Tan Sri Abdullah bin Ahmad (4 July 1933 – 12 June 2016) was a Malaysian journalist and politician from the

United Malays National Organisation The United Malays National Organisation (Abbreviation, abbrev: UMNO; , PEKEMBAR) is a Conservatism, conservative, Nationalism, Malay nationalist political party in Malaysia. As the oldest national political party in the country (since its ince ...

(UMNO). Alumni of Sultan Ismail College, Kota Bharu, Kelantan and at one time, he was the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of the ''

New Straits Times The ''New Straits Times'' is an English-language newspaper published in Malaysia. It is Malaysia's oldest newspaper still in print (though not the first), having been founded as a local offshoot of Singapore-based ''The Straits Ti ...

''. Abdullah Ahmad held significant influence during the administrations of Abdul Razak Hussein and

Mahathir Mohamad Mahathir bin Mohamad (; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author and doctor who was respectively the fourth and seventh Prime Minister of Malaysia, prime minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 2003 and from 2018 to 2020. He was the ...

. On 12 November 2003, he wrote an article criticising

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

n policies that aided the United States invasion of Iraq, among other things. As a result, the Saudi government reduced Malaysian quota for haj. On 21 November of the same year, he "was fired without warning by the daily's management at the request of the ruling UMNO party following a complaint by the Saudi ambassador in Malaysia." UMNO, which is part of the ruling government and holding equity in the papers later stated that he had jeopardised Malaysia's close relationship with Saudi Arabia. He had a contract that was supposed to expire in October 2004. Ahmad died on 12 June 2016, after battling cancer. He was 82. His body was brought back to his hometown in ,

Kelantan Kelantan (; Kelantan-Pattani Malay, Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate''; ) is a state in Malaysia. The capital, Kota Bharu, includes the royal seat of Kubang Kerian. The honorific, honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' ("The Blissful Abode"). ...

Election results

Honours

* : **

Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia (PSM) – Tan Sri (1999) * : ** My-KEL Order of the Life of the Crown of Kelantan 1925-2006

Companion of the

Order of the Life of the Crown of Kelantan Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * H ...

(JMK) **

Knight Grand Commander of the

(SJMK) – Dato' ** MY-KEL Order of the Crown of Kelantan - Star of Muhammad

Knight Commander of the Order of the Crown of Kelantan (DPMK) – Dato' * : ** MY-PAH Order of Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang - Knight Companion - DSAP

Knight Companion of the Order of Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang (DSAP) – Dato' (2000) ** MY-PAH Order of Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang - Grand Knight - SSAP

Grand Knight of the Order of Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang (SSAP) – Dato' Sri (2002) * : ** MY-PEN Order of the Defender of State - Commander - DGPN

Commander of the Order of the Defender of State (DGPN) – Dato' Seri (2002) * : ** MY-SAB Order of Kinabalu - ASDK-ADK-BSK-BK

Member of the Order of Kinabalu (ADK) * : ** MY-SAR Order of the Star of Sarawak - 2 ribbon PNBS -JBS-PBS-ABS-BBS

Knight Commander of the

Most Exalted Order of the Star of Sarawak The ''Darjah Utama Yang Amat Mulia Bintang Sarawak'' (Most Exalted Order of the Star of Sarawak) is the highest state order in the state of Sarawak. It is conferred to those who rendered excellent service towards the development of the state of ...

(PNBS) – formerly Dato', now Dato Sri

References

1937 births 2016 deaths Malaysian politicians of Malay descent Malaysian journalists Malaysian Muslims United Malays National Organisation politicians Commanders of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia Malaysian MPs 1974–1978 Malaysian MPs 1986–1990 {{Asia-journalist-stub