KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 ― Former minister of Rural and Regional Development Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Shamsuddin died at 11.52pm yesterday.
He was 82.
His demise was announced by the Malay Consultative Council in a posting on its official Facebook page.
“The funeral prayer will be held at Bukit Damansara after the Subuh prayer on Saturday. However, we do apologise as the standard operating procedure under this CMCO (conditional movement control order) only allows 20 people to attend it.
“His remains will be laid to rest in Gopeng, Perak,” it said.
The Council also called on the public to pray for Tan Sri Abdul Aziz’s soul to be blessed and placed among the righteous and the pious.
Abdul Aziz’s political career began when he joined Umno in Port Klang in 1969.
In 1975, he was appointed as the Special Officer to the then Minister of Education Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and then as the Private Secretary (1981-1999) when the latter was made the country’s fourth prime minister.
Abdul Aziz was also the Shah Alam Member of Parliament from 2004 to 2008 and a former Umno Supreme Council member.
In Gopeng, Abdul Aziz’s eldest son, Mohd Nazasli, 52, said his father’s remains were bathed and shrouded and brought to the At-Taqwa Mosque in Taman Tun Dr Ismail in Kuala Lumpur for the funeral prayer after the Subuh prayer.
He said his father was laid to rest at the Gunung Mesah Muslim cemetery at 9.20am after the hearse carrying the remains arrived in Gopeng at 8.30am.
Mohd Nazasli said his father, who suffered from a heart ailment, breathed his last at the Ara Damansara Medical Centre, Selangor a few minutes before midnight yesterday.
“He was admitted to the hospital five weeks ago following a medical check-up,” he told reporters when met at the cemetery.
Abdul Aziz leaves behind wife Puan Sri Rosmawati Abdul Ghaffar, two sons and two daughters.
Among those present at the cemetery to pay their last respects were the Prime Minister’s Political Secretary Saiful Adli Mohd Arshad and Orang Besar Jajahan Kampar, Toh Sedewa Raja Datuk Abdul Talib Abd Fahmi. ― Bernama
