- 5 months ago
- #thefutureisfemale
In 1957, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj declared Malaya free from British colonial rule. Six years later, in 1963, he stood once again at the heart of history, shaping the birth of a new nation: Malaysia. His love for the country was profound and unwavering, and in this episode of #TheFutureIsFemale Melisa Idris speaks with Tunku’s granddaughter, Datin Sri Sharifah Menyalara Hussein, affectionately known as Lara. She is the CEO and Founder of M+C Saatchi Malaysia, and a Trustee of Yayasan Tunku Abdul Rahman.
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00:00Hello and good evening I'm Melissa Idris. Welcome to The Future is Female. This is the show where
00:16we find the extraordinary in every woman. In 1957 Tunggu Abdurrahman Putra Al-Hajj declared
00:23Malaya free from British colonial rule. Six years later, in 1963, he stood once again at the heart
00:31of history, shaping the birth of a new nation, Malaysia. His love for the country was profound
00:39and unwavering and tonight on the show we reflect on his life and ideals through the eyes of his
00:47granddaughter, Datin Sri Sharifah Manilara Husin, who is more affectionately known as Lara Husin.
00:54She's the CEO and founder of MNC Saatchi Malaysia and a trustee of Yayasan Tunggu Abdurrahman.
01:01Welcome to the show. Welcome back to the show, I might add. Thank you Melissa. It's been a few years.
01:06It's nice to be here. I think the first time you were on the show was many years ago when we were
01:12talking about your work, about founding the advertising firm MNC Saatchi. But today I want
01:18to talk a little bit about your grandfather and in light of Merdeka, it's the Merdeka period.
01:25I am curious to know how the day resonates with you because Tunggu Abdurrahman, his story is not
01:31just your story as a Malaysian but your story, your family's story. What does the day, Merdeka Day,
01:38stir for you personally? And also maybe in your family, do you reflect on Tunggu's role each year?
01:49Well, I mean, thank you very much for inviting me again. It's nice to see you. Merdeka is obviously a
01:55very, very special time because not only is it a celebration of our independence, you know,
02:01the birth of our country, but it's also synonymous with Tunggu. And because of that,
02:07it's a time that we reflect. We reflect on, you know, his achievements, his struggles, we reflect on
02:13him. And, you know, it's a time where, you know, we sort of remember him. I mean, we remember him all
02:20the time, of course, but I mean, Merdeka is extra special. It's almost like his birthday.
02:24Yeah, well, he's so, he's such a, I think it's really hard to not think about him. And that
02:32figure of him with the right hand raised, isn't it? It's wonderful. So maybe before we
02:38begin, Lara, if I may get you to help me understand. So your mother, the late Tunggu
02:45Khadija was Tunggu Rahman's eldest daughter. Eldest daughter. Maybe you can help us understand the
02:52family picture for those of us who may not be familiar. Help us understand the family picture
02:56a little better where you sit in it. Okay, so my mom, my late mother is Tunggu's eldest daughter,
03:02Tunggu Khadija. And I am the youngest of three girls. And Tunggu also had a son. And so we're eight
03:12grandchildren. Wow. Okay. And did you spend a lot of time with him? I did. As a child. I mean,
03:17during my whole life, my whole period, my lifetime, I would say the early years I stayed at the
03:24residency, you know, which is where the memorial is now. And in my sort of younger days from say
03:31until I was about four, I lived with him at the residency. And the residency was just a wonderful
03:38place where, you know, he loved children. So there were children everywhere, you know, all his staffs,
03:44kids and everything. And everyone was made up of different races from different backgrounds. And so
03:49I grew up like mixing. It was like a microcosm of little Malaysia. Yeah. And we grew up like just
03:55mixing with them. And there were no differences, no boundaries. So I grew up with that framework,
04:02you know, that mindset. And I honestly don't have any sort of preconceived kind of ideas about any kind
04:11of boundaries or anything like that. I've read so many stories about the residency and how it was
04:16so multicultural and children everywhere and stuff was like family and all that everyone knew
04:24everybody's names. I feel like Tunku lived how he wanted the country to be. Yes. When you remember
04:32him, what, what do you remember the most? What was some of the most kind of vivid memories you have of
04:38him? Well, Tunku was a really, he was a very, a very warm, very kind, very compassionate family man,
04:47even though he was extremely busy during that time. But he always had, he always made time for family.
