Nice Ride!
From what was written at the back of this photograph, we know that:
- this was taken during the Lions Club dinner on 3rd August 1975
- one of the gentlemen in this photograph is Mr Balakrishnan – who worked at the Ipoh High Court
Any Lions Club members out there? We’d like to know MORE about this event.
PS: does anyone remember WHO the Menteri Besar of Perak was that year?
To answer your concluding question: it was Ghazali Jawi.
Cervantes you are right. According to our database archive which says:
“The late Tan Sri Ghazali Jawi, was a Federal Minister under the government of Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia’s first Prime Minister and later became Menteri Besar (Chief Minister) of Perak State for the years 1957-60 and 1974-77.”
I never cease to be amazed by the detail we have on our database!
Wow, a Mercedes Benz W116, the first series for which the name “S-Class” was officially used (1972 – 1980).
Later Tan Sri Ghazali Jawi’s son Tan Sri Haji Mohammad Tajol Rosli bin Tan Sri Mohamed Ghazali became the 9th Menteri Besar Perak from 1999 to 2008.
Well, Ian, I’d say the quality of the data base reflects the hard work you and your team have put into it. Thanks for making it available.
As for Ghazali Jawi, he was … well, in some circles, anyway, he was a laughingstock, a textbook example of the Dilbert Principle. Others might say he was a victim of the chronically poor relationship between factions in UMNO Perak and the Palace in Kuala Kangsar.
First appointed Menteri Besar shortly before Merdeka — he got the job for services rendered to UMNO, plus the incumbent MB and the Prime Minister were rivals of a sort — he was soon accused (by the police) of corruption. The Raja Muda at the time, Idris Shah, refused to work with him. But as he had friends in high(er) places, no punitive action was taken except that he was fired and shipped of to Cairo as ambassador. I believe this was in 1960.
When he was up for a second term as MB beginning in 1974, the same Idris Shah, by now the Sultan, accepted his appointment only reluctantly and temporarily. Within a year or two, the Sultan was so incensed by Ghazali’s behavior — primarily, it should be said, his refusal to resign — that he again refused to work with him. At the time UMNO’s position was that the Sultan had no right to fire a Menteri Besar* — but Idris was implacable, going so far as to take a vow that he would not approve any state actions nor even shave his beard until Ghazali was fired. When said firing finally occurred, a year or so later, the Sultan promptly invited family and friends — and the press — to his “shaving party.”
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* What are the lessons from history? Someone with
more local insight than I might care to comment.
Cervantes….I had NO IDEA about this ‘Perak-Drama’!
I’ve not heard this interesting story before (wasn’t even born yet at that time!) but you’re right about the ‘lessons from history’.
Can someone tell me when Tan Sri Ghazali Jawi passed away?