Deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Encik Mahmud Awang on Monday. He was one of Singapore’s founding leaders.
A widely respected unionist, Encik Mahmud first got involved in union work when he joined the Singapore Traction Company (STC) as a bus conductor. He became close friends with Mr Ahmad Ibrahim, Mr Devan Nair and Mr Lee Kuan Yew, won the support of many unions, and was elected the President of the Singapore Trades Union Congress (STUC) in 1958. When the STUC split in 1961, Encik Mahmud’s STC Employees’ Union was among the few that joined the NTUC, and he became Chairman of the NTUC’s Pro Tem Committee.
Encik Mahmud was elected to the Legislative Assembly in the 1963 General Election, and subsequently to the Parliament of newly independent Singapore. In the years when Singapore was in Malaysia, Malay PAP leaders, including Encik Mahmud, Othman Wok, Rahim Ishak, and others, came under enormous pressure by UMNO politicians to choose race over nation. But Encik Mahmud and his comrades held firm in their conviction. Their courage and leadership kept alive the vision of a multiracial Singapore, and enabled it to become the reality today.
Mr Lee was forever grateful for Encik Mahmud’s stout-hearted support at this critical moment in our history, and they kept in touch. At Mr Lee’s state funeral, Encik Mahmud was one of the pallbearers.
Encik Mahmud may have left us, but his legacy will live on. My thoughts are with his family in this time of loss. – LHL
(Encik Mahmud Awang (extreme left), a pallbearer at Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s funeral in 2015. / MCI Photo by LH Goh)
