Mohamed Rahmat

Tan Sri Mohamed "Tok Mat" Rahmat (born January 4, 1938 , † January 1, 2010 in Bukit Damansara, Malaysia ) was a Malaysian politician and diplomat .

biography

Rahmat, who was known nationwide as "Tok Mat", was appointed by Prime Minister Hussein Onn as Minister of Information in his cabinet in 1978 and held this office after 1981 under his successor Mahathir bin Mohamad until 1982. He then became ambassador to Indonesia as part of a cabinet reshuffle in the rank of minister and remained in this post until 1984.

In 1987 Prime Minister Mahatir bin Mohamad reappointed him as Minister of Information. He was a member of the cabinet until 1999, and in this role he had a major influence on the country's state radio and television system. Rahmat was not only the initiator of the Setia Bersama Rakyat (Semarak) program, which promoted a strengthening of national awareness, but was also known for having haircut by Malaysian rock musicians such as Awie from the group "Wings" or Amy from the group "Search" demanded if they wanted to appear on programs of the state radio and television broadcaster Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM).

Between 1988 and 1996 he was also General Secretary of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the largest party in the country, and from 1988 to 1999 General Secretary of the multi-party coalition Barisan Nasional (BN) and thus one of the most influential political figures of those years.

Rahmat, who had been on dialysis for more than ten years due to kidney disease, died in his sleep three days before his 72nd birthday , according to his son and member of parliament for the Pulai constituency , Datuk Nur Jazlan.

Web links

• The Star: "Tok Mat dies"