Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah

Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh bin Tengku Mohd Hamzah (Jawi: تڠکو غزالي بن تڠکو محمد حمزة; born 13 April 1937) is a Malaysian politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gua Musang from August 1986 to November 2022 and for Ulu Kelantan from August 1974 to August 1986.

Razaleigh was born on 13 April 1937 in Kota Bharu to Tengku Sri Maharaja Tengku Muhammad Hamzah Ibni Almarhum Raja Dewa Tengku Zainal Abidin, who was once the Menteri Besar of Kelantan.

Razaleigh was educated at English-medium schools and attended Sultan Ismail College before moving on to the Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK).

He left MCKK disliking the boarding school environment there, and transferred to Anderson School in Ipoh, Perak.

He received a Bachelor of Science in economics from the Queen's University of Belfast in 1959 and later pursued a law degree at Lincoln's Inn.

However, upon his father's death, he was forced to return and never continued his studies.

Razaleigh took over the family business, and then joined the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO).

Starting from the mid-1960s, with the support of then Prime Ministers Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Abdul Razak, several initiatives were launched to increase Malaysia's economic growth.

Being a favourite of both leaders, Razaleigh was hand-picked to fulfill many of these initiatives.

This included major corporate takeovers of foreign conglomerates and industries which were previously foreign-owned.

On 4 June 1965, "Kongres Ekonomi Bumiputra" (Bumiputra Economic Congress), sponsored by the Ministry of National and Rural Development, was held in Kuala Lumpur for 3 days to generate an interest among Malays and other local indigenous groups to participate in commerce and industry.

Seven working committees were formed to achieve these objectives.

Tun Abdul Razak, the then deputy prime minister of Malaysia, announced that the Government had agreed to form a local Bank ("Bank Bumiputra") as recommended by the Economic Congress based on a majority of the 69 resolutions passed in the meeting.

The Bank, with its initial capital to be provided by the Malaysian Government, would be established.

The bank's ownership would ultimately be sold to the public through shares.

On 15 July 1965, Abdul Razak announced the Government's decision to provide $5 million as the initial capital for Bank Bumiputra.

He stated that the bank's main function was to assist rural businessmen in the form of loans.

Bank Bumiputra Malaysia Berhad was formally launched by Tun Abdul Razak on 1 October 1965 with authorised capital of $25 million, instead of the $5 million announced earlier.

The senior management was headed by Mohd Raslan bin Dato' Abdullah as managing director and Tengku Razaleigh as executive director.

The other board members include S.O.K. Ubaidulla (president of the United Chamber of Commerce), L.E Osman, K. Mushir Ariff, Wan Yahya bin Haji Mohamad, K.D. Eu and Kuok Hock Nien.

The general manager of the bank was Wong Aun Pui, a prominent local banker with 20 years of experience and director of many rubber and palm oil companies.

PERNAS (Perbadanan Nasional Berhad or National Corporation) was set up in November 1969 as a wholly owned government company to carry out the resolutions at the Second Bumiputera Economic Congress.

Among the major shareholders were the Ministry of Finance, Bank Negara Malaysia (The Central Bank of Malaysia) and Bank Bumiputera Malaysia Berhad.

Pernas was put under a solid footing under the chairmanship of Razaleigh (1970–1974).

In view of the very low participation of Bumiputeras in the private sector and industries at the time, PERNAS' principles were to:

To achieve its objectives, many subsidiaries were subsequently set up.

The first of which was Malaysia National Insurance Berhad (MNI), which was established in April 1970.

This was followed with Pernas Construction Sdn Bhd, Pernas Engineering Sdn Bhd, and Pernas Securities Sdn Bhd.

Razaleigh became involved in what became known as the Haw Par imbroglio of the mid-1970s, working in concert with the Singapore-based Haw Par Brothers International Ltd, then one of the subsidiaries under the control of British wheeler-dealer Jim Slater, to acquire control of the British-owned tin conglomerate known as the London Tin Company, and the plantations conglomerate Sime Darby.

This was to be achieved through a web of transactions in which both would end up in the control of PERNAS.

Things came to a standstill when Singapore accused Haw Par of financial irregularities and later jailed a senior executive.

In 1973, Pernas Mining Sdn Bhd was set up and in the following year, Pernas Edar Sdn Bhd.

He is the longest-serving MP to date, serving from 1974 to 2022, for 48 years in a row.

He is sometimes referred to as the Father of Malaysian Economic Development for playing a pivotal role in establishing and implementing key foundations and policies in Malaysian economy.

A descendant of Malay royalty, he is a great-uncle of the current Sultan of Kelantan, Sultan Muhammad V.

He was the Minister of Finance (1976–1984), Minister of International Trade and Industry (1984–1987), former chairman of Asian Development Bank, former chairman of Islamic Development Bank, founding Chairman and Chief Executive of Malaysian oil company, PETRONAS, and chairman of the 33rd Board of Governors of the World Bank and IMF.

He is now the longest serving MP in Malaysia.

His popularity has earned him nicknames such as "The People's Prince" and "Ku Kita" (Our Tengku).

He is affectionately known as Ku Li, derived from the last syllables of Tengku Razaleigh; a common custom in the Kelantan dialect.

In 1999, Bank Bumiputra was merged into Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings (which is the listed vehicle for CIMB Group).