Masjid di Singapura

Masjid Omar Kampung Malaka – Singapura

Masjid Omar Kampong Melaka, Singapura (asiaexplorer.com)

Masjid Tertua di Singapura, dibangun pengusaha Palembang

Masjid Omar kampong malaka ini tidaklah terlihat sebagai masjid yang luar biasa di kawasan Keng Cbeow Street, namun inilah masjid yang pertama kali dibangun dan menjadi masjid tertua di Singapura. Terletak di tengah tengah kawasan Singapore River Planning Area, Singapore's central business district dan tentu saja merupakan kawasan jantung kota bisnis Singapura. Berada tak jauh dari Kuil Tan Si Chong Su. Dan sejarah menyebutkan bahwa masjid pertama di Singapura ini dibangun oleh seorang saudagar kaya keturunan Arab asal Palembang (Sumatera Selatan).

Memang sudah sejak dulu Singapura menjadi tempat yang begitu menarik bagi masyarakat Indonesia untuk berniaga disana, seperti disinggung dalam artikel Masjid Sultan Singapura di posting sebelumnya, bahwa para saudagar awal yang berniaga di Singapura adalah para pedagang dari Jawa, Bugis dan suku suku lain Indonesia. Mereka pulalah yang kemudian menorehkan sejarah bagi perkembangan Islam di Singapura.

Menara masjid Omar dibangun tahun 1985

Foto dari flickr

Nama nama seperti Kampung Bugis dan Kampung Jawa yang dulu hanyalah sebuah perkampungan kecil masyarakat indonesia disana, kini sudah berubah menjadi kawasan bisnis modern, meski masih menggunakan nama kampung yang sama, dengan sedikit heritage yang tetap dijaga demi nilai sejarah.

Dan kini setelah hampir dua abad berlalu, singapura masih menjadi salah satu primadona bagi masyarakat Indonesia. Tak mengherankan bila kemudian begitu banyak masyarakat Indonesia yang tinggal ataupun sekedar berkunjung, dan tak juga tidak aneh bila bahasa Indonesia dialek Jakarta yang kental dengan kata “Elu Gue” menjadi salah satu kata yang lumrah terdengar bila sedang berkunjung ke negeri Singa itu.

Alamat dan Lokasi Masjid Omar Kampung Malaka

  

10 Keng Cheow Street

Kampong Malaka

Singapore (059607)

Masjid Omar Kampong Melaka terletak di Clarke Quay Singapore. Clarke Quay merupakan hotspot bagi kehidupan malam hari di Singapura, lengkap dengan klab malam, pub and pusat kuliner yang terdiri dari lebih dari 200 rumah makan sepanjang sungai Singapura. Jadi, tak ada alasan untuk ketinggalan sholat lima waktu karena ketiadaan masjid bila sedang berada di sekitaran lokasi tersebut.

Sejarah Masjid Omar Kampung Malaka

Masjid Omar Kampung Malaka ini didirikan tahun 1820, setahun setelah Stamford Rafless mendarat di Singapura dan 4 tahun sebelum masjid Sultan Singapura dibangun. Masjid ini juga sudah pernah mengalami perbaikan di tahun 1855 dan kemudian tahun 1981 - 1982. pengelolaan masjid tua ini kini ditangani oleh Majelis Ugama Islam SIngapura (MUIS).

Mengambil lokasi di sisi selatan sungai singapura, Masjid Omar Kampung Melaka tepat berada di dalam lingkup Kampung Malaka, daerah yang di khususkan bagi orang melayu oleh Stanford Raffless dalam rencanan tata kota yang dibuatnya tahun 1822. dan hasilnya adalah orang orang Arab, Keturunan Jawa, masyarakat Indonesia lain nya dan orang orang melayu Malaysia pun menetap disana.

fasad depan masjid Omar foto dari muhajirin_galery

Kini kawasan pemukiman muslim tersebut sudah tersapu oleh perkembangan kota Singapura beberapa dekade terahir. Haya menyisakan sedikit jejak masa lalu yang masih bisa dinikmati untuk sekedar bernostalgia ke masa lalu kota Singapura.

