for a particular racial group to think that they are more justified to be called Malaysians and that the others can become Malaysian only through their favour." The Malaysian Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, eventually tired of the bickering and told Singapore to secede from Malaysia. The matter was hushed up, with not even the UMNO Members of Parliament such as Albar being informed of what 9 August 1965 Parliamentary session would be concerned about. When Albar demanded more information on why their presence was demanded, he was rebuffed. Upon discovering that day itself that the purpose of the meeting was to allow Singapore to secede, Albar left Parliament House, not participating in the final unanimous vote. As this was directly contrary to his orders, the Tunku insisted on sacking Albar as UMNO Secretary-General, but was later persuaded to permit Albar to graciously resign instead. Albar was opposed to the idea of allowing Singapore to secede, because he felt that imposing emergency rule over Singapore and removing Lee as Prime Minister would have been an ideal solution. Before secession, he had vocally called for Lee to be arrested for destroying racial harmony through his "Malaysian Malaysia" campaign, which the Malays saw as threatening the special rights granted to them under Article 153 of the Constitution. Albar also served as Minister of Rural Development for a time. Family Syed Jaafar had a son, Syed Hamid Albar, who later followed in his footsteps to be active in politics. Syed Hamid went on to serve as Foreign Affairs Minister and Home Minister. In April 2009 however, Syed Hamid was dropped from the cabinet. Death Syed Jaafar Albar died on 14 January 1977 and was buried at the Makam Pahlawan (Heroes' Mausoleum) near Masjid Negara, Kuala Lumpur. Honours Honours of Malaysia : Companion of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (JMN) (1958) : Commander of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (PMN) – Tan Sri (1964) : Knight Commander of the Order of the Crown of Johor (DPMJ) – Dato' (1974) Notes and references External links Small spark can create big mess – an article on Albar's role in the 1964 Singapore riots A son's defense – Syed Hamid Albar defends his father 1914 births 1977 deaths Anti-Chinese sentiment in Asia Malaysian people of Malay descent Malaysian Muslims Indonesian emigrants to Malaysia Malaysian people of Yemeni descent Hadhrami people Members