Rahah Noah


Rahah binti Tan Sri Mohamed Noah is the widow of former Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak and the mother of former Prime Minister Najib Razak. She is the daughter of Mohamad Noah Omar, former Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat.

Biography

Rahah was born on 11 June 1933 in Muar, Johor. She is the youngest of Mohamad Noah Omar's ten children. While attending secondary school in Johor Bahru, Rahah was introduced to Abdul Razak Hussein, by then already an active member of the United Malays National Organisation, by Taib Andak, a friend of Abdul Razak while studying in London. They married on 4 September 1952.
Abdul Razak became the second Prime Minister of Malaysia in 1970. As the prime minister's spouse, she served as President of the Girl Guides Association of Malaysia and patron of the Muslim Women's Action Organisation. In 1976, Razak died in office, leaving Rahah widowed at the relatively young age of 43.
She is the chancellor of Universiti Tun Abdul Razak, the university founded in honour of her husband. Since Abdul Razak was the prime minister who established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, all Chinese ambassadors make a courtesy call on Rahah upon arriving in Malaysia.
In an interview conducted in 2011, Rahah said she spends most of her time attending religious classes with friends.

Family

Abdul Razak and Rahah have five children:
Rahah's sister, Suhaila, was married to Abdul Razak's successor as prime minister, Tun Hussein Onn.

Honours

Honours of Malaysia