Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir

Tan Sri Abdul Kadir bin Sheikh Fadzir (Jawi: عبدالقادر بن شيخ فاذر; born 4 June 1939) is a Malaysian politician.^[1] He was formerly the Minister of Culture, Arts and Tourism (1999–2004) and Information Minister (2004–2006) in the Cabinet of Malaysia. He won the Kulim-Bandar Baharu constituency, Kedah since the 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1995, 1999 and 2004 elections but did not contest in 2008.

Education

Attended Malay Tawar School (1946–1949), Sultan Badlishah Secondary School, Kulim (1950–1957). In 1968 he studied at Lincoln's Inn, London majoring in law in 1970.

Career

Abdul Kadir became a teacher at Serdang English School (1958), at Sekolah Kebangsaan Baling (1958–1960), a clerk at the Public Works Department, Alor Star (1960–1963).

He then worked as a General Worker at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1963-1964), Third Secretary of Malaysian High Commissioner, Karachi, Pakistan (1964-1965), Third Secretary at the Malaysian Embassy, Saigon, Vietnam (1966-1968) and Political Secretary to General Welfare Minister (1971-1974)

He became a lawyer in the law firm "Hisham, Sobri and Kadir" (1974-1982).

Personal life

Abdul Kadir married Suraya Mohd Noah and the couple has a twin sons; Erman Abdul Kadir and Erwan Abdul Kadir.^[2]

Abdul Kadir's family got a place in UMNO politics especially in Kedah. Abdul Kadir himself was the Information Minister. His younger brother, Dato' Abd. Aziz Sheikh Fadzir is the former Kuala Ketil seat assemblyman and incumbent Member of the Parliament of Malaysia for the seat of Kulim–Bandar Baharu in the state of Kedah, representing the UMNO. He is an UMNO Youth leader.

His brother, Datuk Haidar Ali Sheikh Fadzir became Federal Territory UMNO Youth chief but died of a bacterial infection in the liver and lungs.

Datuk Musa Sheikh Fadzir became the leader of Bukit Mertajam UMNO and was appointed Senator of the Senate.

Politics

Abdul Kadir was involved in UMNO since 1969. He was the President of UMNO Club, United Kingdom (1969–1970), Kedah UMNO Youth Vice-President (1970–1976), Padang Serai UMNO Deputy Head (1978), Kulim Bandar Baharu Member of Parliament (1978–2004), Kulim Bandar Baharu Division UMNO (1984–1987).

When UMNO was banned from UMNO 11, Abdul Kadir was loyal to Dr Mahathir Mohamad to set up a new UMNO. He joined New UMNO Member (1988) and was elected UMNO Supreme Council Member (1988).

He became Member of the UMNO Supreme Council of the 2000–2003 session. At the UMNO General Assembly 2004 he was not elected in the list of 25 MKT.

After winning the 1978 elections, he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1982), Deputy Foreign Minister (1983), Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade (1990), Deputy Minister of Human Resources (1995) and Deputy Minister of Home Affairs (1999).

Minister of Culture, Arts and Tourism

Former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dr Mahathir Mohamad has appointed Abdul Kadir as the full minister of Culture, Arts and Tourism in 1999. He is also the Chairman of the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (1999).

Minister of Information

In 2004, former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has appointed Abdul Kadir as Information Minister, replacing Datuk Mohd Khalil Yaakob. After his resignation in 2006 from cabinet, Datuk Zainuddin Maidin became Information Minister.

On November 12, 2005, the 24-hour Kedah FM broadcast was launched by the Sultan of Kedah. Abdul Kadir as the Minister of Information was present. The 24-hour broadcast was his brainchild. Abdul Kadir became an 'extra actor' in Mahligai Gading drama, in which Datuk Dr. Maximus Ongkili and Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil also acts.^[3] Jia Yu's channel was officiated by Abdul Kadir as Information Minister on November 17, 2005. 70% of imported content from China and Hong Kong is controlled by Cosmos Discovery. On April 1, 2005, Radio 6 was re-branded as Minnal FM and inaugurated by Datuk Kadir Sheikh Fadzir.

Abdul Kadir has resigned as Information Minister on 14 February 2006.^[2]

Social activities

Abdul Kadir is a friendly, tested and active person in unity. Among them was the Secretary-General of the Afro-Asian People's Organization (Malaysia), Chairman of the Sultan Badlishah Secondary School Students Association, Federal Territory / Selangor Branch and Patron, Kulim District Orphanage Board of Orphanages.

He was one of the leader of the Barisan Nasional veteran who formed and became the deputy president of Angkatan Amanah Merdeka (Amanah) or Independence Trust Forces, a Malaysian Non-Government Organisation (NGO) founded and launched by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah on 22 July 2011.

Exit from UMNO

On March 19, 2012, Tan Sri Abdul Kadir Syeikh Fadzir has made an announcement to leave the party from UMNO party with more than 56 years. According to Dr Raja Ahmad Al-Hiss, the deputy head of the PAS Youth Council (DPPM) vice-chairman, Abdul Kadir's action also gives a clear picture that there is something wrong with UMNO's struggle.^[4]

In the same development, PAS described UMNO veteran Tan Sri Abdul Kadir Syeikh Fadzir to step out of UMNO party as a blow to UMNO president Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself.

PAS vice-president, Datuk Mahfuz Omar, said Kadir's action was to redeem the honor of the BN-led state. Mahfuz believes that Tan Sri Abdul Kadir's actions are a blow to Najib who recently said that the people should not try to impose the future of the country to support the opposition.

Mahfuz also congratulated Kadir on his decision to make the right decision, Mahfuz also said that the cardiac arrest was a 'signal' to the public to reject UMNO.

"I congratulate him for his boldness and this is a decision for the future of our country. It is in line with what Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah once said that UMNO's defeat in the coming elections is good for the country. "^[5]

- Mahfuz Omar

Forming Parti Ikatan Bangsa Malaysia (IKATAN)

Abdul Kadir has formed Parti Ikatan Bangsa Malaysia (IKATAN) or English: Malaysia National Alliance Party on 7 June 2012 along with a few former UMNO members.^[6][7][8] After the IKATAN was forced to wait for more than two years for approval, Abdul Kadir dragged the Registrar of Societies (RoS) to High Court in February 2013 for them to approve the party.^[9] The party was lastly approved on 15 May 2015 with Abdul Kadir as the first president.^[10] IKATAN and Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) later formed an informal Third Force political alliances on 16 March 2016,^[11] which was agreedly called as Gagasan Sejahtera on 13 August 2016.^{[12][13][14][15]}

Election result

Medals and awards

For his services, Abdul Kadir received the federal awards Darjah Panglima Setia Mahkota (PSM) (2007) which carry the title Tan Sri^[18] and the Ahli Mangku Negara (AMN) (1992) by the Yang DiPertuan Agong; Dato' Setia DiRaja Kedah (DSDK) by the Sultan of Kedah (1986) which carries the title of Dato'; Pingat Gagah Darjah Kinabalu (PGDK) by the Yang DiPertua of Sabah and Dato' Paduka Seri Setia Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah (DHMS) by the Sultan of Kedah which carries the title of Dato' Paduka.

He was also awarded the 'Best Tourism Personality for 2001' by the Pacific Regional Tourism Author Association (PATWA) in Berlin.

See also

• Kulim-Bandar Baharu (federal constituency)

References