Ooi Kee Beng
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 2006
ISBN 13978981230
338 pp RM55.00
Reading Ooi Kee Beng's biography of the late Tun Ismail is akin to
eating at a buffet in a cheap Chinese restaurant. The offering was
generous and you gorged yourself. However, an hour later you were
hungry again; worse you could not even recall what was so special about
the menu. Then it dawned on you that the food tasted good simply
because you were so darn hungry.
With the present pathetic state of leadership in Malaysia, there is a
yearning for the kind of leaders like the late Tun Ismail, men of
strong convictions and who did not hesitate acting on them. Ooi quoted
Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman who bore the wrath of Ismail's anger
over Tunku's sudden policy change towards China. Ismail was so
incensed that he tendered his resignation immediately. You would never
see that kind of bravery among today's leaders; they are more adept at
toadying and ingratiating themselves.
Ooi worked hard for his book, interviewing scores of people and
reviewing many documents locally and abroad. There is no shortage of
quotes and anecdotes from those who knew Ismail, and Ooi added many
details of Tun's life. Therein lies the problem. The essence of the
man gets buried in the avalanche of factoid overload. It does not
enlighten us to know that he was awarded the National Order of Vietnam,
or that he was president of the American Malaysian Society.
Ooi did not have to quote every interview. The book could do without
the many "He was tough, brilliant, blunt, …" type of general comments.
They added nothing and took up valuable space.
Two interviewees, Lee Kuan Yew and Ghaffar Baba, stood out; they
illuminated well Ismail's character. Lee was expounding in his usual
erudite and logical manner on a particular issue. At the end he asked
Ismail what he thought about it, and the Tun simply replied, "I
disagree!" Flabbergasted, Lee asked Ismail for his reasons, at which
point Ismail remarked that since Lee had so brilliantly enumerated all
the salient points there was nothing more for him (Ismail) to add.
That reflected supreme self-confidence. By not trying to "out lawyer"
the lawyerly Lee, Ismail stumped him.
Handling Failure Well
Ismail demonstrated his self-confidence early. He flunked his medical
school in Singapore. Medicine is tough, consequently only the smartest
and well motivated would be attracted. Unfortunately these are also
the types who do not handle failure well.
Ismail was the exception. After being rejected by Hong Kong, he was
accepted and succeeded at Melbourne. He attributed his success there
to the superior teaching, as compared to the obviously sloppy style in
Singapore. Interestingly, Ismail let it be known that he bombed his
anatomy test in Singapore because on the evening before the
examination, he had cut off a man on the cabaret floor. Unfortunately,
that man turned out to be his anatomy instructor!
You have to hand it to Ismail for being on the dance floor instead of
the library or the lab before an important examination!
Ismail spent his student life in Australia fully, venturing well beyond
the campus, again rather atypical. Most Malaysians would rather
congregate among themselves or rush home during vacations. In his
frequent letters to his father, Ismail would note how conscious
Australians were at exercising themselves. He wondered how much better
it would be for Malay girls if they would be similarly involved. Alas,
his observations merely reflected how far detached he was from the
lives of ordinary Malays, being a member of the aristocracy. The girls
and women of my life in the kampong did not have to exercise, they
spent their waking hours hauling water and firewood, as well as toiling
the padi fields.
The second anecdote was from Ghaffar Baba. He had arranged for Ismail
to meet some religious leaders for the purpose of blunting Ismail's
deserved reputation for being aloof as well as to connect him with the
grassroots. At the appointed event, Ismail briskly walked in and
headed straight for the podium and began his speech, and then just as
briskly walked out after he was finished. There was no shaking of
hands, friendly eye contact, or enquiring about the attendees' loved
ones! No, Ismail was not a reluctant politician, more a politically
tone-deaf one. It was remarkable that he was so successful.
Ismail was trained as a physician; we are supposed to be sensitive to
the human side of things, unlike the engineers. No wonder Ismail's
private practice in Johore Baru was, in Ooi's words, "moderately
successful." This at a time when the country was desperately short of
doctors!
Ghaffar Baba and Lee Kuan Yew's observations are the rare gems in this
book. What impresses (or more correctly, intrigues) me is not the long
list of people Ooi interviewed, rather those he did not, most notably
Mahathir. Tawfik, Ismail's son, recalled an unpleasant encounter with
Mahathir when the latter was Prime Minister. As Ooi noted, Ismail was
the one person most opposed to bringing Mahathir back into UMNO's fold.
I would also love to hear what Anwar Ibrahim and Lim Kit Siang have to
say about Ismail. Both bore the brunt of Ismail's toughness, having
been incarcerated under the ISA while Ismail was in charge of it.