Masjid Omar Kampong Melaka dibangun oleh Syed Omar Bin Ali Aljunied seorang saudagar kaya keturuanan Arab yang berasal dari Palembang. Nama beliau yang kemudian di abadikan menjadi nama masjid tertua tersebut. Putra beliau yang bernama Syed Abdullah bin Omar Aljunied yang kemudian membangun lagi masjid tersebut di tahun 1855.

Keluarga Aljunied merupakan salah satu keluarga keturuanan arab yang kaya raya di Singapura ketika itu, termasuk juga keluarga Alkaffs dan Alsagoffs. Mereka termasuk keluarga yang cukup dermawan yang dengan rendah hati turut membangun sekolah, rumah sakit dan masjid termasuk mesponsoru berbagai acara keagamaan. Nama keluarga Aljunied ini selain diabadikan sebagai nama masjid juga di abadikan sebagai nama jalan Aljunied Road di daerah yang juga bernaa Aljunied serta Syed Alwi Road di Serangon.

Interior masjid Omar (foto dari flickr)

Pada awalnya masjid Omar dibangun dengan struktur kayu. Kemudian Syed Abdullah bin Omar Aljunied yang membangun ulang masjid tersebut menggunakan bahan bata di tahun 1855 ketika jalan baru ke kampung Malaka dibangun. Pembangunan tersebut juga untuk menampung jemaah yang sudah semakin meningkat. Dan meski sudah dibangun menggunakan bata, seperti halnya masjid masjid tradisional Indonesia, masjid ini sejak dibangun tidak dilengkapi dengan menara. Barulah pada tahun 1985 dilengkapi dengan menara.

Kini masjid Omar menjadi salah satu masjid yang berada di pusat bisnis terpenting di Singapura. Dengan kapasitas mencapai 1000 jemaah masjid senantiasa terbuka untuk menerima jemaah yang kebanyakan adalah muslim yang bekerja di sekitar area tersebut untuk sholat lima waktu dan sholat jum’at.

Foto Foto Masjid Omar Kampung Malaka

Foto dari wikipedia

Interior masjid omar (foto dari muhajirin_galery)

Interior masjid omar (foto dari muhajirin_galery)

Foto dari wikipedia

Street View Msajid Omar Kampung Malaka

Mahathir bin Mohamad: In the East we are still doing real business, while in the West you are not doing real business.

Mahathir bin Mohamad: In the East we are still doing real business, while in the West you are not doing real business, in the sense of producing goods and providing services. You are dealing mostly in the financial market, which is not doing anything productive. It's just a kind of gambling.


Justin Rowlatt: So, do you think there's something that the West can learn from the way Asia has developed its economies?


Mahathir bin Mohamad: Yeah. Asia was a poor part of the world in the past and we used to live as poor people, and slowly we are building up our wealth and now of course we are much better off. But what I perceive is that Europe now, because of these bubble bursts, you have actually lost a lot of money and therefore you must be poor now relative to the past. And in Asia we live within our means. So when we are poor, we live as poor people. I think that is a lesson that Europe can learn from East Asia.


Justin Rowlatt: Okay. So what do you recommend? What should Europe do?


Mahathir bin Mohamad: I think you should go back to doing what I call real business - producing goods, providing services, trading - not just moving figures in bank books, which is what you are doing.


Justin Rowlatt: Well, I think people who work in the financial sector would argue that they are providing valuable services for business.


Mahathir bin Mohamad: I don't think so. They are just making use and, at times, abusing the system in order to make money for themselves. And as you know, they spin off no jobs, no businesses. For example, trading in currency amounts to about $4 trillion a day, which is the total production of Germany in one year, but whereas in Germany they create jobs and businesses and trading, etc. This currency trading worth $4 trillion does not create any jobs or spin off any business. So it is not a very productive kind of activity.


Justin Rowlatt: Now obviously currency trading has been a big issue for you, hasn't it? I mean you famously pegged the Malaysian currency, didn't you, to stop currency speculators who you thought were damaging the Malaysian economy?