04:52So when I was a little girl, he would come and pick me up, you know, on his way back. And,
04:56you know, there were days when I was very disappointed when he didn't turn up, you know,
05:00things like that. And then, you know, over the years, I grew up overseas. When I came back,
05:06I lived with him again in Jalan Tunku. And, and he wanted all everybody to live with him. So he built
05:14little houses for us at the same compound. And until we got, you know, until we sort of led up,
05:20moved on with our life. Um, and I, he wanted to keep everybody together. And I attended,
05:27you know, a lot of events with him. And I think what's interesting is we, we share this, a lot of
05:32the same interests and same passion, like horses, um, you know, and he loved horses, he loved sports.
05:39So we share all of that in common. And, um, you know, a lot of activities that he enjoyed doing,
05:46except cooking. He's a very good cook. Oh, he is. Yes, but I'm not. Oh,
05:52Oh, that's it. I didn't know that about Tunku. He enjoyed cooking. He would go into the kitchen
05:56and cook himself. Did your mother tell you any stories about him? He, she must, um, have had a unique
06:03perspective as Tunku's eldest daughter. Yeah. So my mother actually inherited a lot of his cooking
06:08skills because my mother is a fantastic cook. In fact, she, she, uh, produced a book called Tunku's
06:14recipes. Oh, what was the, what was the family favorite to always have at gatherings? Well,
06:21there's a, you see, the thing is he's quite, he's quite a bit, quite a Western in his, in his taste,
06:26but traditional as well. Ah. So he, he was a very famous for his Yorkshire, his roast beef
06:32and Yorkshire pudding. Oh, that's not easy to make. That's the English one. And then of
06:36course the, the, the Malay Kedah kind of Northern food would be all his fish curry. He's very good
06:42at his fish curry, which my mother also learned. Do you find it difficult to separate the man
06:47you knew him to be at home versus the, this towering icon of a statesman that we know, or that
06:56as you see when you see depictions of Tunku in the public? Not really, you know, because
07:02how he is, he's, he's very seamless in that sense because what you see at home or what you
07:07see in his, in his demeanor as a family man is what you see outside because what he, he's
07:15like, that's him. There's no pretension. You know, he's very much a people person, very
07:22much, very much close to the people. And so what you see is how he is outside as well.
07:29So for say the young, younger folks, the younger generation who only know of Tunku as a name
07:37in textbooks, a name on the kind of street or on buildings, how would you describe him
07:43as a man? If you were to tell say a person watching today, who Tunku is, how would you
07:49describe him?
07:50I'd say that he, I mean, he's a very compassionate, that's, there are many, many stories of his
07:56compassion. Very, very caring, very kind-hearted, loved people, very much a people person. He
08:04had very strong principles, quite a traditionalist, but yet Western in his, in his views of the
08:13world. So he was, he had that very diverse thinking, which was quite interesting because
08:20at the one hand, he's very traditional, but on the other hand, very Western, very liberal
08:24minded as well. Very empowering of women and women's potential and growth and lots of stories
08:31about that. And I think he's just a very funny person as well.
08:35A funny person?
08:36Very, very funny, very, lots of sense of humour, very sharp.
08:40I have to say, so there was a book that was an anthology, if I may, that was written about
08:47Tunku. So an anthology of recollections and stories, anecdotes about Tunku, written by the
08:54people who knew him and who had a story to tell about him. And when I read this book, I
09:00have to say, I learned so much about him that I didn't know before. I learned about his humanity.
09:08He talked about the compassion. There was a story about him giving his umbrella to an
09:14older woman in the pouring rain. And this was that, this was before he even became anybody,
09:21a person, Chief Minister Malay at the time, and he gave away his umbrella so he would sit
09:26in the pouring rain. You talked about his, what he had done for gender equality to uplift
09:36women. He swore in the first senators in Dewanegara. And I think at that point, even the UK didn't
09:43have women in the upper house. Yes. He had a first cabinet woman minister. And he also helped
09:52to provide equal pay for women teachers. There was a story about that by the late Datuk Bupalan.
09:59I thought that was quite interesting because he wanted to say no, but he didn't know how
10:03to say no. He didn't know how to say no, but he still fought for it. And I think he was a man
10:08of his word when he said, this wasn't the right time, but I will fight for it. And he never
10:14forgot that. And he did fight for it. And the stories here are so human. It made him human
10:22to me. And particularly, I was really moved by the story of him wanting to lay his brother
10:31to rest on Malayan soil, I think at the time, and fighting to bring the body of his brother back
10:38from Bangkok to be buried in Malaya. So that was really lovely. 60 years he waited to do that.
