First managing director of MAS dies at 87

PETALING JAYA: The first managing director of Malaysia Airlines, Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman, has died at at the age of 87.

He passed away in his sleep at the Gleneagles Kuala Lumpur hospital in Ampang Wednesday (Jan 22) night.

In an immediate reaction, the National Union of Flight Attendants Malaysia (Nufam) posted heartfelt condolences on its Facebook page.

“Our heartfelt condolences to the family and relatives of the late Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Bin Abdul Rahman, former chairman of Malaysia Airlines System Berhad, who passed away peacefully late last night, ” said Nufam in its post.

Abdul Aziz was the chief executive officer and managing director of Malaysia Airlines from 1982 to 1992. He left the company with a RM5bil surplus when he retired.

Abdul Aziz’s granddaughter Liyana Khairul Azman, 30, also expressed heartfelt condolences over his passing.

“He had pretty much forgotten a lot of things when he was sick. But whenever he watched anything legal related on the news, his face would light up and he’d say a few things related to the news. It was nice to see, as law was his first love, ” she said.

“He waited for everyone who loved him to come to the hospital before passing away.

"He waited for my grandma. Everyone was there. That was my grandpa. Considerate and kind till the very end, ” she added.

Meanwhile, Bernama reports that funeral prayers for Abdul Aziz were held at the Saidina Umar Mosque in Bukit Damansara here at 9am Thursday (Jan 23) before his remains were laid to rest at the Bukit Kiara Muslim Cemetery nearby.