[7] He was born in Celebes, Dutch East Indies (now Sulawesi, Indonesia) and migrated when he was 14 years old to Singapore (then part of British Malaya).

Later, he had participated in verbal duels with the Singaporean Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, over the issue of ketuanan Melayu (Malay sovereignty over Malaysia).

Upon discovering that day itself that the purpose of the meeting was to allow Singapore to secede, Albar left Parliament House, not participating in the final unanimous vote.

Before secession, he had vocally called for Lee to be arrested for destroying racial harmony through his "Malaysian Malaysia" campaign, which the Malays saw as threatening the special rights granted to them under Article 153 of the Constitution.

Syed Jaafar Albar died on 14 January 1977 and was buried at the Makam Pahlawan (Heroes' Mausoleum) near Masjid Negara, Kuala Lumpur.