10:45Yes, I know. And it was a very touching story. And I have to say there was one characteristic
10:52about Tunku that I didn't realize how careful he was with the people's money. He was quite a frugal man.
11:00Yeah, yeah, that's right. I mean, he was because he was very, very, he was not a big spender.
11:07And he always felt that we shouldn't, we don't need to spend beyond our means because it's not necessary.
11:13So we actually grew up with that also. Did you learn? Like very anti-materialism, you know, very, very real.
11:22It also tracks with what you're saying that he valued the people in his life, the experiences,
11:30the relationships over the material. Yes, because he didn't think it was necessary.
11:35But that's during his time, right? It is a different time. So we grew up thinking,
11:39oh, but we still need to survive. Did you learn anything about the man when you were putting this
11:46together or when you were rereading it, for instance, over the years? Yes, I mean, there was a lot of nice,
11:52of course, there's a common thread, right, that you see with all the articles. And that is all about his
11:59humor, his compassion, his generosity. It all came through in different perspectives. And you get,
12:05you know, ex-leaders, ex-ministers, you get journalists. He had a huge empathy for journalists,
12:12right? He was always very welcoming. And there's a particular story that I wanted to highlight,
12:18which is about this, that freelance photojournalist called Kim Gui, who was in prison in Burma.
12:27Then he was deported back to Malaysia. And out of the blue, he, somebody told him,
12:32why don't you just ask Tunku? And Tunku had retired already. So you wouldn't have thought
12:36about connecting with Tunku to get any help. But Tunku helped him to get his passport back,
12:42which allowed him to rebuild his career, which would not have happened. And you would have thought
12:48like, you know, he was, he felt like in his article, he said, I'm a nobody, but Tunku reached out to me.
12:53And I thought that's very touching. It was. I think it was the, Tunku saw the person, each individual person to help.
13:01And it was never about overlooking anyone. He really was a champion of, of the everyday man, I would say.
13:08When you think about how passionate Tunku was in fighting for those values that he lived and he espoused,
13:19this unity and diversity that he really embodied in the residency,
13:25do you think we have stayed true to that vision of, of nationhood?
13:30Has that stood the test of time, you think?
13:32I think that, yes, I think that, well, Tunku stood for democracy. And I think he saw diversity as a strength
13:38rather than a difference for us. And I think he laid the foundation upon which our country continued
13:46on his legacy. And I like to believe that it is still very, very relevant. I believe it is.
13:56And I like to think that it will be continued forever and ever, because it is something that is
14:03truly what makes us so different as a country. Right. And I just want to say that it is so relevant.
14:11It's so inspiring. His, his, his principles of unity, diversity, justice for all, you know,
14:18things like that. And I, I think we had an event recently, well, about a couple of months ago,
14:23where we celebrated his birthday and we were very fortunate that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim came
14:28and he made a speech and he said, you know, that Tunku's principles will live on for a long, long time.
14:36And that the, it, the principles of unity, diversity, integrity forms the basis of his Madani government.
14:44And I, I was very touched by that actually, because I hope that PMX will continue on and fight,
14:51you know, Tunku's struggles.
14:53I, I, I hope so too. Do you think there are, like his leadership, Tunku's leadership style
15:00needs to be, there needs to be a reminder of Tunku's leadership style. Some of the things that Tunku did
15:07back then maybe could be relevant in today's setting for today's leaders as well.
15:14Yeah, I think Tunku had a, a very unique style of leadership, right? Because he was a very good
15:18negotiator. Yes. Without being aggressive. I mean, he was a very, he was assertive, he was empathetic
15:25and firm. And I think those styles of leadership, that sense of empathy, I think that should be
15:31hopefully, you know, some, something that we could emulate and perhaps embody his, his, his way
15:39of, of, of approach, his, his leadership style, I think. And also, he was also very caring, very kind.
15:49And I think that, that type of leader perhaps, you know, is, is, is very...
15:55I wonder whether now those values are seen to be weaknesses, right? Soft, soft, soft,
16:00almost seen as a weakness. You can't show yourself to be too kind or too empathetic because it means
16:07a weakness in some way. I know, but I mean, I think that's the, that's the thing, right? Because
16:11that's his, he was that, he was that type of leader in his time. And perhaps now, you know,
16:16the environment needs you to be, you know, taking on a different approach. But I think the fundamentals
16:21are the same, right? I, I was good to read this book again, um, in preparation for the interview with
16:28you. Just as a Malaysian, I feel sometimes surrounded by news that can be quite overwhelming
16:35or negative about the state of our country. And this is a reminder about the founding principles.