Mahathir bin Mohamad: Well, currency is not a commodity. You sell coffee, coffee can be eaten or can be ground and made into a cup of coffee. But currency, you cannot grind it and make it into anything. It is just figures in the books of the banks and you can trade with figures in the books of banks only. There must be something solid to trade; then you can legitimately make money.


Justin Rowlatt: So what do you think we should do? Do you think we should stop having floating exchange rates?


Mahathir bin Mohamad: Well, floating exchange rate is fine, but it's not just floating by itself. Some people are manipulating it simply by short selling for example. If you keep on selling currencies, as you know, that will depress the price of the currency. And if you keep on buying, it will escalate. So you can take your profit at any time, whether going up or down. That is manipulation. It's not speculation. It's not playing the market at all. You are just managing the market to make money for yourself.


Justin Rowlatt: So what would you recommend that we do? How do we stop this currency trading that you think is so damaging?


Mahathir bin Mohamad: The government should reclaim its position to regulate these things. This idea that the market would regulate itself is quite wrong because the market is about making money, making profits for themselves. They don't care what happens to other people. Impoverished countries like Malaysia, for example, and lots of people suffer. But governments should care and see that these abuses of the system should be solved or regulated.


Justin Rowlatt: You think there should be regulation of currency trading?


Mahathir bin Mohamad: Yes, I believe really that currency trading has no role at all. We would not suffer if we don't have currency trading, but you have to change currency in order to trade. Now that should be allowed. But speculation, pushing up prices, short selling, all these things should stop.


Justin Rowlatt: Okay. So coming back to Europe and Europe's predicaments, how difficult a situation do you think that Europe is in now?


Mahathir bin Mohamad: I think in the first place you are in a state of denial. You refuse to acknowledge that you have lost money and therefore you are poor. And you can't remedy that by printing money. Money is not something that you just print. It must be backed by something, either good economy or gold. And I think gold is sold in every country. It has a value at any one time. So pegging it to gold will result in currency value being much more steady and easier to do business in fact.


Justin Rowlatt: How long do you think it will take Europe to get out of the problems that it's in at the moment?


Mahathir bin Mohamad: Well, it will take a long time, because to recover your wealth you have to work over many years to rebuild your capacities, to produce goods and services to sell to the world, to compete with the eastern countries.


Justin Rowlatt: So your key message to Europe now is start working hard to rebuild your economies?


Mahathir bin Mohamad: Yes. I think you have paid your workers far too much money for much less work. So, you cannot expect to live at this level of wealth when you are not producing anything that is marketable.


Justin Rowlatt: This is a tough message.


Mahathir bin Mohamad: Yes, it is. We used to get tough messages from you before, remember? And now what is the result. Sometimes you undermined our currency and we became very poor. Well, we learn from each other. We were euro-centric before. I think it should be a little bit Asia-centric now


If any Asian leader can lay claim to some of the foundations his country's economic expansion it is Malaysia's Mahathir bin Mohamad. During his two decades in power he helped transform Malaysia from a sleepy former colony into an economic tiger. Doctor M - as he is known - is a controversial figure though, renowned for his barbed comments aimed at the West.

KALAH PALEMBANG OLEH PELABUR

KALAH PALEMBANG OLEH PELABUR

PERNAHKAH tuan mendengar pepatah diatas?

Kalau tuan sudah mendengarnya adakah tuan faham makna dan maksudnya? Mengapa saya bertanya? Kerana ada orang Melayu menyebutnya tidak seperti diatas. Mereka menggodamnya sebagai Kalah Palembang Oleh Penabur, yang sangat berlainan makna dan maksudnya.

PENABUR ialah sejenis peluru senapang untuk menembak tupai, musang, monyet, keluang dan lain-lain binatang kecil yang sering menyerang durian dikebun.

Sebaliknya PELABUR pula ialah wang ringgit dan sen yang dilaburkan, yang dibelanjakan untuk berbagai-bagai tujuan, tujuan baik atau pun tujuan jahat.

Untuk memahami makna dan maksud diatas: ALAH PALEMBANG OLEH PELABUR , maka kenalah kita tahu sejarah. Mari kita dengar..........

