Dato' Sri Haji Mohammad Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak is a Malaysian politician who served as the 6th prime minister of Malaysia from April 2009 to May 2018.
92 Facts About Najib Razak
2.
Najib Razak is the son of former prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein.
3.
Najib Razak was the chairman of the Barisan Nasional coalition from April 2009 to May 2018 and the president of the United Malays National Organisation from November 2008 to May 2018, which had maintained control of Malaysia's government with a parliamentary majority for more than sixty years until the coalition's defeat in the 2018 general election.
4.
Between 1993 and 2009, Najib Razak was a vice-president of UMNO.
5.
Najib Razak led the country through the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disaster and a dispute with North Korea following the assassination of Kim Jong-nam.
6.
In 2015, Najib Razak became implicated in a major corruption scandal involving state investment firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad which led to rallies calling for his resignation, spearheaded by the grassroots movement Bersih.
7.
Najib Razak is currently serving his sentence in Kajang Prison.
8.
Najib Razak was born on 23 July 1953 at the Pahang State Secretary official residence in Bukit Bius, Kuala Lipis, Pahang.
9.
Najib Razak is one of the Four Noblemen of the Pahang Darul Makmur by virtue of his inherited title as the Orang Kaya Indera Shahbandar.
10.
Najib Razak received his primary and secondary education at St John's Institution, Kuala Lumpur.
11.
Najib Razak later attended Malvern College in Worcestershire, England, and subsequently went to the University of Nottingham, where he received a bachelor's degree in industrial economics in 1974.
12.
Najib Razak returned to Malaysia in 1974 and entered the business world, serving briefly in Bank Negara Malaysia and later with Petronas as a public affairs manager.
13.
The eldest son of Malaysian Prime Minister, Abdul Najib Razak Hussein, was elected to the Parliament of Malaysia in 1976 replacing his deceased father in the Pahang-based seat of Pekan.
14.
Najib Razak was first assigned into the Cabinet of Malaysia at the age of 25 when he was appointed Deputy Minister of Energy, Telecommunications and Post in 1978, becoming the youngest deputy minister in the country.
15.
Najib Razak served as the Menteri Besar of Pahang between 1982 and 1986, becoming the youngest Menteri Besar in the state to enter office when he was sworn in at the age of 29.
16.
Najib Razak focused on improving Malaysian sports and introduced the National Sports Policy in 1988.
17.
Najib Razak was appointed head of UMNO Youth's Pekan branch and became a member of UMNO Youth's Executive Council in 1976.
18.
On 26 October 1987, the then leader of the opposition, Lim Kit Siang, called for the Anti-Corruption Agency to investigate how Najib Razak, who was then Pahang MB, could give approval for a logging concession of 2000 acres to a resident of a low-cost housing estate.
19.
Najib Razak asked ACA to investigate whether the logging concessionnaire was in fact a nominee for Najib himself.
20.
In 1987, Najib Razak was selected as the acting head of the Movement of UMNO Youth by Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim after Anwar was asked to contest the post of UMNO Vice-President.
21.
Najib Razak continued to defend his post in party elections held in 1993,1996, and 2004.
22.
Najib Razak later criticised the UN's Somalia operation as putting too much emphasis on military action.
23.
Najib Razak returned to the Ministry of Defence in 2000.
24.
In 1995, Najib Razak left the Defence Ministry for the first time when he was appointed Minister of Education.
25.
Najib Razak's challenge was to respond to Malaysia's newly proclaimed aspiration to become a fully developed nation by 2020.
26.
Najib Razak upgraded teaching certificates to the status of diplomas, so that teachers in that category would receive a higher monthly starting salary.
27.
Najib Razak oversaw the deployment of Malaysian troops as a part of a UN peacekeeping force in 2006, when Malaysia volunteered to help stabilise Lebanon following the 2006 Lebanon War.
28.
French courts investigated allegations of corruption in the purchases of two Scorpene-class submarines, by the Malaysian Ministry of Defence in 2002, at a time when Najib Razak was the minister of defence.
29.
