Syed Nasir Ismail

Tun Dato' Syed Nasir bin Ismail (Arabic: سيد ناصر بن إسماعيل‎‎ Sayyid Nāṣir bin ʼIsmāʻīl; 7 March 1921^[1]– 1982) was a Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat, the lower house of the Parliament of Malaysia. During his lifetime, he was known as a nationalist who sought to fight for the primacy of the national language in Malaysia as a means to create a national identity through the closing down of public-funded Mandarin and Tamil vernacular schools. Many Chinese and Indians of Malaysian citizenship still can't speak the national language fluently even after living in Malaysia for many decades. They also tend to stick among their kind and refuse to neutralise to local culture and customs. Tun Syed Nasir sees a common education system for all as a solution to this dilemma. However, the Chinese and Indians react to his plight by labelling him a Malay Ultra. A prominent politician from the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) – the leading party of the governing Barisan Nasional coalition – he served as the 5th Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat from 1978 till his death in 1982.

He was born in Batu Pahat,^[1] Johor, Malaysia, and is of Hadhrami Arab descent.^[2]

Honour

Honour of Malaysia

•  Malaysia : Grand Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia (1982)^[3]

References

1. John Victor Morais (1969). Who's Who, Malaysia and Singapore. Who's Who Publications. p. 296.
2. Official Website for Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia
3. "Senarai Penuh Penerima Darjah Kebesaran, Bintang dan Pingat Persekutuan Tahun 1982." (PDF).