Pada zaman dahulu kala ada sebuah kerajaan Melayu yang besar jajahannya dan kuat pula pertahannannya di alam nusantara. Pusat kerajaan itu ialah PALEMBANG, di selatan Pulau Sumatra, yang dahulunya terkenal juga dengan nama Pulau Perca ataupun Pulau Andalas.

Kata sahibul hikayat, , istana Raja Palembang dibina di atas bukit dan berpagar dengan pelbagai jenis buluh-buluh seperti buluh gading, buluh runcing, buluh betung, buluh berduri dan berbagai lagi termasuk buluh lemang.

Apabila Belanda cuba menyerang, maka askar2 yang mengawal istana tersebut dan beberapa buah mahligai lagi, serta balai-balai dan taman2 yang indah=indah diatas Bukit Seri Palembang itu, telah menggolekkan kayu-kayu bulat ( hari ini dikenali sebagai kayu balak ) kearah askar2 Belanda yang menyerang dari bawah bukit. Mengikut cerita selanjutnya, entahkan dongeng entahkan betul , yang diceritakan hingga sekarang, maka ramailah askar2 Belanda yang menjadi korban balak digelek ( perkataan hari ini digilis ) oleh kayu-kayu bulat yang menggelongsor datang dari atas Bukit Seri Palembang.

Belanda telah mencuba menembak Kota Buluh yang berlapis-lapis itu dengan peluru2 penabur, tetapi tidak berkesan dan memberi sebarang bahaya pun kepada pengawal2 dan hulubalang2 serta pahlawan2 yang taat setia menjaga istana raja mereka, siang dan malam bergilir-gilir berganti-ganti.

Diceritakan juga kononnya - kononnya - pada zaman itulah seluruh negeri Palembang dan jajahan takluknya sangat maju, makmur dan mewah seperti dapat dilihat dalam lipatan sejarah Wan Empok dan Wan Melini yang berhuma menanam padi di hulu Sungai Melayu di daerah Bukit Siguntang Mahamiru yang telah mengeluarkan buahnya emas dan daunnya pula dari bahan logam perak.

Penasihat kerajaan ( sekarang ini di sebut "think tank" ataupun pasukan otak bagus ) Belanda yang bertugas pada masa itu yang berasal dari Ambon, tetapi telah melanjutkan pelajaran di Belanda malah berbinikan perempuan Belanda dan masuk Keristian pula, telah mengesyurkan supaya menukar taktik penyerangan! - menukar strategi dengan menggantikan peluru penabur kepada " peluru pelabur".

" Apa itu peluru pelabur?"tanya Jeneral Belanda yang bermisai lebat berbentuk huruf S yang bertugas mengepung dan menyerang Istana Raja Palembang yang dipagari rapat dengan rumpun buluh yang tebal ( bukan kebal ) itu.

" Itu orang Palembang yang berasal dari rumpun Bangsa Melayu boleh dibeli dengan wang. tuan,"" kata pakar " think tank " dari Ambon itu.

" Oh, dia orang banyak suka dengan wang ringgit, eh?" Tapi macam mana kita boleh taburkan wang ringgit kepada mereka itu, askar2 Melayu yang berkawal di atas bukit sana?". Jeneral Belandan yang bodoh itu meminta nasihat dari penasihatnya yang bijak bistari. " Kita bukannya ada kapal udara" ( orang Sarawak kata "belon" bagi maksud kapalterbang ) , tambah Jeneral itu.

" Itu perkara gampang tuan!. Kata orang Ambon itu, yang pada masa revolusi bangsa Indonesia pada tahun2 40an dulu telah dicemuhi dengan gelaran " Belanda Hitam " ( Gampang ertinya mudah lagi senang ).

" Toh, bagaimana sih?", merungut Jeneral Belanda .

