Ismail Abdul Rahman - Malaysia

Malaysia

In 1963, Malaya merged with the former British colonies of Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak to form Malaysia. Ismail retained his cabinet positions in the new polity. During this period, despite no longer being in charge of external affairs, Ismail expressed strong support for an "Association of Southeast Asia", telling the media that "We look forward to a regional association embracing Thailand, Burma, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam." This proposal eventually became the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Ismail also presented Malaysia's case to the United Nations when Indonesia launched its armed "Confrontation" against the new polity, charging it with being the tool of neo-colonialists. Ismail managed to sneak a number of weapons captured from Indonesian military personnel into a meeting of the UN Security Council, greatly upsetting the Council's President, who asked him to remove them. Later, Ismail was a critic of Lee Kuan Yew, the Singaporean Prime Minister, for his attempt to de-emphasise race in Malaysian politics through the establishment of a non-racial political coalition, the Malaysian Solidarity Council (MSC). The resulting political controversy led to Singapore's separation from Malaysia; however, Ismail, like Toh Chin Chye, expressed his belief that Singapore and Malaysia would eventually merge once more, stating: "It is better to wait for this to come because if they do not do so they will sink together instead of coming together."

In 1966, Ismail became the first recipient of the First Class of the Darjah Yang Mulia Setia Mahkota Malaysia (The Most Esteemed Order of the Crown of Malaysia), entitling him to the title of Tun and the post-nominal SSM. Ismail resigned from his government posts in 1967, citing his poor health. A heart specialist had previously told him to retire from politics due to Ismail being "more sensitive to personality stresses than most people" — advice Ismail said he would have ignored, had it not been for his five young children. The Tunku accepted Ismail's resignation, noting that he had previously forced Ismail's brother, Suleiman, to continue working in public service, with fatal results when Suleiman suddenly died. After retiring from politics, Ismail went on to head the Guthrie Group of Companies, where he was paid three times the amount earned by a cabinet minister.