Najib Razak became Deputy Prime Minister and was given a broad portfolio of responsibilities, including oversight of FELDA, the Human Rights Commission, and the Election Commission.
30.
In September 2008, Najib Razak became the Minister for Finance, handing the Defence portfolio to Badawi.
31.
Najib Razak pressed for the country to move beyond existing manufacturing capabilities through education, research and development to develop greater strength as a provider of sophisticated business services.
32.
On 8 October 2008, Prime Minister Badawi announced he would step down in March 2009, paving the way for Najib Razak to succeed him.
33.
Najib Razak ran for the presidency of UMNO and went on to win on 2 November 2008, without contest.
34.
On 26 March 2009, Najib Razak won the UMNO presidency unopposed.
35.
Najib Razak was sworn in as Prime Minister of Malaysia on 3 April 2009 In 2012, Najib assumed the role of women, family and community development minister, a position he held until the 2013 election.
36.
Najib Razak entered office as Prime Minister with a focus on domestic economic issues and political reform.
37.
On his first day as Prime Minister, Najib Razak announced as his first actions the removal of bans on two opposition newspapers, Suara Keadilan and Harakahdaily, run by the People's Justice Party and the Pan Islamic Party, respectively, and the release of 13 people held under the Internal Security Act.
38.
Najib Razak pledged to conduct a comprehensive review of the much-criticised law which allows for indefinite detention without trial.
39.
Najib Razak deferred and abandoned the digital television transition plan of all free-to-air broadcasters such as Radio Televisyen Malaysia.
40.
The eight values of 1Malaysia as articulated by Najib Razak are perseverance, a culture of excellence, acceptance, loyalty, education, humility, integrity, and meritocracy.
41.
Najib Razak has used the site to highlight his policy initiatives and to provide a forum for Malaysians to their government.
42.
Najib Razak has worked to improve relations with Singapore, which is seen by many as Chinese-dominated, to encourage it to invest more heavily in the Malaysian economy.
43.
However, Najib Razak has been criticised for an apparent deterioration of race relations in Malaysia during his tenure that has occurred despite the 1Malaysia programme.
44.
In 2014, the long-serving former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad withdrew his support for Najib Razak citing, among other things, the abandonment by Chinese voters of the Barisan Nasional coalition.
45.
Najib Razak's tenure has been marked by increasingly aggressive racial rhetoric from elements within Najib Razak's UMNO party, particularly towards Chinese Malaysians.
46.
The first BR1M Project was a scheme devised by Najib Razak to help poor Malaysians.
47.
Najib Razak has started to implement comprehensive reform of government subsidies.
48.
Najib Razak said, "there is no logic in the government allocating subsidies worth almost RM1 billion on a commodity that could endanger the people's health".
49.
Since assuming office as Prime Minister, Najib Razak has been monitoring the progress of the stimulus packages on a weekly basis.
50.
Najib Razak visited the West Bank with his wife Rosmah Mansor, escorted by senior officers of the Malaysian government.
51.
Najib Razak became the first Muslim leader from South East Asia to set foot on Palestinian soil.
52.
Najib Razak says Palestinians can count on Malaysia, but for there to be lasting peace, Hamas and Fatah must unite to safeguard the safety and security of the Palestinian people.
53.
Prime Minister Najib Razak's visit in September 2017 to the United States on the invitation of President Donald Trump successfully strengthened the Comprehensive Partnership that was established between Malaysia and the United States in 2014.
54.
Najib Razak enjoyed a close personal relationship with then US President Barack Obama and managed to upgrade Malaysia-US relations to a 'comprehensive partnership' in contrast to the strained relationship between both countries under the rule of former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad, who was critical of the United States.
55.
Prime Minister Najib Razak travelled to India on a five-day state visit in January 2010.
56.
In January 2010, Najib Razak announced plans to develop a new visa regime for Indian nationals, specifically for managers and knowledge workers to visit Malaysia.
57.
In 2010 Najib Razak resolved a key diplomatic problem between the two countries by ending the impasse over transportation links and Singaporean investment in Iskandar Malaysia.