" Kita isi seberapa banyak duit syiling dalam guni2 dan karung2 , dan kita letakkan diatas beberapa ekor kuda padi dan kemudiannya kita halau kuda-kuda itu kearah atas bukit lari memanjat Bukit Istana Raja Palembang itu. Nanti tuan boleh lihat bagaimana kita dengan mudah boleh menawan Istana Raja Palembang itu, kerana duit-duit syiling yang bertabur tercampak kedalam rumpun-rumpun buluh itu akan dicari dan direbut-rebut oleh askar-askar Palembang itu, hinggakan pagar-pagar KOTA BULUH itu roboh dan runtuh.

Demikianlah asal usul pepatah " KALAH PALEMBANG OLEH PELABUR' . Adakah cerita ini cerita dongeng ataupun cerita betul, tidaklah saya tahu. Tetapi satu fakta ( satu kebenaran atau pun hakikat ) ialah orang baka Melayu memang mudah dibeli dengan wang ringgit, emas perak, kayu balak, binatang ternak atau pun gelaran2. Orang2 bukan Melayu yang telah lama di negara ini kebanyakannya sudah pun mengetahui kelemahan ini. Itulah sebabnya zaman sekarang ini ada istilah-istilah ' Ali Baba" dan Kassim Baba". Lesen Kontrektor Kelas F Melayu pun dah banyak yang digunakan oleh kontrektor bukan Melalyu.

Oleh kerana sifat-sifat lemah yang sentiasa ada pada orang Melayu semenjak dahulu kala atau sejak zaman bahari (zaman bahari? - bagi yang bertanya apa maksudnya zaman bahari? - sila rujuk Kamus Dewan ) hingga sekarang , maka terpaksalah dikeluarkan beribu-beribu bintang kebesaran pada tiap-tiap tahun, dan kerana itulah juga kes-kes rasuah banyak melibatkan orang Melayu, lelaki dan perempuan, yang sudah senang; tetapi menganggap diri mereka miskin, kerana belum ada kereta Mercedes, belum ada TV plasma warna, belum ada peti sejuk dan lain-lain benda moden. ( Pesaka PAK SAKO)

Biography on Hassan Al-Banna

Encyclopedia of World Biography on Hassan Al-Banna

An Egyptian religious leader, Hassan Al-Banna (1906-1949) was the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is considered the forerunner of contemporary movements of Islamic revivalism.

Hassan Al-Banna was born in the village of Mahmoudiyya, located northwest of the city of Cairo, to a traditional lower middle-class family. His father was a watch repairer and a teacher at the local mosque school where Al-Banna received his first lessons in Islam.

His religious inclination, activism, charismatic appeal, and leadership potential were evident from an early age. By the time he was 14 years old he had memorized the Koran, the holy book of Islam, and while still in secondary school he began to organize committees and societies stressing Islamic principles and morals.

 Later, while attending the Teacher's College in Cairo, Al-Banna attended lectures at the Al-Azhar, the foremost Islamic university, where he was exposed to current religious thought as well as to Sufism--Islamic mysticism--which opened a new inner dimension towards Islam and helped in forming his future beliefs. It was in the city of Isma'illiyya, where Al-Banna was given the job of grammar teacher, that he began to preach his ideas and won his first followers, who encouraged him to form the Society of the Muslim Brethren in 1928.

The association's activities were in fact a reaction to conditions in the Islamic world and in Egypt during the 1920s and 1930s. World War I had brought about the defeat of the Ottoman Empire and an end to the Caliphate, the symbol of Islamic power and unity for the Islamic world. 

Secularization and Westernization were becoming acceptable to the various governments that ruled Muslim nations. Egypt, which had been occupied by British troops since 1882 and was ruled by a corrupt government and ineffectual king, was undergoing deep structural changes caused by modernization underway since the 19th century reforms of Muhammad Ali Pasha. In turn, modernization was accompanied by the penetration of capitalism and industrialization. These two forces undermined traditional crafts, trade, and village life, resulting in social dislocations as well as a growing economic gap between the rich and poor of the country.

Furthermore, the accompanying process of secularization posed a real threat to Islam, because only where the Shari'a (Islamic law) was the established legal system could there be a true Islamic society and could Muslims live out their lives within the true faith. Traditional elements were also concerned by the threat posed to their society and traditions by Western ideas, press, cinema, theater, and other cultural practices.

