June 1976 to April 1985. During his tenure, he controversially ceded the island of Labuan, which used to be part of stat ...
(who was out of favour with Tun Mustapha) to establish the political party Parti Bersatu Rakyat Jelata Sabah (BERJAYA) and try to oust Mustapha out of power. However, Harris was reluctant to become the Chief Minister of Sabah and so
Fuad Stephens Muhammad Fuad Stephens, (born Donald Aloysius Marmaduke Stephens; 14 September 1920 – 6 June 1976) was a Malaysian politician who served as the 1st and 5th Chief Minister of Sabah from September 1963 to December 1964 and again briefly from ...
was asked to assume the post of Chief Minister were BERJAYA to succeed. In the 1976 Sabah State elections, Tun Mustapha was successfully ousted by BERJAYA and Stephens was installed as Chief Minister in his place. Unfortunately, Stephens did not complete his term as he, along with five other State Ministers, died in the 1976 air crash. Harris replaced Stephens, and a week later, the oil agreement was signed. With Sabah entering into the agreement, PETRONAS had finally achieved total control of all oil and gas reserves in Malaysia. In 1974, the Petroleum Development Act was tabled in Parliament and then approved. PETRONAS (Petroliam Nasional Berhad) was incorporated on 17 August 1974. On 6 September 1974, Prime Minister Abdul Razak announced the appointment of Razaleigh as Chairman and Chief Executive of PETRONAS. Razak said:'' "From among the new blood, I intended to bring Tengku Razaleigh into the Cabinet. However, I have an important job for him, a job as important as that of a Cabinet Minister. I have decided to appoint him as chairman and Chief Executive of PETRONAS, which is equivalent to being a Cabinet Minister."'' Subsequently, Razaleigh had to relinquish his job as Chairman of PERNAS which he held from 1970, but retained the chairmanship of Bank Bumiputra. Initially, Exxon and
Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...
refused to surrender their concessions and negotiate with PETRONAS. Owing to this tough stance, Razaleigh served a notice to all foreign oil companies that after 1 April 1975, they would be operating illegally in Malaysian waters if they do not start negotiating with PETRONAS. After many months of discussions, foreign oil companies surrendered their concessions to PETRONAS.


Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB)

The company was founded on 17 March 1978 based on an idea from Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, as an instrument of the Government's New Economic Policy to promote share ownership among the Bumiputera, and to develop opportunities for deserving Bumiputera professionals to participate in the creation and management of wealth. Today, PNB is a major investor in Bursa Malaysia, investing nearly 10% of the market capitalisation of the bourse, across most major Malaysian corporations and also actively contributing towards the nation's human capital development through scholarships and employment opportunities.


Setting up banking firms and other institutions

He also set up Bank Pembangunan Malaysia and founded and established both
Bank Islam Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad (Jawi script, Jawi: بڠك اسلام مليسيا برحد) is an Islamic bank based in Malaysia that has been in operation since July 1983. Bank Islam was established primarily to assist the financial needs of the c ...
and Syarikat Takaful, an insurance company run in accordance with Syariah principles. Institute of Marketing Malaysia (IMM) was founded by Razaleigh in 1977 and he became the institute's first Patron.


Malaysian & Asean Chamber of Commerce

Razaleigh was President of the Malay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Malaysian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and consequently the President of the ASEAN Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He played a major role in the strategic restructuring of the Malaysian economy. The Malaysian Chamber of Commerce acknowledged his expertise in the petroleum business and once called him the "Malaysian Oil Prince." In the 1975 Malaysian Chamber of Commerce resolution, Razaleigh was named "Father of Malaysian Economic Development."


