KUALA LUMPUR: To those who knew Tun Suhailah Mohamad Noah, she was more than just the widow of the former Prime Minister Tun Hussein Onn.
To Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, Suhailah was a beloved mother.
At her funeral, he said things would never be the same now that his mother had passed away.
“It’s not the same when you lose your mother. But she went away peacefully,” a grieving Hishammuddin said.
To Suhailah’s grandson – Mohd Rhiza Datuk Ghazi (the eldest son of her daughter Roqiyah Hanim Tun Hussein) – she was a strict but loving grandmother.
“We are going to miss her a lot. She was the best. She was very strict but she was also very loving,” said Mohd Rhiza, who also spoke of Suhailah’s fondness for cooking for her family.
“We always had Sunday lunches (at her house) and that is something that we would miss a lot,” he added.
Datin Halimah Tan Sri Mohd Said, a friend of Suhailah’s and the mother-in-law of her son Datuk Haris Onn Hussein, remembered her as a warm person and a great hostess.
“She had lots of friends and she kept the relationship going throughout the years. Even friends of the late Tun Hussein Onn are still very loyal to her,” said Halimah.
She said that Suhailah’s Hari Raya events were well-known among her friends.
“She was a wonderful hostess. She loved to serve traditional Johorean food,” she said, adding that Suhailah’s passions included interior decoration and her garden.
Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, the wife of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak who was Suhailah’s nephew, expressed her sadness as well.
“She was committed to serving the people of Malaysia, so her passing is not only a loss to her family and friends, but also to Malaysians as a whole,” said Rosmah, who joined Suhailah’s other family members at her funeral.
Former International Trade and Industry Minister Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz echoed the sadness felt by all who knew Suhailah.
“I was sad to hear of her passing. I was very close to her as I knew her from the start of my political career through the late Tun Hussein Onn,” said Rafidah, who also worked with Suhailah when she was establishing the Welfare Association of Wives of Ministers and Deputy Ministers (Bakti).
“She was a friendly and caring person so it was easy for people to get close to her. It was in her nature to be open to people,” she said.
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