Sultan Ibrahim also became increasingly disappointed in Onn's work commitment, whom he saw as neglecting state affairs as a result of his commitments towards UMNO.
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Some of Onn's articles were critical of Sultan Ibrahim's policies, which led to a strained personal relations with the Sultan.
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In early 1950, Sultan Ibrahim approached Onn, who was asked to choose between committing his efforts for UMNO and the state.
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Tan encountered initial difficulties with meeting Sultan Ibrahim, who was not accustomed to working with Chinese businessmen.
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In particular, Sultan Ibrahim expelled Onn from Johor after he published an article in the Sunday Mirror, a Singapore-based English tabloid, which criticised the Sultan's poor treatment of the Johor Military Forces personnel and the welfare of the Orang Asli.
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Sultan Ibrahim approached the colonial office and expressed his withdrawal of support for the proposal scheme, but this did not appease the political dissidents and Onn continued to organise more rallies in the other Malay states to muster further support for his calls against the Malayan Union, and formed United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) in May.
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Onn's character has been portrayed in a 2007 Malaysian movie 1957: Hati Malaya which is directed by a popular Malaysian film director, Shuhaimi Baba.
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Early Malay nationalism took root in Johor during the 1920s as Onn Jaafar, whom Sultan Ibrahim had treated as an adopted son, became a journalist and wrote articles on the welfare of the Malays.
ONN | Syed Jaafar Albar | Onn Jaafar | Dato' Seri Megat Jaafar Bin Megat Yunus | Dato' Seri Megat Jaafar | Bandar Dato' Onn |
This was at a meeting in Batu Pahat when seven Umno founders from Johor Baru met Datuk Onn Jaafar to call for a unification of all the disparate Malay nationalist groups at the time.