Hussein Onn

After his retirement he played a key role in the establishment of the Tun Hussein Onn Eye Hospital, and was also actively involved with other welfare organizations.

He died on 29 May 1990 in Seton Medical Center at San Francisco, California, and was buried in Makam Pahlawan (Heroes Mausoleum) near Masjid Negara, Kuala Lumpur.

Hussein Onn was born on 12 February 1922 in Johor Bahru, British Malaya (now Malaysia) as the son of Dato' Onn Jaafar. His father was the founder of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the largest political party in Malaysia. Onn Jaafar was also a noted freedom fighter.

Hussein Onn attended the Telok Kurau Primary School, Singapore, and later went to the English College Johore Bahru.

He joined the Johor Military Forces as a cadet in 1940. After a year he was sent to the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun, India.

Hussein Onn proved himself to be an able cadet and after the completion of his training he was absorbed into the Indian Army. Around this time the Second World War broke out and he was sent to serve in the Middle East. He was also with the British forces that in 1945 freed Malaya from Japanese occupation.

He was recruited by the British as an instructor at the Malayan Police Recruiting and Training Centre in Rawalpindi after his service in the Second World War.

In 1945, he returned to Malaysia and was immediately made the Commandant of the Johor Bahru Police Depot. The next year he helped his politician father Onn Bin Jaafar in forming the political party, United Malays National Organization (UMNO). The primary objective of founding the party was to provide a platform for furthering the Malay interests in the struggle for independence.

In 1946, he also ventured into the Malaya Civil Service as an assistant administrative officer in Segamat, Johor. Later on he became the Klang and Kuala Selangor's district officer in the state of Selangor.

He eventually became the first youth chief of the UMNO in 1949 and the next year he was elected as the UMNO Secretary General. However, some disagreements cropped up within the party and he quit.