Founders Of United Kingdom Eire Council for Malaysian Students (UKEC)

I met Fez, the current Chairman of UKEC a few weeks ago and as with previous chairmen and leaders of the organisation before him in its current incarnation, there was much curiosity over how and why it was founded at an AGM in Leicester University on the spring of 1995.

Actually, UKEC was conceptualised much earlier, being the brainchild of 3 individuals from the London School of Economics (LSE), Hirmiadi Don Rahim and Omar Siddiq Amin Noer Rashid who were also founders of Malaysia Club at the LSE and Abdul Rahman Redza, one of the two founders of Project Kalsom (more of this much later).

An abortive attempt at forming UKEC happened in the spring of 1994. However, despite attracting 17 representatives from some 10 universities, the attempt faltered and the 3 decided to re-formulate the founding membership to improve UKEC's chance of success. Rahman withdrew to focus on Kalsom, and Adlan Benan Omar from Cambridge, Munir Majid from Oxford and myself, Akhramsyah Muammar Ubaidah Sanusi of Imperial College, were recruited to the cause in the summer of 1994.

We five were then more generally known as the five founders of UKEC. Our notable successes during the time was securing the then politically retired Tun Daim Zainuddin as Patron, expanding the pro-tem committee across the many Universities of the UK, gaining the trust and support of the Malaysian Students' Department who was then led by Dato' (then Encik) Abdul Rahman Kasbon. A couple of unsung heroes of UKEC's founding were actually (the late) En Aris and En Hamid of MSD who helped us figure out what UKEC was meant to be.

However, it would be too selfish of us to not also acknowledge a few others as founders of UKEC. Badlisyah Ghani and Flora Romeo joined the team in the winter at the end of 1994. Badlisyah was a fierce critic of UKEC at first, but once he understood and bought into our cause became a key contributor, as he and Flora drafted UKEC's constitution based on their reading the UN Charter (both were law students). The two of them also brought UKEC into the sphere of Universities grouped under the Northern Consortium (NCUK), with Badlisyah being from Leeds University and Flora from University of Middlesex.

Lim Chong Han also joined the cause at about the same time via an earlier friendship with Ben. Chong Han brought us a more legitimate Malaysian feel to the whole endeavour, being our first non-Malay founding member, and also a strong enough relationship with the administration of the University of Leicester to offer up its facilities to host our inaugural AGM in the spring of 1995.

There are 3 other notable players whom cannot be missed, Mohd Irman 'Bun' Nawawi who by the time of the AGM was Kalsom's principle driver, Nazrin Hassan, who rose from being Ben's close confidant to later building the cadre system that recruited future UKEC executive committee leaders and eventually becoming a trustee of UKEC's Capital Fund, and Eqhwan Mokhzanee, who played the odd yet challenging role as the youngest member of the committee, all mentioned here were born in 1973 except for him(!), as well as being the incoming first Chairman of UKEC.

There were of course many others who contributed in their own way to UKEC's founding, but those mentioned here are the only ones I and each of us would probably acknowledge unequivocally as founders of UKEC. Our contributions did not end at UKEC's founding though. Ben, Don, Nazrin and I for instance, whilst we walked away from UKEC, battered but satisfied with our work being left in the good hands of Eqhwan, Badlisyah, Flora and Chong Han as the lynchpin of the first committee, could not help but return to assist as part of UKEC's second exco. In fact, the name change from UK Executive Council to UK Eire Council was suggested by Badlisyah just a few years ago!

But the journey to UKEC's foundation has a sweetness to it all of its own. We began the journey as undergraduates in our very early twenties and walked away with lessons of a lifetime. And we can now stand tall and proud to see UKEC continuing to find relevance for Malaysian Students of the current generation.

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Farewell Old Ben...

It is a rare occassion when both my father and I lose a friend to the hereafter on the same day, and it happened today. I am saddened by the passing of my old friend Adlan Benan Omar, better known as Ben Omar to many, but I was also relieved, having seen how he suffered in dignity when I last visited him almost 2 weeks ago.

The Germans have a tradition of saying very few words of mourning whilst reminiscing all the fine memories of friends and family that have passed on, often over drinks, as a celebration of a good life having come to a conclusion. In line with one of Ben's old tendencies to enjoy things German, I shall do this.