Another would be Harun Idris, Selangor's Chief Minister during the May
1969 riot. Ismail wanted him arrested on charges of murder!
Pivotal Player in the Nation's History
Tun Ismail was a pivotal player in the seminal events of the nation's
history, but it would be difficult to discern from this volume what
exactly were his contributions. He talked passionately about improving
the economic plight of Malays, but there was hardly any specificity to
his ideas, at least as can be gleaned from this book. He rightly
forewarned of the dangers of being dependent with unrestrained special
privileges, but again we do not know at what level or passion he
pursued that argument.
The best parts of Ooi's book are the beginning and ending chapters.
The book begins with Ismail's fatal heart attack on August 2, 1973
while he was acting Prime Minister. Ooi describes the chaotic
situation during the medical emergency as well as at the subsequent
state funeral. There was the poignant detail about Tun Razak ordering
the body not be buried, as the intended grave was outside the Heroes
Tomb. With the corpse still on the ground, Tun Razak ordered the army
to dig a new grave right away.
As an aside, the book carries a picture of the soldiers chiseling the
cement floor. To my clinical eye, none were wearing gloves or safety
glasses! As Tun Razak would remark, you can't have anything done right!
Ooi packs many details in his first chapter; consequently he could deal
with them only superficially. A few scream out for amplification. For
example, on the day of his death, Tun Ismail's wife was in the hospital
recovering from an abortion and sterilization procedure. She was not
notified of her husband's death till the next morning.
Having an abortion is not like having your tonsils out; it is
emotionally charged, especially for a Muslim. I would like to know
(from interviewing his widow) whether this was the couple's joint
decision or one where the husband (and in this instance, also the
doctor) knows best. You do not have to be a psychoanalyst to recognize
that how one reacts to stress (especially personal tragedies) can be
very revealing.
Tun Ismail was rightly worried about the future of his many young
children in view of his ill health and limited financial resources. If
economics were the reason for the abortion, that would be troubling.
Only in Russia are the doctors poor. As a physician, I find it
unsettling that a doctor's wife would have an abortion. This was the
1970s when birth control pills were already readily available.
This is a highly sensitive matter, and I am not sure the writer could
handle such a delicate discussion with Ismail's widow. But it would be
highly illuminating.
The last chapter carries an extensive excerpt from Ismail's unpublished
autobiography. The entry was written less than a year before his
death. He was remarkably introspective, unhesitatingly baring himself.
He let it be known how grateful he was that Tun Razak publicly
acknowledged his (Ismail's) many contributions to the nation, and
lamented that the Tunku never once did that to Ismail. Ismail had
passionately and tirelessly defended Tunku, especially in the dark days
following the 1969 riot when many in UMNO vilified Tunku. Ismail was
not all gruff and emotionless after all; he, like all of us, hungered
for and appreciated public praises.
It is clear from the excerpt that Ismail was quite capable of
expressing himself well. He had already written 16 chapters of his
autobiography. This together with all his letters and speeches could
be compiled into a book. I even have a ready title: Tun Ismail In His
Own Words! This great patriot does not need a writer to tell his
story. As the custodian of Ismail's papers, ISEAS needs an editor to
organize and publish them.
While waiting for that, ISEAS could digitize those documents and put
them on the Web to make them readily accessible. ISEAS did not pay for
them, thus it should be willing to put them in the public domain. That
would also be the best way to preserve and archive those documents.
I agree with Ooi that Tun Ismail's legacy has yet to be discovered.
Putting those documents out would be an excellent beginning.
In his will, Ismail specified that these papers not be released until
some thirty years after his death, presumably to protect those for whom
Ismail had some unkind words. I do not find anything harsh or
offensive in this volume except for the observation Ismail had of his
assistant when he was our Ambassador in Washington, DC. Ismail was
greatly relieved when Tuanku Jaafar was transferred out. Of course no
one knew then that he would later be King!
I am surprised that Ismail's papers ended up in Singapore, considering
our prickly relations with that republic. Looked at another way, that
of course is a rousing endorsement of the integrity and professionalism
of ISEAS.
In a recent interview, Tawfik remarked that he tried to interest
Malaysian institutions and academics but there were no takers. This
speaks volumes on the capability of our institutions and the
intellectual curiosity of our scholars. It is an observation worth
emphasizing. Tun Ismail may be buried in the Heroes Tomb, but if he
knew of the terrible downslide of our nation since his death, he would
crawl out of his grave to reprimand those responsible.
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