Sulaiman Ninam Shah

Sulaiman bin Ninam Shah (January 2, 1920 – July 5, 2003) was a Malaysian businessman and politician. He helped start the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and was its Permanent Chairman from 1976 to 2003.

On June 22, 2002, at 5:50 PM, as the UMNO meeting was almost over, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad suddenly announced he was resigning as both UMNO president and prime minister. This surprised everyone there. Sulaiman, who was leading the meeting, stood up to ask everyone to stay calm. Then, Sulaiman called for a 10-minute break.

In June 2003, Sulaiman couldn’t attend the 54th UMNO assembly because of health problems. This was the last assembly before Mahathir Mohamad was going to retire. Sulaiman was very upset about missing it. During the assembly, Mahathir prayed for his quick recovery.

Sulaiman died from leukaemia on 5 July 2003, at the age of 83, at Pantai Medical Centre in Kuala Lumpur. He was buried at 6th Mile Muslim Cemetery in Muar, Johor. After visiting to offer condolences, Mahathir praised his contributions to UMNO and the country.

References

Category:1920 births
Category:2003 deaths
Category:Malaysian businesspeople
Category:Malaysian politicians
Category:Deaths from leukemia