The centenarian attributed his longevity to “a very happy family life, good friends and doing everything in moderation”.
“The best way we can all live is with love. The affection and support of my family and friends have kept me going all my life,” said the former police chief of Sarawak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang.
Raj said healthy eating, good rest and not over exerting when exercising were the other factors that helped him to reach the centennial milestone.
“I am blessed and lucky to have reached 100 years old,” said Raj who had a muted birthday at his Damansara Kim home due to the lockdown.
Lawyer Sharad John said his grandfather was all smiles the whole day as birthday greetings flowed from scores of people including retired senior police officers.
Raj was especially upbeat when he received calls from his son John Ravi from UK, daughter Shantinee in Greece and granddaughters, Shalini in Dubai and Juliet who is undergoing a 14-day quarantine at a hotel upon her return from Melbourne.
Besides Sharad, they are the people who mean the world to Raj, along with his two other daughters, Rohini and Indrani, and their husbands, Dr J D John and retired federal court judge Prasad Abraham respectively. His wife, Irene, died in 2007.
Sharad said his grandfather’s experiences with the police force were also precious to him as was his hope that the department would continue to uphold integrity, trust and act responsibly.
Raj has a larger-than-life backstory: he lived through World War II, the two Malayan emergencies and played a key role in the latter events.
He witnessed the Japanese Occupation of Malaya and their surrender, the British reoccupation, the anxious period of the Malayan Union and the formation of the Federation of Malaya.
Raj’s experiences are recorded in his two memoirs, The War Years and After (2000) and The Struggle for Malaysian Independence ( 2007) which among other subjects delve into how close the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) were in realising the establishment of the Socialist Republic of Malaya.
In his 30-year career, the Bukit Kepong incident, one of the darkest days for the police force, remains one of the most agonising memories for Raj.
Twenty-three policemen and their families were massacred in the attack. Some of them were burned alive.
Writing a chapter, Gallant Last Stand at Bukit Kepong, in a book, Operation Sharp End (Smashing Terrorism in Malaya 1948-1958) by a British author, Raj paid tribute to the gallant men and women who defended the police station.
Then, the Pagoh district police chief with the rank of inspector, Raj related the story of how 13 Malay policemen, supported by their wives, held the enemy off for several hours against overwhelming odds.
And how, finally, the incensed communists showed their usual barbarity and threw men, women and children, some still alive, into the burning remains of the police station.
The name J J Raj Jr came about as his late brother, who was 10 years his senior, also carried the same name, J J Raj Sr.
Raj Sr retired as federal criminal investigations department director and Raj Jr as management director.
The brothers were raised in Hulu Chemor, Perak, by their parents John Ravi Raj and Rosalind Raj.
After Senior Cambridge (Form Five) at St Michael’s Institution in Ipoh, Raj moved to Jelutong, Penang, with his mother and brother following the death of his father.
After World War II ended in 1945, he briefly joined the British Military Administration before joining the police as part of the first intake of 10 probationary police inspectors two years later.
He later served under luminaries such as British High Commissioner and security operations chief Gerald Templer and the last British Inspector-General of Police Claude H Fenner.
Raj was handpicked by Fenner as commandant of the Police College to nurture more Malaysian officers to take over from the Britons.
Upon retirement, Raj was appointed as a member of the Federal Pardons Board which reviews cases of inmates appealing for release from prison.
He served the board continuously for more than 30 years under eight kings and four prime ministers and was deservedly bestowed the Tan Sri title for his enormous contributions to the nation.