Najib joins brothers in celebrating father’s memory

“He was never involved in any corrupt practices. Even before he entered public life, he lived a simple life and was known for being thrifty.”

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, following up on a recent statement by his four siblings, conceded that his late father and the second Prime Minister Abdul Razak was a principled man.

In a statement carried by Berita Harian, he recalled his father’s frugality and sense of integrity throughout his years in public service. “He placed the nation’s interest above his own,” said Najib. “His deeds have become public memory.”

“He was never involved in any corrupt practices. Even before he entered public life, he lived a simple life and was known for being thrifty.”

The same statement was also carried by another Malay daily, Utusan Malaysia, which mentioned that Najib was backing the statement by his four siblings concerned that their late father’s memory might be tarnished in the wake of a New York Times (NYT) report. The report was basically about the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and personalities linked to it.

Both papers reported the statement as saying that Razak never used public funds to educate his children. Apparently Mohamed Noah, the late Razak’s father-in-law and a corporate figure, fully footed the bill for his grandchildren’s education. The Hong Kong based Asian Wall Street Journal referred to Mohamed Noah once as the “King of Directors” as he was on the board of many companies.

Najib’s siblings, in the statement last week following the NYT article, said their late father was a man of “utmost integrity” and a frugal man. The statement was issued by Johari Razak, Nizam Razak, Nazim Razak and Nazir Razak. They said the whole family was “concerned” over the NYT report which speculated on their late father’s supposed wealth.

Razak only left two houses for his family, one in Pekan and another in Kuala Lumpur.

“We wish to put on record that Tun Abdul Razak was a highly principled man, well known to all who knew him for his frugality and utmost integrity and any statement or inference to the contrary would be totally false and misleading to his memory and to his service and sacrifices for the nation. We take issue with anyone who taints his memory, whatever the motive,” said the statement. “We would also like to add that our whole family is united on this issue.”

Razak became Prime Minister on September 22, 1970 at the age of 48.

He died in London from leukemia on January 14, 1976, leaving behind five sons.