Political career


Joining UMNO

As the former president of the Malayan Students Union in London and the secretary of the Malay Society in Britain, Razaleigh has been in politics since the early 60s. He formally joined UMNO in 1962 and was unanimously elected the chairman of UMNO's Ulu Kelantan Division at its annual general meeting. He had returned to Malaya earlier that year to attend his father's funeral. A few months later, Razaleigh was chosen to be a part of Malaya's delegation to the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
for the 17th Session of the U.N. General Assembly in 1962. The leader of the delegation was
Ismail Abdul Rahman Tun Dr. Ismail bin Abdul Rahman ( ms, إسماعيل بن عبدالرحمن, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 4 November 1915 – 2 August 1973) was a Malaysian politician who served as the second Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia from ...
, the then Minister of Internal Security.
Tunku Abdul Rahman Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah ( ms, ‏تونكو عبد الرحمن ڤوترا الحاج ابن سلطان عبد الحميد حليم شاه, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 8 Febru ...
was a very close friend of Razaleigh's father as they shared similar backgrounds, both were from Royal houses. This closeness is also the result of their involvement in politics and their struggle for Malaya's independence. The Tunku saw leadership potential in Razaleigh and after Razaleigh's father had passed on, the Tunku sought to have him compete for a seat on the UMNO ticket. However, Razaleigh resisted the offers presented to him as he wanted to focus on his fledgling business career. This came to a head several years later when Razaleigh finally gave in after he had learned from various quarters that the Tunku had lost patience with him for stalling. He competed in the 1969 general election and won
Kelantan State Legislative Assembly The Kelantan State Legislative Assembly ( ms, Dewan Undangan Negeri Kelantan) is the unicameral state legislature of the Malaysian state of Kelantan. It consists of 45 members representing single-member constituencies throughout the state. Elec ...
seat of Ulu Kelantan Barat. In 1971, he was elected to the UMNO Supreme Council. Besides
Musa Hitam Tun Musa bin Hitam ( Jawi: موسى بن هيتم; born 18 April 1934) is a Malaysian politician who was Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 1986, serving under Mahathir Mohamad. He was the chairman of Sime Darby Berhad. Early lif ...
and Prof. Abdul Jalil Hassan, he was among the 7 new faces in the Supreme Council. He was later appointed the Treasurer of
UMNO The United Malays National Organisation ( Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest continuous national political party within Malaysia (since its ...
by then President Abdul Razak Hussein in 1973. In the 1974 general election, Razaleigh won the
Parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...
seat of Ulu Kelantan then (now known as, Gua Musang). In 1975, he secured the second most votes for the Vice President post in the party elections and thus was one of the three VPs elected to serve a three-year term. After Prime Minister Abdul Razak Hussein's sudden death in 1976, Hussein Onn took over the reins and became the new Prime Minister. It is rumoured that a short while after being sworn in as Prime Minister, Hussein asked Razaleigh to be his Deputy, an offer which Razaleigh politely declined, citing his young age and inexperience. Razaleigh instead pointed to Dr. Mahathir, a close friend who was 12 years his senior and who was also serving as one of the three Vice Presidents of UMNO at the time as the other VP was Ghafar Baba, who was not in contention due to his lack of proficiency in English. However, due to Hussein's hesitation to appoint Dr. Mahathir, a personal meeting was convened between the three of them, wherein Dr. Mahathir had agreed to appoint Razaleigh as his Deputy when Hussein eventually steps down. This meeting led to Hussein appointing Dr. Mahathir as Deputy Prime Minister. At the same time, Razaleigh was appointed Finance Minister by Hussein. At the time, Razaleigh had gotten a reputation for being an ultra
nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
due to his hard line stance in the negotiations for PETRONAS' oil rights with the Americans. The uncompromising negotiating position adopted by Razaleigh eventually led the Americans to lobby Hussein for his dismissal from his posts in PETRONAS. However, Hussein had a great relationship with Razaleigh, who not only had great grassroots influence but who also did not take a salary when he was heading PETRONAS, and so the Americans' lobbying efforts proved unsuccessful. Eventually, Razaleigh did relinquish his positions in PETRONAS as he was juggling between many different jobs which prohibited him from focusing on his main role as Finance Minister. Razaleigh's planning is reputed to have been the main reason the
Barisan Nasional The National Front ( ms, Barisan Nasional; abbrev: BN) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1973 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties. It is also the third largest political coalition with 30 ...
(BN) coalition, of which UMNO is a major component, almost totally defeats the opposition Islamic party of
Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party The Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS; ms, Parti Islam Se-Malaysia; ms, ڤرتي إسلام سمليسيا, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset) is an Islamist political party in Malaysia. As the party focused on Islamic fundamentalism, PAS's ...
(PAS) in the 1978 general election and the Kelantan state elections of the same year. In an election where few observers were willing to predict the outcome, a decisive victory for UMNO in Kelantan both at the Federal and State level meant that Razaleigh had solidified his position as one of the foremost political personalities on the national stage. This was reflected in the UMNO elections that year when he garnered the most votes for the Vice President post and was reelected to another three-year term. Razaleigh's strong position led to him being widely tipped to eventually become Prime Minister of Malaysia. In 1981, Hussein resigned as Prime Minister due to ongoing health concerns and Dr. Mahathir succeeded him. Instead of sticking to the original agreement he had made with Razaleigh, Dr. Mahathir declared an election for the Deputy Premiership - to be decided through the results of the UMNO Deputy Presidency. The new Prime Minister announced that he would not endorse any candidate and would be taking a neutral stance. Razaleigh sensed that Dr. Mahathir was averse to having him as his Deputy per their earlier understanding, but welcomed this decision nonetheless. His main quibble being about how this was not in accordance with tradition (Deputy Prime Ministers are usually hand-picked by the Prime Minister). Razaleigh joined the contest, and his main opposition was Musa Hitam. Eventually, Musa won the election with 722 votes to Razaleigh's 517, becoming the new Deputy President of UMNO and leading to his appointment as Deputy Prime Minister. Razaleigh blamed himself for taking "a rather passive stance" and not having a campaign strategy. Meanwhile, Mahathir had maintained Razaleigh as Finance Minister until he was made the Minister of International Trade and Industry in a 1984 cabinet reshuffle.


