Kuala Lumpur - Former deputy minister of labour and manpower Datuk Abdullah Majid, 85, died in his sleep from natural causes at his home in Taman Desa early Wednesday.
Abdullah leaves his wife Datin Hamidah Hussein, son Rozhan Anuar, 43, and daughter Rozana Meili, 44.
His niece, Adlina Wahab, said the family members only realised about 6am that Abdullah had passed away. His remains were taken to the Tun Abdul Aziz Mosque in Petaling Jaya for the funeral prayer before being taken to his village, Kampung Durian Sebatang in Dong, Raub, Pahang for burial.
Abdullah, who graduated from the University of Malaya in Singapore in 1953, started his government career as a development officer with the Penang City Council, before taking up various government postings, including as the senior assistant director of Wisma Putra's external information division.
On October 1970, he was appointed as Tun Abdul Razak's press secretary when Razak was the deputy prime minister and also until Razak was appointed prime minister.
Abdullah left the post in August 1974 to contest the Raub parliamentary seat in the general election that year and won. He was then appointed parliamentary secretary to the Prime Minister's Department.
Two years later, he was transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and when Tun Hussein Onn was appointed prime minister after the demise of Razak, Abdullah was promoted as labour and manpower deputy minister in March 1976.
From November 1976, Abdullah was detained under the Internal Security Act for four years because he was believed to be a subversive element. He was given a conditional release in May 1977, and the conditions were lifted on November 2, 1981.
During his university days, Abdullah was active in student activities and was detained by the Singapore government in January 1951. He was released in June 1952 and allowed to continue his university studies.
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