Dato' Seri Harun bin Haji Idris (22 December 1925 – 19 October 2003) was a Malaysian politician. He was born in Selangor, Malaysia. He worked as a field officer with the publicity department until 1948, when he was appointed District Officer for Gemas and Tampin, in the Malay Administrative Service.
In March 1964, having won the State Assembly seat for Morib, Selangor,[1] Dato Seri Harun was elected to the Umno Supreme Council and served as Selangor Umno liaison chief from 1964 to 1976. From 1964 to 1976, Dato Seri Harun was appointed the eighth Chief Minister of Selangor,[1] after Datuk Abu Bakar Baginda and he was the longest serving Chief Minister of Selangor, holding office for exactly 12 years, until his resignation in April 1976. From the early 1970s until 1976, Harun was the Head of Umno Youth and Supreme Council member. He was then expelled from UMNO and charged with corruption by the government, due to his abuse of state funds.[2]
What was he famous for?
Harun's career was marred by the May 13 racial riots, which had been triggered by a political rally held at his residence in the national capital of Kuala Lumpur. Harun, who was perceived as a proponent of ketuanan Melayu (Malay supremacy, although this exact phrase was not in use at the time), had seen UMNO suffer several losses in the Selangor State Assembly due to the 1969 general election. After the opposition held a victory rally, UMNO leaders called for a retaliatory rally to be held on May 13 to "teach the Chinese a lesson". The discipline of party members soon broke down, and the rally turned into a riot which lasted two days and cost at least 180 lives.
Harun's role in the riot is not exactly clear. Although the rally was to be held at his house and then parade around the town, it has been claimed by some — including a member of the opposition in the state assembly and Parliament at the time — that Harun was too pre-occupied with trying to form a new state government to have given much thought to the rally, although it is not denied that he approved it. It has also been claimed that during the riot, Harun sheltered some Chinese who had been forced into the mosque he attended by the rioters.[3] There are also accusations that the Malays who gathered at his house were supplied with knives and machetes.
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Nota Penulis:
Karier politik Dato Harun habis dicantas pada zaman Tun Razak. Alasannya mudah, Dato Harun telah menyalahguna tabung Bank Rakyat semasa menganjurkan perlawanan boxing diantara Muhammad Ali dan Joe Bugner di Stadium Negara, June 1975.
Tapi yang sebenarnya adalah kerana pada zaman itu populariti Dato Harun melebihi dari Tun Razak, Ketua Pemuda la katakan. Tun Razak suruh resign cara hormat pegi keluar negara tak nak. Melawan. Tak lama lepas tu Tun Razak pun arwah - 1976.
Para pembaca budiman, kerja cantas mencantas dalam sejarah politik 'Melayu Moden' bukan baru, dari dulu lagi dah ade. Kita je tak tahu. Dan sejarah berulang. Dahsyat beb!
To Penulis...
BalasPadamI heard a lot about Dato' Haron. He was the famous YB among all on that time. My mom was in TanjungLai Garden (Betoi ka ejaan?) and she said that on May 13th was the time people were searching the shelter to save their lives...