Tun Razak’s widow, Najib’s mother dies

Rahah Mohamed Noah, the widow of Malaysia’s second prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein, died today at the age of 87.

Her son, former prime minister Najib Razak, said family members were with her during her final moments at the Prince Court Medical Centre in Kuala Lumpur.

“My mother is no longer with us,” he posted on Facebook.

“No words can describe this loss.”

Johor-born Rahah was the daughter of Mohamad Noah Omar, who served as the first speaker of the Dewan Rakyat following independence.

She was also president of the Girl Guides Association, patron of the Muslim Women’s Action Organisation or Pertiwi, and chancellor of Universiti Tun Abdul Razak.

Razak married Rahah when she was 19. They had five sons, including Nazir Razak, the chairman of CIMB Group.

In a tribute on Mothers’ Day in 2014, Nazir shared how his mother had wanted a daughter.

“Her biggest lifetime disappointment is that she only had sons. In fact, she was so sure that her fifth (me) would finally be a daughter that I only had girls clothes to wear for the first few months of my life!” he said.

“It is to her credit that we remain a close-knit band of brothers. Maybe we all just feel we owe her so much that in the end we always want to please her, and her number one priority is that we remain close. Or maybe she has just subtly instilled a strong bond between her sons,” wrote Nazir.