Exit from UMNO and formation of Semangat 46

Tengku Razaleigh challenged Dr. Mahathir in the 1987 UMNO leadership election, teaming up with former Deputy Prime Minister Musa Hitam, who had in the year prior resigned from Dr. Mahathir's cabinet owing to some conflict with the Prime Minister. Mahathir's then Deputy Prime Minister, Ghafar Baba, contested against Musa for the Deputy Presidency. This led to UMNO being split into two camps, i.e. "Team A" and "Team B" with Dr. Mahathir and Razaleigh as leaders of the respective camps. Dr. Mahathir managed to retain his party president position by a mere 43 votes and Musa lost by 40 votes. It is worth noting that of the two living former Prime Ministers at the time, Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Hussein Onn, both had thrown their support behind Razaleigh. The election was held on a Friday, and coinciding with the Friday prayers, it is alleged that many used this opportunity to "buy" votes from delegates in order to have them cast a vote for their leader. There were many who changed camps at the last minute, including Najib Razak who was then the leader of UMNO's Youth Wing, who ended up endorsing Dr. Mahathir. Najib would come to express regret at his decision 30 years later. It has also been alleged by Razaleigh's camp that while the votes were being counted and Razaleigh was leading, a "black-out" had suddenly occurred whereby the room lost electricity. This was especially curious as the rooms adjacent to where the votes were being counted did not experience the same. After the electric power was back on, Razaleigh's lead was slowly erased and Dr. Mahathir was eventually declared the winner. This left Razaleigh and his Team B supporters unsatisfied. A few Team B leaders had claimed many party delegates were improperly elected. They eventually took UMNO to court and filed suit to overturn the election after finding discrepancies throughout the voting process. The courts found that some of the delegates that voted were ineligible and UMNO was thus declared illegal on technical grounds in 1988. Despite Dr. Mahathir's camp blaming Razaleigh for UMNO being declared an unlawful party although Razaleigh was not among the twelve plaintiffs, he was widely believed to be funding and co-ordinating the suit. The event did not please Mahathir began making heated attacks on the judiciary and it was considered a judicial intervention of the political dispute triggering the
1988 Malaysian constitutional crisis The 1988 Malaysian constitutional crisis (also known as the 1988 judicial crisis) was a series of events that began with United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party elections in 1987 and ended with the suspension and the eventual removal ...
. Mahathir immediately reconstituted UMNO as '' UMNO Baru'' (New UMNO), with only Team A members.Rodan (1996), p. 138 Most of its leaders, however, were selected from Team A of the old UMNO, with Team B ignored. UMNO Baru was later announced the ''de facto'' and ''de jure'' party to succeed its predecessor, the original but 'illegal' UMNO, dropping the 'Baru' suffix and have the old UMNO's assets transferred over too. Razaleigh and his supporters which constituted Team B, had faced difficulties to register as members of Team A's newly formed UMNO Baru. With the personal support of former UMNO prime ministers
Tunku Abdul Rahman Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah ( ms, ‏تونكو عبد الرحمن ڤوترا الحاج ابن سلطان عبد الحميد حليم شاه, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 8 Febru ...
and Hussein Onn, both of whom had also fallen out with Mahathir and unsuccessfully register "UMNO Malaysia", Razaleigh who had also failed registering "UMNO 46" had founded a new political party called Parti Melayu Semangat 46 (S46 or Semangat 46) instead. The number 46 refers to the year the original UMNO was founded. On 3 June 1989, Semangat 46 was officially registered with the electoral college. Among notable leaders that joined Semangat 46 were including Marina Yusoff, Ilyani Ishak, Rais Yatim, Harun Idris,
Suhaimi Kamaruddin Dato' Haji Suhaimi Kamaruddin is a Malaysian politician and a lawyer by profession. He was a former chief of UMNO Youth and a former Deputy Minister in the federal government. He is a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), t ...
, Ahmad Shabery Cheek, Othman Saat,
Salleh Abas Mohamed Salleh bin Abas ( Jawi: محمد صالح بن عباس; ‎25 August 1929 – 16 January 2021) was a Malaysian judge and politician. He was a Lord President of the Federal (then Supreme) Court of Malaysia. He was dismissed from his ...
, Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad, Tengku Azlan Sultan Abu Bakar and Ibrahim Ali. In 1990, Semangat 46 also formed Gagasan Rakyat (GR) and Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah (APU) opposition coalitions. In the 1993 Malaysian constitutional crisis, Razaleigh strongly opposed the amendment for Rulers to be tried at court and their legal immunity be stripped. However, his efforts failed to bear fruit as it did not gain enough support. In 1996, Tengku Razaleigh disbanded
Semangat 46 The Parti Melayu Semangat 46 or ''Spirit of 46 Malay Party (S46)'' is a now defunct Malaysian political party. The party was formed in 1988, and dissolved in 1996. It was formed by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah's "Team B" faction of the United Malays ...
and rejoined UMNO.


