Raja Uda
1st Governor of Penang
In office
30 August 1957  30 August 1967
Chief MinisterWong Pow Nee
Preceded byOffice Established
Succeeded bySyed Sheh Shahabudin
2nd and 4th Menteri Besar of Selangor
In office
September 1954  August 1955
MonarchHisamuddin Alam Shah
Preceded byOthman bin Muhammad
Succeeded byAbdul Aziz bin Abdul Majid
In office
July 1949  March 1953
MonarchHisamuddin Alam Shah
Preceded byHamzah bin Abdullah
Succeeded byOthman bin Muhammad
Personal details
Born
Raja Uda bin Raja Muhammad

1894
Kuala Langat, Selangor, Federated Malay States, British Malaya (now Malaysia)
Died17 October 1976(1976-10-17) (aged 81–82)
Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Resting placeKlang Royal Mausoleum, Selangor
Political partyIndependent; UMNO-aligned
Spouse(s)Raja Maslamah binti Raja Busu
Tengku Badariah binti Al-Marhum Sultan Alaeddin Sulaiman Shah
Tengku Nor Saadah binti Al-Marhum Sultan Alaeddin Sulaiman
Parents
  • His Highness Raja Muhammad bin YM Raja Usman bin YM Raja Umar bin YM Raja Busu Hassan ibni Almarhum DYTM Raja Muda Nala ibni Almarhum DYMM Sultan Salehuddin (father)
  • Her Highness Raja Embut Long binti Raja Barkat (mother)
ResidenceSeri Mutiara
ProfessionPolitician

Raja Tun Sir Haji Uda ibni Almarhum Raja Muhammad SMN KBE CMG DUPN (1894 – 17 October 1976) was a Malaysian statesman during the country's struggle for independence and its early years of nationhood. He was a civil servant under the British colonial administration, and eventually rose to important administrative positions within the government. Upon the independence of Malaya in 1957, he became the first Yang di-Pertua Negeri (Governor) of Penang, one of the four states in Malaysia without a hereditary ruler.

Raja Uda was also the grandfather of Malaysian political blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin.

Biography

Raja Uda was a member of the Selangor royal family, being a distant cousin of Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah and a direct descendant of the first Sultan of Selangor. He married Sultan Hisamuddin's sister, Tengku Badariah binti Sultan Alaeddin Sulaiman Shah.[1]

Educated at the Malay College Kuala Kangsar. Raja Uda joined the colonial government service in 1910 at age 16. In 1939, he was appointed as secretary to the British Resident of Selangor. He was Menteri Besar of Selangor twice, from 1949 to 1953, and again from 1954 to 1955. In between, Raja Uda served as Malayan High Commissioner in the United Kingdom. He was involved in negotiations with the British to establish the Member System in the 1950s.[2]

In 1951, Raja Uda was appointed a CMG and appointed an Honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1953,. Following the first ever general election in 1955, Raja Uda was appointed Speaker of the Federal Legislative Council.

On August 30, 1957, the day before independence, Raja Uda was appointed the first Governor of the state of Penang and served for ten years.

Raja Tun Uda died on October 17, 1976, and he was buried at the Selangor royal mausoleum near Sultan Sulaiman Mosque in Klang, Selangor.

Legacy

Several projects and institutions were named after him, including:

Streets

Honours

Honour of Penang

Foreign Honours

Notes

  1. Raja Sir Tun Uda Al Haj Bin Raja Muhammad: Family Tree
  2. Bab 5: Pembinaan Negara Bangsa yang Merdeka (in Malay). Textbook notes. Accessed June 3, 2010
  3. decorations of Penang : Order of the Defender of State founded in 01/08/1967
  4. "Senarai Penuh Penerima Darjah Kebesaran, Bintang dan Pingat Persekutuan Tahun 1958" (PDF).
  5. "CORONATION MEDALS FOR MALAYA". Morning Tribune. 26 May 1937. p. 23.
  6. "No. 39104". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1951. p. 5.
  7. "No. 39863". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 June 1953. p. 2973.

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.