Rise of Conservative Ideals

During the second half of the 19th century Egypt had witnessed vigorous reformist efforts directed towards making Western thoughts and institutions more acceptable to Islamic society without undermining Islam itself. Such efforts had been led by important religious leaders such as Jamal Al-Din Al-Afghani, Muhammad Abdu, and Rashid Ridda. 

However, by the 1920s, with increasing political, social, and economic problems, Egypt witnessed a period of resurgence of conservative Islamic ideals. Al-Banna was the disciple of these earlier reformers; unlike them, however, he did not look for a way of compromise with Western ideas. What he called for was the institution of an Islamic state with a caliph as its leader and the Koran as the basis of its law.

The Ikhwan of the Muslim Brethren was to be the means of achieving these goals; the program reflected the ideas of Al-Banna, its "Supreme Guide," regarding social, religious, and economic matters. Among other things, it called for a moral society in Islamic terms and an end to Westernization. 

Since the ills of society were blamed on the habits of the Europeanized upper classes who preferred to wear Western clothes, speak European languages, and bring up their children according to Western customs, habits of the rich were to be combatted.

Economically the wrongs enforced upon the urban and rural masses would be corrected by calling attention to poor conditions in villages, enforcing the religious Zakat tax intended to enable all to share in the wealth of the few, preventing usury, and adjusting government salaries by eliminating the huge gaps between upper and lower level jobs, as well as public sharing in the profits of industrial and other monopoly companies. Special attention was to be given to the technical and social needs of workers so as to help raise their standard of living.

As for the social program, one of the main concerns of the Ikhwan was the breakdown in the traditional role of the family and in familial interrelationships. What with the growing poverty, immigration of rural masses to urban centers, and other dislocation in Egyptian society, the family, the basic unit of Islamic society, was breaking down and the young, widows, and older members were often left homeless. 

The state had not stepped in to fill the gap caused by this dislocation. The Ikhwan's program, therefore, called for safeguarding the family and family traditions through enforcement of morality by a ban on prostitution, alcohol, night-clubs, and theater productions of immoral nature and censorship of radio programs, newspapers, and books. The morality of women was to be guarded carefully, no association of the sexes before marriage would be allowed, and even though women were to be educated, schools would be segregated at all levels.

Activity on the Political Level

On the political side, the program was quite nationalist in orientation. It called for a one-party structure, a party that would have the good of the nation and not that of its membership at heart. The building of a strong national army would be given priority, and ties with the Islamic world strengthened. Government corruption would be put to an end and the bureaucratic structure made more efficient. The ulama class of scholars would find a place within the government by becoming employed by it in both the civil service and the army.

Thus the Ikhwan began as a religious association with the intent of fighting Westernization and re-instituting Muslim laws and morality. They were concerned with the social dislocations of their time and searched for an answer to them. Their program proved to be popular, particularly among the urban masses and the traditional elements of society, as well as with the young professionals and university graduates who were aware of the poor social and economic conditions of Egypt and of the government's inability to deal with them.

Al-Banna himself was one of the chief sources of the popularity of the Ikhwan, whose membership was conservatively estimated at one million in the 1930s. He was described as a charismatic leader, a man of conviction who inspired great faith in his followers. He was not a violent person; however, he brought into existence the Nizan Al-KhASS, the secret military arm of the Ikhwan which undertook various acts of terrorism, such as the 1952 burning of foreign and Jewish institutions in Cairo and the murder of Egypt's Prime Minister Al-Nuqrashi in 1948. 

The latter killing provoked the assassination of Al-Banna himself in 1949 at the hands of King Farouk's secret police. The king, who once was allied with Al-Banna, had now found him too dangerous and eliminated him, even though Al-Banna declared himself innocent of Nuqrashi's death.

After the death of the Supreme Guide, the Ikhwan went underground. There was a brief interval of friendship with the Nasser regime after the 1952 revolution, but in 1956, after a failed assassination attempt on the life of Nasser, the Ikhwan were driven underground once more. Since the ideas of the Ikhwan were more moderate than some other contemporary militant Islamic sects operating in Egypt, the Ikhwan were becoming more acceptable to the Egyptian people and government in the 1980s. The government, however, continued to refuse to recognize the Ikhwan as an official political party with the right to join the political process in the country.

