Panglima Bukit Gantang

On 4 May 1905, Abdul Wahab was born in Sayong, Kuala Kangsar District. Teh Halimah, his mother, is the sole child of Dato Setia Bijaya Jeragan Abdul Syukor by virtue of his first wife. Toh Muda Abdul Aziz, his father, and Haji Mahmud Taib, his grandfather, were both titled . Of his fourteen brothers and sisters, Abdul Wahab is the second child. He had lived in Ipoh with his grandfather since he was a young boy. Abdul Wahab received his early education at the Pekan Baru Malay School in Ipoh from 1912 to 1913. He continued his education at SMK Anderson from 1915 to 1925. He studied English language and literature and completed his Cambridge IGCSE in May 1925. He opted to pursue law while studying abroad at the University of London's Inner Temple, where he was very involved in student societies from 1925 to 1930. becoming the first Malay lawyer in the United Kingdom. From 1927 to 1929, Abdul Wahab served as the Malay Students' Association (England) Honorary Secretary, and becoming their President in 1930. He was granted access to hear whole trials in English courts. He later passed University of London's bar examination and returned to Federated Malay States (FMS). Tunku Abdul Rahman, Raja Bot bin Raja Jumaat from Selangor, Nik Ahmad Kamil from Kelantan, Abdul Hamid Mustafa, and Syed Sheh Barakbah from Kedah were among his peers who studied in London. The (PDMPK) was founded by him in 1930. == Career ==

After returning to British Malaya in 1931, Abdul Wahab started working for the government as a chamber officer in the Malaysian High Court for six months in the FMS. From 1931 to 1947, he was a practitioner in Ipoh. Tunku Abdul Rahman, reportedly referred to him as "one of the powerful Malay leaders of the day." and he led move of the organisation's headquarters to Ipoh, Perak. Perak served as the administrative hub of UMNO until 1949, when Malays all over the Peninsula began to embrace the organisation. He later held other Executive positions, such as Secretary of Legal Affairs. He also led the demonstration against the Malayan Union. On 1 February 1948, he was appointed as Menteri Besar of Perak (MB), becoming the state's chief civil servant. During his tenure at the Kuala Kangsar district office in the mid-1950s, he observed an order he sent out to all district offices, instructing them to steer clear of institutions of worship while purchasing land for public use. He led UMNO Perak until his removal in 1953, following Dato Onn's departure from UMNO in 1951. He then founded the short-lived non-communal National Association of Perak, which was connected to Dato Onn's Parti Negara. He participated in the 1956 London Merdeka negotiations as a member of the Malayan delegation. He spent long nights going over all the memos and the draft constitution with Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tan Tong Hye of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) in his capacity as the sultan of Perak's envoy. In 1957, Omar Ali Saifuddien III, the Sultan of Brunei, dispatched a mission to London to discuss the constitution with the British Government, with final negotiations moved from 27 September to 30 September. The main focus of the 1957 London negotiations was the , written by Abdul Wahab in Brunei House, Singapore. == Retirement and death ==

Abdul Wahab retained the MB position until the independence of Malaysia on 31 July 1957, which took effect on 1 August 1957. To honour him, a reference was conducted in the Supreme Court in Ipoh the next day. == Namesakes ==

• Jalan Panglima Bukit Gantang Wahab is a major route that runs across the western part of Ipoh, Perak. It links Jalan Kuala Kangsar in the south with Bulatan Bahagia. • Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Panglima Bukit Gantang is a middle school in Parit Buntar. == Honours ==

• • Commander of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (PMN) – Tan Sri (1958) • • Knight Grand Commander of the Order of Cura Si Manja Kini (SPCM) – '''Dato' Seri''' (2015–posthumously) == References ==