Former Agriculture Minister Dr Sulaiman Daud, who died in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, was buried at the Kuching Division Mosque Cemetery at 1.20pm, next to the grave of his wife Naemah Hasbi.

NONE All four children of Sulaiman - Dr Mahadhir, Norshida, Zelda Raha and Azman - attended the burial ceremony, at which the Grand Imam of the State Mosque, ustaz Jouji Suhaili, recited the "tahlil" prayers.

Earlier, prayers were held at the Kuching Division Mosque, also led by Jouji.

This morning, Sarawak Yang Dipertua Negeri Muhammad Salahuddin Abang Barieng, Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud and several state ministers paid their last respects at the family home in Kuching.

 

Sulaiman died of liver cancer at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital at 8.10am yesterday. He was 77. His wife had died in 2005.

Sulaiman, who was a former vice-president of Sarawak's Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) and a former MP for Petra Jaya, had held various federal ministerial posts.

NONE He was first appointed federal territory minister on March 19, 1981.

He also served as education minister (from 1981 to 1984 and from 1991 to 1995), culture, youth and sports (1984 to 1986), land and regional development minister (1986 to 1989), minister in the Prime Minister's Department (1989 to 1990), domestic trade and consumer affairs minister (1990 to 1991) and, finally, as agriculture minister (1995 to 1999).

The Kuching-born Sulaiman held a PhD in dentistry from the University of Otago, New Zealand, and had served as a dentist with the Sarawak government and the Brunei Medical Department in the 1960s.

- Bernama