Malay nationalism (1946-1948)

The British Military Administration set to task of reviving pre-war plans for centralised control over the Malay states within days after British Allied forces landed in Singapore on 5 September 1945. A former Malayan Civil Service legal officer, H.C. Willan, was ordered to interview the Malay rulers and Willan approached Sultan Ibrahim on 8 September. Sultan Ibrahim was living at Istana Pasir Pelangi with his Romanian wife, and reportedly warmed up to Willan when he first saw him.^[41] During the interview with Willan, Sultan Ibrahim spoke bitterly of his experiences during the Japanese occupation years, and offered to serve under the British Military Administration. The Sultan asked Willan's permission to fly the Union Jack on his car to attend the surrender ceremony on 12 September, and the British military government granted his requests.^[42]
Willan made further interviews with other Malay rulers over the next few days, and made assessments of the political situation in each state. His studies were forwarded to the military administration, and Sir Harold MacMichael, the former high commissioner of Palestine was empowered to sign official treaties with the Malay rulers over the Malayan Union proposal scheme. MacMichael made several visits to the Malay rulers, beginning with Sultan Ibrahim in October 1945. The Sultan quickly consented to MacMichael's proposal scheme, which was motivated by his strong desire to visit England at the end of the year. MacMichael paid further visits to other Malay rulers over the proposal, and sought their consent over the proposal scheme. Many Malay rulers expressed strong reluctance in signing the treaties with MacMichael, partly because they feared losing their royal status and the prospect of their states falling into Thai political influence.^[43]
The treaties provided that United Kingdom had full administrative powers over the Malay states except in areas pertaining to Islamic customs. The Malays strongly protested against the treaties, as the treaties had the effect of circumscribing the spiritual and moral authority of the Malay rulers, which the Malays held high esteem over it. Communal tensions between the Malays and Chinese were high, and the prospect of granting citizenship to non-Malays was deemed unacceptable to the Malays.^[43] In particular, politicians in Johor were extremely unhappy with the willingness of Sultan Ibrahim to sign the treaties with MacMichael, and voiced out that the Sultan Ibrahim had violated the terms in the Johor state constitution which explicitly forbade any foreign powers to assume legitimate control over the state. In early February 1946, seven political dissidents led by Awang bin Hassan organised a rally to protest against the Sultan's decision for signing the treaties, and Onn Jaafar, who was then serving as a district officer in Batu Pahat, was invited to attend the rally.^[44]
The rally was held on 1 February 1946 at the Sultan Abu Bakar State Mosque, and protesters shouted nationalistic slogans and called for the dethronement of Sultan Ibrahim. Malay nationalistic slogans were raised during the rally, many of whom were directed against the Sultan himself, whom they accused him for committing treason against the Malay race by signing the treaties. News of the rally reached the Sultan Ibrahim on 22 February, who was then residing at Grosvenor House in London. Sultan Ibrahim approached the colonial office and expressed his withdrawal of support for the proposal scheme, but this did not appease the political dissidents and Onn continued to organise more rallies in the other Malay states to muster further support for his calls against the Malayan Union, and formed United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) in May.^[45]
Sultan Ibrahim returned to Johor in early September 1947 and attended UMNO's second general meeting at Istana Besar, which was led by its youth chief, Hussein Onn. Although many Johor politicians still held a critical opinion of Sultan Ibrahim over the treaties with MacMichael, the UMNO delegates gave him a rousing welcome when he arrived at the palace.^[46] Critical opinions against the Sultan waned after the Federation of Malaya was established the following January, which restored the rulers' powers. Shortly before Sultan Ibrahim left for England in May, he personally donated a lump of $5,000 to UMNO, hoping to improve relations with UMNO leaders and Onn himself, who was appointed the Menteri Besar of Johor in 1946.<sup>[47]  

( Wikipedia)</sup>