obituary
M K Rajakumar 1931 - 2008
by Tan Jing Quee
|
obituary
M K Rajakumar 1931 - 2008 by Tan Jing Quee |
| M K RAJAKUMARr, a prominent left wing political leader in Malaysia and former chairman of the Selangor division of labour party Malaya died on 22th November after a brief illness. He was 76. Rajakumar, as he was affectionately known, was born in the historic west coast town of Malacca where he grew up and had his early education. After completing his secondary education at the Malacca high school he entered the medical faculty of the newly established University of Malaya which was then located in the British Crown Colony of Singapore. Singapore was a hectic hub of student and trade union movements after the Second World War. In June 1948, the British had declared an "Emergency" throughout Peninsula Malaya and Singapore in a determined military attempt to defeat the armed resistance against British rule led by the Malayan communist party. Many other left wing political parties were outlawed or dissolved including the Malay Nationalist Party (MNP) and the Malayan Democratic Union (MDU) both of which had been formed in Singapore immediately after the end of the 2nd World war. Under the "Emergency" the British had suspended all civil liberties and political activities were severely curbed. Against this background however, student and trade union movements began to remerge in the early 1950's to claim whatever limited space they were permitted to function.In February 1953 Rajakumar and many students gathered together to organise the University Socialist Club (USC) and to publish its monthly organ, Farjar. The journal published trenchant articles and criticisms against British polices and to support the growing movement for independence for Malaya including Singapore. In May 1954 the eight men editorial board of Farjar including Rajakumar, Poh Soo Kai, James Puthucheary and P. Arudsothy were arrested and charged for sedition. The USC organise a Farjar defence fund to garnish support for the Farjar eight. For the defence, they instructed the well-known Queen's Counsel, D. N. Pritt who was assisted by a newly returned and ambitious local lawyer Lee Kuan Yew. The Farjar eight were subsequently acquitted and discharged without their defence being called. Upon his graduation Rajakumar returned to Kuala Lumpur to begin his professional career as a doctor. He joined the Labour Party of Malaya and eventually rose to become the chairman of his Selangor division and became one of the leading figures of the Socialist Front when this was constituted following the merger of the Labour Party and the Partai Raayat in 1958. That was the age when Dr Tan Chee Koon, |
| Ishak Mohamed,
V David and Karam Singh shared the headlines. In the early 1960's the
socialist front campaigned actively against British sponsored Malaysian
plan ostensibly to unite the disparate political units of the
federation of Malaya, the self government state of Singapore, the
protectorate of Brunei and the colonies of North Borneo and Sarawak. A
socialist conference was convened at Kuala Lumpur towards the end of
1961 comprising the left wing political parties and organisation of all
the five territories to oppose the Malaysia plan and to demand self
determination as a basis for any future constitutional advance for the
peoples of the various political units. Repressive actions were taken by the British, Malayan and Singapore governments to defeat and frustrate the opposition against Malaysia which was forcefully established on the 16th of September 1963 despite widespread opposition. Brunei however decided to withdraw from entry into the newly constituted Federation of Malaysia. Extensive repressive actions were carried out against the left wing political parties and organisations in Malaya, Singapore and Sarawak. Rajakumar was arrested in 1965. He was to remain as a political prisoner until 1967. Following his release he returned to his medical practise. By then the political climate for any credible opposition no longer existed. The Socialist Front was dissolved and deregistered and ceased to be a political force in the country. With political activity virtually banned, Rajakumar the doctor became an eminent and widely respected physician. He was President of the Malaysian Medical Association from 1979-80, President of the Malaysian Scientific Assocation from 1981-83 and President of the World Organisation of National Colleges, Academies and Academic Associations of Family Physicians from 1986-89. But he will be remembered as an outstanding intellectual who contributed in various ways towards the creation and evolution of a more tolerant, multi-ethnic and the more equal society based on social justice. His input and influence on the whole generation of Malaysian political leaders and academics were invaluable in the movement towards such a society. He would be sorely missed not only by members of his immediate family but also by many of his friends and all those who were privileged to have known him and appreciated the breath of his intellect and his genuine concern for the poor and the under privileged. He belonged to that rare breed of intellectuals who have chosen to give up a life of comfort and luxuries towards a wider cause of elevating poverty and to realise a new social order base on social justice and inequality for everyone in the country and the land he loved.# |
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Galeri Seni Mutiara Exhibitions of works by artists both young and old, regulars as well as first timers at Armenian Street Curator: Koay Soo Kau |
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CLICK Hands off the Bar In Search of Gold Khor Seow Hooi Letters from Pulau Tikus M K Rajakumar Malayan Democratic Socialism MNP & Dato Onn Ng Kim Heoh Strange Irons Visiting Tanjong |
| _____________________ The Penang File Issue 63 |