by
K. Siladass
The oft-expressed statement that UMNO (United Malay
National Organisation) was born in the palace, or precisely in JohoreBahru
palace, must be examined very carefully, and in the 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. Thisarrangement would effectively unite the Federated and
Unfederated Malay States and the Crown Colonies of Penang and Malacca.
Singapore will notfeature in this new arrangement. To secure the agreements a
British Mission under Sir 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 A.J.Stokwell,
[The Malayan Union Experiment 1942-1948], pages 52, 53). There was strongopposition
to Malayan Union, and Dato Onn Jaafar, spearheaded the formation of UMNO in
1946, with the blessings of Sultan Ibrahim of Johore, hence it was commonly
acknowledged that UMNO was born in the palace. The opposition to Malayan Union
led to fresh negotiations between the British and the Malay Rulers. UMNO also took
part in that negotiations. The negotiations yielded the 1948 Federation of
Malaya Agreement which saw the creation of Federation of Malaya consisting of
the Malay States, the then Colonies of Penang and Malacca.
It could be gathered from the historical evidence that
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 Dato Onn 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 Dato Onn left
UMNO to form a multi-racial political party.
In 1988, 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 MohdYusofJaafar&Ors [1988] 2 MLJ 128).
The UMNO of 1946 having lost its legality as a
political party, UMNO Baru was founded and swiftly registered. And its birth
place was Kuala Lumpur. It had no link with UMNO 1946, except it took over all
the assetsof 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 new economic
order for the Malays.
In the light of the events aforementioned, it cannot
be said that the present UMNOBaru was born in the palace. Aside 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.
