KUALA LUMPUR: Pahang Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail has described the late Datuk Abdul Wahab Mohamad Ali as a person who can be relied on and always committed to his duties as a press secretary.

Wan Rosdy said Abdul Wahab was also an important figure who had helped him a lot in carrying out his responsibilities as mentri besar.

“His services and contributions will forever be remembered. May Allah place him among the righteous,” he said in a Facebook post.

Abdul Wahab, 61, died at 5.42pm Tuesday (Jan 11), believed due to blood cancer at Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital, Kuantan, Pahang. He was 61.

Born on Feb 26, 1961, Abdul Wahab was by far the longest-serving press secretary, having served since 1995 and under three Pahang mentris besar, namely Tun Mohd Khalil Yaakob, Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob and the most recent Wan Rosdy.

He began his career on Sept 1, 1984, as a news officer at the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) headquarters in Kuala Lumpur before being transferred to the Pahang bureau in January 1989, and returned to the headquarters in October 1994 as a news desk assistant editor.

Abdul Wahab was first appointed on loan as Pahang mentri besar press secretary on July 1, 1995, before he opted for early retirement from Bernama on June 1, 2006.

After his retirement from Bernama, he continued to serve Khalil, who was then menteri besar, before joining Adnan who took over in 1999 and later with Wan Rosdy, from 2018. – Bernama