Return to UMNO

Tengku Razaleigh return to UMNO as he has discussed earlier with Mahathir after the dissolution of Semangat 46 in 1996. Dr Mahathir dismissed allegations that he brought Razaleigh back to check the influence of Anwar Ibrahim in the party and government. As Anwar was sacked from UMNO in 1998, Mahathir himself brought Razaleigh back into the limelight again in June 1999 by making him the UMNO Kelantan liaison chief, a job the PM had held himself since 1987, Razaleigh could well been Mahathir's heir apparent if he had defeated PAS and won his home state. In 2004, he announced his interest for the UMNO top post yet again but failed to garner enough nominations to contest the presidency. In 2008, Razaleigh had again expressed his interest in becoming Prime Minister, hoping to replace Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. However, his movement also did not get enough traction to seriously contest against Najib Razak for the post. On 22 July 2011, Razaleigh launched a
non-Government Organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...
(NGO),
Angkatan Amanah Merdeka Angkatan Amanah Merdeka ( Malay for "Independence Trust Forces", Abbr.: AMANAH) is a non-government organisation (NGO) founded by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah on 22 July 2011 at the Memorial Tunku Abdul Rahman in Kuala Lumpur. It is founded to repre ...
(Amanah), at Memorial Tunku Abdul Rahman to revive and restore the spirit of Merdeka among Malaysians. The aim of NGO led by Razaleigh himself, along with several other political figures and prominent activists were dubious and some have demanded it transforms to a political party and join the opposition in the coming general election. After the 2018 general election (GE14) which see the downfall of BN federal government and Najib's resignation as President of UMNO, Razaleigh contested the post of party president for a second time in the 2018 UMNO leadership election but lost to former Deputy Prime Minister
Ahmad Zahid Hamidi Dato' Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid bin Hamidi ( ms, أحمد زاهد بن حميدي, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; born 4 January 1953) is a Malaysian politician who has served as the 11th and 14th Deputy Prime Minister from July 2015 t ...
in a three-corner fight along with former Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin. He was made the Chairman of the Advisory Council of UMNO afterwards. Razaleigh somehow had sent the resignation letter from the UMNO post dated 20 September 2021 to the party caretaker President Ahmad Zahid, expressing his dissatisfaction and disappointment of the political cooperation between UMNO and the
Malaysian United Indigenous Party The Malaysian United Indigenous Party ( ms, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia), abbreviated BERSATU or PPBM, is a nationalist political party in Malaysia. The party was preceded by the United Indigenous Association of Malaysia (). It is a major c ...
(BERSATU) in collaborating a failed government.


