Abdul Razak bin Hussein (1922-1976), the second prime minister of Malaysia, held the post from 1970 to 1976. He succeeded Abdul Rahman. Abdul Razak was deputy prime minister under Abdul Rahman when the Federation of Malaya became independent in 1957. He also held a number of other posts, including minister of defense. In 1959, he became minister of rural development. In this position, he emphasized the goal of ridding the country of rural poverty.
After the racial riot between the Malays and the Chinese on May 13, 1969, Razak was appointed director of operations for 22 months under the proclamation of emergency. The emergency ended in 1971, and parliament resumed. Razak took a number of important measures to unite the country. He formed a national front from the different political parties to reduce political conflict. He also introduced a new economic policy to reduce imbalance between racial groups. He played an important part in forming the rukunegara (the national ideology).
Abdul Razak was born on March 11, 1922, in Pekan, Pahang. He was educated at the Malay College in Kuala Kangsar, Perak, and later at Raffles College in Singapore. In 1947, he began to study law in the United Kingdom, where he became a barrister (a lawyer who can argue cases in all British courts). While in the United Kingdom, he became a close friend of Abdul Rahman, and they served together as officials of a Malay student organization.
After he returned from his studies in the United Kingdom in 1950, Razak became active in politics and the independence movement. In 1951, he was elected deputy president of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO). He entered parliament in 1955 and was immediately appointed minister of education. In 1956, a committee of education under his chairmanship produced the Razak Report on Education, which became an important document for the development of a national education system. Razak died on Jan. 14, 1976, in London. In 2009, his oldest son, Najib Razak, became prime minister of Malaysia.
See also Najib Razak.
