MALAYSIA

Face value � 1 ringgit
Metal � copper-nickel
Mintage � 1 mln. pieces
In circulation since 1981

Tun Hussein Onn

Tun Hussein bin Dato' Onn (February 12, 1922-May 29, 1990) was the third Prime Minister of Malaysia, ruling from 1976 to 1981. Tun Hussein, who came from a family with deep nationalistic spirit and political roots, resigned from the civil service to go into politics.
In 1949, he became the first youth chief of UMNO (United Malays National Organization), a party his father helped established. In 1950, he was elected the UMNO secretary general. Tun Hussein however left UMNO in 1951 to join his father in forming the Independence of Malaya Party (IMP).
Tun Hussein returned to politics in 1968 after being persuaded by the then Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak to rejoin UMNO. He stood and won the general elections in 1969 and was appointed as the education minister. Tun Hussein's meteoric rise continued when on August 13, 1973 he succeeded the late Tun Dr Ismail as the Deputy Prime Minister.
On January 15, 1976 he was appointed as Prime Minister of Malaysia after the passing away of Tun Razak.
Tun Hussein was renowned for stressing on the issue of unity through policies aimed at rectifying economic imbalances between the communities. For instance, April 20, 1981 saw the National Unit Trust Scheme being launched. He also gave serious consideration to the concept of Rukun Tetangga (a neighborhood watch scheme) and the fight against the drug menace.
After his retirement as Prime Minister he continued to contribute to welfare organizations. He was instrumental in the setting up of the Tun Hussein Onn Eye Hospital.
Tun Hussein Onn was looked upon as being very sincere in his struggle for racial unity and had a reputation of being firm against anyone that tried to create racial unrest in the country and it was due to this, that he was known as 'Father of Unity'.