In popular culture

Razaleigh is one of many Malaysian politicians, celebrities, and other well-known personalities who appear in Pete Teo and Namewee's
public service announcement A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. In the UK, they are generally called a public information film (PIF); in Hong Kong, ...
voter education video , released in 2011. Razaleigh provides a
spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...
introduction to the
rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...
song. In conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the formation of Malaysia, Pete Teo released the video
Hari Malaysia
, featuring many public figures and well-known personalities. Razaleigh was seen sitting next to Lim Kit Siang, another Malaysian prominent political figure, in
Merdeka Stadium The Stadium Merdeka (also known as Merdeka Stadium/; English: Independence Stadium) is a stadium based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is known as the site of the formal declaration of independence of the Federation of Malaya on 31 August 1957. ...
.


Personal life

Razaleigh married his longtime friend, former
Malaysia Airlines Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB; ms, Penerbangan Malaysia Berhad), formerly known as Malaysian Airline System (MAS; ), and branded as Malaysia Airlines, is the flag carrier airline of Malaysia and a member of the Oneworld airline alliance. (Th ...
executive Yvonne Law, an ethnic Chinese, who changed her name to Noor Yvonne Abdullah after her conversion to Islam then. While being out of the limelight and shying away from the public, she was married to him since 9 December 1993. She died on 5 June 2015 due to multiple myeloma, a blood cancer disease she had been suffering from for the previous year.


Election results

Note: 1 On 1 August 1995, the Kota Bharu High Court ordered a fresh election for the Gua Musang Parliamentary Seat after declaring the contest in the 8th General Election held in April the same year earlier null and void. Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah was the incumbent MP.


Honours


Honours of Malaysia

* : ** Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia (PSM) – Tan Sri (1973) * :* ** Recipient of the Royal Family Order of Kelantan or ''Star of Yunus'' (DK) ''(revoked 2 December 2010 and reinstated June 2018) ** ''(revoked 2 December 2010)'' * : ** Grand Knight of the
Order of Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang The Most Illustrious Order of Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang ( Malay: ''Darjah Kebesaran Sultan Ahmad Shah Pahang Yang Amat Di Mulia'') is a knighthood order of the Sultanate of Pahang. History The order was founded by Sultan Ahmad Shah on 24 O ...
(SSAP) – Dato' Sri (1980) * : ** Knight Grand Commander of the
Order of the Crown of Selangor The Most Illustrious Order of the Crown of Selangor (Bahasa Melayu: ''Darjah Kebesaran Mahkota Selangor Yang Amat Mulia'') is an order awarded by Sultan of Selangor as a reward for general services to the sultan and state of Selangor. It was foun ...
(SPMS) – Dato' Seri (1982) Note: * Both awards from Kelantan were rescinded on 2 December 2010. DK was reinstated some time in June 2018. Status of the SPMK award is unknown.


See also

* Ulu Kelantan (federal constituency) *
Gua Musang (federal constituency) Gua Musang is a federal constituency in Gua Musang District, Kelantan, Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen ...
*
1988 Malaysian constitutional crisis The 1988 Malaysian constitutional crisis (also known as the 1988 judicial crisis) was a series of events that began with United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party elections in 1987 and ended with the suspension and the eventual removal ...
* 1993 Malaysian constitutional crisis * Parti Melayu Semangat 46 * Gagasan Rakyat * Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah


Notes and references


Other references

*Kamarudin, Raja Petra (9 November 2005)
"The Anwar Factor"
''Malaysia Today''.


External links


Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah's Official Site
updated with speeches, news, press releases.
Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah's Official Facebook Page
updated with public addresses and events * video archives of speeches, dialogues, Q&A sessions. Also included videos of Malaysia's past prime ministers (Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Hussein Onn's interviews) {{DEFAULTSORT:Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah 1937 births Living people People from Kelantan People from Kota Bharu Malaysian people of Malay descent Malaysian Muslims Royal House of Kelantan Founders of the petroleum industry Malaysian chairpersons of corporations Malaysian political party founders United Malays National Organisation politicians Parti Melayu Semangat 46 politicians Government ministers of Malaysia Finance ministers of Malaysia Members of the Dewan Rakyat Members of the Kelantan State Legislative Assembly Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Commanders of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Crown of Selangor 21st-century Malaysian politicians