Dato' Abdullah Ahmad

Dato' Abdullah Ahmad was born on 4 July 1937 in Machang, Kelantan. Early education was at the pretigious Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK). He obtained his Masters of Letters from Cambridge University and is a Fellow of Centre for International Affairs as well as a Congressional Fellow of the American Political Science Association.

Dato' Abdullah Ahmad was a political advisor to the then prime minister of Malaysia, Tun Abdul Razak bin Hussein between 1962-1976. Between 1974-1976, he held the dual posts of deputy minister and political advisor in the prime minister's department.

Dato' Abdullah Ahmad was detained under the Internal Security Act following a power struggle in the Malay ruling party of UMNO after the demise of Tun Abdul Razak in 1976. He was subsequently released from detention by Dato' Seri Dr Mahathir on 30 July 1981.

Dato' Abdullah was a member of Parliament for Machang from 1974 to 1978 and Kok Lanas in Kelantan between 1986-1990. He was also the UMNO representative on the National Economic Consultative Council (NECC) from 1989 to 1991. Dato' Abdullah was also briefly deputy minister of Science, Technology and Environment in 1976.

His involvement in UMNO includes the distinction as a member of the party's Supreme Council (1974-1976), chairman of the Machang (1973-1978, 1985 and again in 1995) and Kok Lanas (1986-1994) divisions. In addition, he was also the senior assistant whip in Parliament during Tun Abdul Razak's administration.

Presently, Dato' Abdullah is the chairman of Capital Insurance Bhd Group and Export Cars Corporation as well as a director in several companies including the Utusan Melayu Group of Newspapers. He is also a trustee of the Trustee of Cambridge (Malaysia) Foundation and that of the Malaysia Commonwealth Studies Centre at Cambridge.

Dato' Abdullah Ahmad is currently on leave from University of Malaya where he is a PhD student working on Kelantan Politics 1900-1990. He was appointed by the government as Malaysia's special envoy to the United Nations on 2 June 1996, assuming office in New York on 25 June 1996. He writes a weekly column entitled "Notes from UN" for the national daily Sun (every Sunday) and is a regular contributor for Utusan Malaysia.

Dato' Abdullah is married to Datin Fauziah Abdullah, a former Counsellor at the Malaysian High Commission in London. They have three children; a daughter and two sons.

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