To have died at the age of 35 may have seem tragic to many, but as Ben had known of the likely shortness of his life since he was 18, he had driven himself to filling his life with purpose from the time I got to know him. It was evident to me as we were first introduced only months prior to the diagnosis of his illness.

Before we met, I was told by another old friend that,"You will like Ben, you'll see. He has this charisma, a way with words, articulate, very opinionated."

"He's an a**hole?",I asked.

"He's an a**hole. Like I said, you'll like him",was the response. To my relief, Ben was not a Gunners fan, which would have been intolerable, as he was exactly the type of a**hole to others that I was happy to call friend.

One could say that we were surprisingly close for potential rivals. We shared many ideals; patriotism, respect for history. He was a Minang traditionalist with intimations of nobility, which made him easy for me to read in terms of motive, if not method. He also easily appreciated my anarchic version of nationalism, which helped. (I think he felt me little better than a proper anarchist in use of words).

From Ben I better appreciated the value and joy of being different, in which he revelled. He was always the first to support an initiative, and was very good at picking winners as he judged initiatives not on the potential benefits alone, but on nobility of purpose and the values and merits of the people involved.

This sometimes gave rise to suspicion of ambition, yes the thing that got Gaius Julius Caeser killed, but like Caeser, his ambition was always with a sense of giving or ultimately noble intentions, though his methods are oft misconstrued.

His achievements in leadership are uncommon, if not unique, for someone so young. He was in turn:

1. Elected student MP at the English Public School he attended as a JPA/BTU scholar for his A-Levels, Abingdon School. This was impressive for a foreign student whom had joined the school as a 6th former only months before and had won under the ticket of his own 'party', None Of The Above (NOTA), against local Young Labour and Young Conservative candidates.


2. Founder and I believe first Secretary of the Cambridge University Malaysian Society (CUMaS).


3. Pro-tem Chairman and Founder, then Chairman, of the United Kingdom Executive Council for Malaysian Students, UKEC (now a UK and Eire council). We founded this together with Don Rahim, Omar Siddiq, Badlisyah Ghani, Flora Romeo, Eqhwan Mokhzanee, Lim Chong Han, Munir Aziz together with others friends...


4. Secretary General of Party KeAdilan Rakyat Youth.

I am sure I have missed many other achievements. Ben also had a student, then professional life in the midst of many quests in leadership, but it is to my regret that I am incapable of chronicling these as we grew apart from the final year of our studies abroad. I understand he chose to be a banker over becoming a lawyer or historian as he was schooled, yet again bucking a typical Malaysian trend.

We became 'occassional acquaintences' again over the last 5 years, when I first returned to Malaysia ~4+ years ago.

Over these last few years, Ben and I would arrange to meet at least once a year, as he strove to find a purpose that would best fill what would be the last years of his life. Whilst he had suffered disappointment in youth party politics, he never dropped his chin on our encounters. What we shared in motives and purpose seemed little changed. In meetings big and small, he made an impression.

Only months ago, I was sorry to hear that I had missed just one such event where Ben stood to give concise, precise, strong and credible opinions in a forum of political players young and old, hosted and presided by none other than Tan Sri Tunku Razaleigh Hamzah. Those few who did not know his name talked of an impressive young man standing with a stick and the dignity of an elder.

This should have come as no surprise, as during his time as a party youth leader, his sharp wit and tongue had impressed even at the prestigious forums hosted by the Johns Hopkins University in the US. There he well surpassed his Malaysian contemporaries present in open forum, frustrating the likes of Khairy Jamaluddin among others, with quality of argument.

There is a rumour, I would like to think well founded, that Ben was involved in the penning of an entire book on the machinations of KJ and his minions. That I mention it here shows that such an effort was yet again to Ben's credit.

I will miss this friend of mine, not because we were buddies or relied on each other in any way, but in just knowing a man I uniquely respected for his values, that held strong and suffered little changing over the years. Over the last year or so, Ben was busy fulfilling his Minang obligations as guardian to his niece, eventual heir to the property of his mother's line. Traditionalist to the end.

I was glad to have had the opportunity to say goodbye to Ben and hope he had understood and shared that final encounter to bind us. I write this as my second last gift in fond memory of him as a friend. My final gift will honour his memory as a leader and historian par excellence from our generation.

Adlan Benan Omar

1973 - 2008