Hussein Onn

Hussein Onn, (born Feb. 12, 1922, Johore Bharu, Malaya—died May 28, 1990, Daly City, Calif., U.S.) was a Malaysian politician and prime minister (1976–81) of a multiracial coalition government.

During World War II Hussein fought with the Indian army and with the British forces that in 1945 freed Malaya from Japanese occupation. In 1946 he joined his politician father Onn Bin Jaafar in forming the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) to further Malay interests in the struggle for independence, but he quit when his father’s multiracial policies were rejected by the party. Hussein studied at Lincoln’s Inn in London, and, after he was called to the bar (1960), he returned to Malaysia to practice law. He rejoined UMNO (1968), was elected to Parliament (1969), and was appointed education minister (1970) and deputy prime minister (1973).

As prime minister, beginning in 1976, Hussein presided over a generally peaceful coalition with Chinese and Indian parties, despite ongoing racial tensions and trouble with communist insurgents. He also strongly opposed the immigration of Vietnamese refugees to Malaysia, strengthened Malaysia’s role in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and worked to bring Brunei into ASEAN. When heart problems forced him to resign in 1981 he named Datuk Seri Mahathir bin Mohamad as his successor, but in 1988 he supported a rival group’s challenge to Mahathir.