16:41And I appreciated the reminder that this is what we're fighting for. And this is, this is
16:47the vision of what we want our, our nation to be. Um, and on that note, the note of continuing,
16:54continuing his legacy. Yaya Santungkab Rahman is, um, you're a trustee of the foundation and the
17:00foundation has worked so hard to make sure that generations after will remember Tunku and
17:08his, and live his legacy. That's right. Can you talk to me a little bit about the foundation
17:12and what its mission is, what it sets out to achieve? Yes. So the Yayasan Tunku Foundation
17:18is actually a foundation, a scholarship education foundation that was set up many, many years ago
17:23in the sixties actually. Wow. Yeah. And it's an act of parliament. It's an endowment fund. Um, we are
17:30actually part of the ministry of unity, the Yayasan Tunku. The chairman is the minister of unity. He, he chairs,
17:38he chairs the foundation. Um, but the foundation has done a lot of work and our mission is really to provide
17:47access of it for education to everyone, to all deserving young people in order for them to be
17:55empowered with skills, with, you know, leadership development, um, skills to be employable. And,
18:04and I think the beauty of the foundation or the good thing about the foundation is that it really provides
18:10equality for all. Um, and we want, you know, want to make it as an inclusive. Right. And, uh, yeah,
18:20and I think it's been really, really successful because we've been able to raise quite a lot of
18:25funding and we've got a lot of partners as well. Can you give me some examples? Um, what, um, how,
18:32how does the trust, the foundation translate something cause values into its initiatives? I think, well,
18:39there's a couple of things. So we have, uh, a lot of programs, right. From, from the young primary
18:44school, like closing the gap program to the actual scholarship. And then we have a future ready
18:49program. So we've got a lot of programs in place and the, the team's doing a great job on that. And
18:54I think each scholar lives and understands his principles and they do a lot of community projects.
19:01So the ideas that they give back. So we actually fund their community projects. So everybody
19:08is in task to do a community project. So it could range from anything, from agriculture,
19:13biodiversity, you know, education, anything. And everybody, every scholar has to do a community
19:18project. So that's all about giving back. Yeah. Giving, I think giving back and service service
19:26was really part of Tunku's ethos. His, he held to that principle. It was about serving the nation. It's
19:32bigger than himself. There was a quote in this book that I love so much. And he said,
19:35he, he said he's terrible at politics, but all he wants to do is govern, govern and administration
19:41for the people. Yeah. And that really, I thought that's the kind of leader I would be proud to throw
19:47my support behind. Yeah. Because he said actually that leadership is not about power. It's about
19:52service. It's about service. For, as I said, for, for those of us who remember Tunku with nostalgia,
19:58um, and have had a glimpse at his humanity, um, there are many others, especially the younger ones
20:05who may not be so familiar with Tunku's legacy. Um, in fact, you know, it's Tunku of Roman is a name
20:11printed in black or white. How would you like them to be clued in to remember Tunku to keep his story
20:18alive for future generations? Well, we try to do as much as possible in order to, you know, ensure
20:25that the young generation know about him. Apart from textbooks, as you say, you know, we're relying
20:30a lot on the government, of course, as the big institution, the memorial, I think it's, that's the
20:36house of where you can actually see everything about him from his, his belongings to his books,
20:43to his writings. Everything is housed in the memorial. Um, and, and of course, uh, there's a lot
20:51of, uh, programs that we're also doing. For example, we want to be able to, you know, manifest his story
20:59through a documentary perhaps, or through some kind of another book maybe. So these are the things that
21:05we're slowly kind of wanting to develop because we want to keep the story alive and we want to ensure
21:11that everybody knows about him and that the narrative keeps continuing. Well, I hope that's
21:17the case. If you were to share a piece of wisdom that maybe your grandfather imparted to you and
21:23your family that you think, well, maybe I'll share it with the rest of Malaysia, the future generation,
21:29what would it be? Is there anything you'd like to share? I think that we need to embrace our differences
21:35and appreciate who we are. The diversity of our country is just so beautiful. And I hope that
21:44every single Malaysian can live through those principles of diversity and unity because there's
21:54nothing more beautiful than being different from each other, but yet united with the same purpose.
21:59Laura, thank you so much for being here with me on the show, bringing your grandfather with us this
22:06Merdeka Day. Thank you. Thank you so much for inviting me. Yeah. That's all the time we have for you on
22:10this episode of The Future is Female. I'm Melissa Idris signing off for the evening. Thank you so much for
22:16watching and good night. Happy Merdeka Day.
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