Mohamad Noah Omar

This is a Malay name; the name Omar is a patronymic, not a family name, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Mohammad Noah.

Tan Sri Haji Mohammad Noah bin Omar (1865–1991) was a Malaysian politician. He was one of the leading figures during the founding of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and became the first Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat.

Early Life

Noah Omar was born in Muar, Johor in 1865. He is a descendant of the 17th century Bugis Raja Chempa. His ancestors were the aristocratic Oran Kaya of Muar. He attended the Syrian Protestant College in Beirut, Lebanon, after which he acquired the nickname "Noah Beirut". After returning, he worked as a lorry driver and clerk before joining the Johor civil service.^[1]

Career

Politics

Noah was very active in the Malayan nationalist movement along with his contemporaries, Onn Jaafar, Haji Anwar bin Abdul Malik and Haji Syed Alwi bin Syed Sheikh al-Hadi. Together they founded UMNO on 1 May 1946 as a means to rally the Malays against the Malayan Union, which was perceived as threatening Malay privileges and the position of the Malay rulers.

After independence, he became the first Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat, the lower house of Parliament between 1959 and 1964. Subsequently, he was President of the Dewan Negara, the upper house, from 1968 to 1970.

Business

Noah together with Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong formed a private company called Genting Highlands Berhad, which was set up on 27 April 1965. Tan Sri Lim successfully obtained approval for the alienation of 12,000 acres (49 km²) and 2,800 acres (11 km²) of land from the Pahang and Selangor state governments respectively between the years 1965 and 1970. Genting Highlands is currently Malaysia's only casino and highland resort.

Family

Noah married twice, firstly to Siti Aminah Kusuma and then to Maimun Abdul Manaf. His children from his first marriage are Rahah, the widow of Tun Abdul Razak, who was Prime Minister from 1970 to 1976, Suhaila, the widow of Tun Hussein Onn, who was Prime Minister from 1976 to 1981, and Fakhriah, who married Abdullah Ahmad, a member of the Johor royal court.^[2] Noah and Siti Aminah had an elder child, Nabiha, who died at a young age.^[1] His grandsons Najib Abdul Razak is now the Prime Minister, while Hishamuddin Hussein is the current Minister of Home Affairs.

His second wife Maimun bore him his only son, Abu Rais.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Johan Jaaffar (2010-06-05). "Weaving the life stories of 'The Three Swans'". New Straits Times: p. 27. 
2. ^ "Najib’s three beloved ‘swans’". The Malaysian Insider. 2010-05-31. http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/najibs-three-beloved-swans/. 

Political offices
First Office created	Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat 1 September 1959 – 29 February 1964	Succeeded by Syed Esa Alwee
Preceded by Syed Sheh Hassan Barakbah	President of the Dewan Negara 24 February 1969 – 28 July 1970	Succeeded by Abdul Hamid Khan Sakhawat Ali Khan

Persondata
Name	Mohamad Noah, Omar
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1865
Place of birth
Date of death	1991
Place of death