Ali Ahmad (politician)

Ali was first elected to Parliament when he won the Pontian Selatan seat in the 1964 Malaysian general election under the Alliance ticket, a seat he successfully defended in the 1969 Malaysian general election unopposed.

Ali was the UMNO Division chief of Pontian after Pontian Selatan and Pontian Utara Parliamentary seat were merged before 1974 Malaysian general election.^[2] In the election, he won the newly created seat, Pontian by a walkover.

Ali was first appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the then finance minister, Tan Siew Sin in 1964, in the third Tunku Abdul Rahman cabinet and was one of the young office-holders of the said position at only 34 years of age. He continued as assistant to Tan Siew Sin in the final cabinet of Tunku Abdul Rahman in 1969 and was promoted to Deputy Finance Minister in the first cabinet of Tun Abdul Razak. He then switched his portfolio as Deputy Minister of Home Affairs in the January 1973 cabinet reshuffle with fellow UMNO politician, Mohamed Yaacob, after the admittance of Malaysian Islamic Party in the Alliance-led government.^[3] In another Cabinet reshuffle on August the same year after the death of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs Ismail Abdul Rahman, he was appointed as Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports,^[4] a post he retains in the 1974 Razak cabinet after the 1974 election. He holds this position until 1976, when his portfolio was changed to Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development under the new prime minister Hussein Onn's cabinet, his final position in the government.^[5]

He was married to Datin Halimah Abdul Rahim, with 5 daughters.^[6]

On 4 December 1977, while he was still Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, he was one of the passengers killed in Malaysian Airline System Flight 653 plane crash at Tanjung Kupang,^[7] along with his press secretary Hood Fadzil.^[8] Ali was 47 years old.^[6] He was returning to Kuala Lumpur after a visit to Perlis.^[9]

Parliament's Dewan Rakyat on the next day observed a minute silence before the start of meeting as a sign of respect of Ali and others who perished in the tragedy.^[10][6]

The remains of Ali was buried, along with remains of other victims of the crash, in a common burial site at Jalan Kebun Teh, Johor Bahru.^[11]

Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Dato` Ali Hj Ahmad, a secondary school in Pontian, Johor, is named after him.