58.
Najib Razak attended the ASEAN-South Korea Summit on 1 June 2009 hosted by South Korean President Lee Myung Bak.
59.
Najib Razak received an honorary doctorate in international relations from the Beijing Foreign Studies University.
60.
Najib Razak has been implicated in the misappropriation of funds in the purchase of littoral combat ships.
61.
In 2022, Najib Razak commented that the project was given to contractor Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd because it was owned by the Armed Forces Fund Board and all profits of the project would thus go to the armed forces.
62.
On 12 May 2018, Najib Razak resigned as President of UMNO and Chairman of BN and was replaced by UMNO vice-president, Hishammuddin Hussein.
63.
Najib Razak accepted the defeat and pledged to facilitate a smooth transfer of power.
64.
Amidst the country's mood turning against him, Najib Razak resigned as the leader of UMNO and Barisan Nasional on the same day.
65.
In January 2019, a 7-second video clip of Najib Razak uttered "Malu Apa Bossku" went viral on the internet.
66.
Najib Razak later released a picture of him posed on a Yamaha Y150 motorcycle with the registration plate 8055KU.
67.
Najib Razak claimed that his "Bossku" phenomenon has contributed to a victory for his party in 2020 Kimanis by-election.
68.
On 6 May 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia, Najib Razak was given two fines amounting to RM3,000 for failing to comply with standard operating procedures of the conditional movement control order at a chicken rice restaurant.
69.
On 11 January 2022, the police opened an investigation into an event attended by Najib Razak over claims that there was a breach of Covid-19 SOPs.
70.
On 27 February 2022, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said he will review a video depicting Najib Razak purportedly violating Covid-19 SOPs during a campaign visit in Perling, Johor.
71.
In 2008, Abdul Najib Razak was acquitted by the High Court of abetment in the murder of Altantuyaa.
72.
Najib Razak has repeatedly denied knowing Altantuya or that he had any part in her death.
73.
Najib Razak denied any wrongdoing and announced plans to sue the newspaper for libel but eventually failed to do so.
74.
The task force confirmed that the six accounts it had just frozen did not belong to Najib Razak but did not name the holders of those accounts Najib Razak's handling of the corruption scandal was criticised by, among others, former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and then Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
75.
Najib Razak stated that the reason for this was to create a more "unified team".
76.
On 1 August 2015, Najib Razak addressed UMNO delegates in Seremban and in a clear reference to the Sarawak Report, the London-based whistleblower site founded and operated by journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown, demanded that "white people" stay out of Malaysia's affairs and stressed that he valued loyalty above all, and not smart people.
77.
Najib Razak further claimed that the Muslim community in the Philippines as well as southern Thailand had received similar donations, and that since the donations were made to Najib personally as opposed to UMNO, the funds were deposited into Najib's personal accounts.
78.
Najib Razak hailed the results of the investigation and reiterated his denial of any wrongdoing.
79.
In September 2016, Najib Razak was identified as "Malaysian Official 1" by Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department and the Barisan Nasional strategic communications director.
80.
Dahlan claimed that Najib Razak was not named because he was "not part of this investigation".
81.
On 8 August 2018, Najib Razak was charged with three further counts of money laundering as part of the MACC's investigation into the 1MDB scandal.
82.
Najib Razak has denied making three transfers totaling RM42 from SRC International into his bank accounts.
83.
On 10 September 2018, Najib Razak posted a copy of the letter that purportedly came from Prince Saud Abdulaziz Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia on his Facebook account, as a proof of the alleged financial donation of US$100mil given to him in 2011.
84.
Najib Razak said he decided to reveal the documents in a bid to clear his name of various accusations and slander, and would continue to do so on his social media accounts.
85.
Najib Razak was charged on 20 September 2018 at the Sessions Court in Jalan Duta.
86.
Najib Razak was given six concurrent sentences of 10 years' imprisonment for the other six charges.
87.
Najib Razak would be appealing against the verdict of the High Court.
88.
Najib Razak's appeal hearing in front of the Court of Appeal of Malaysia began on 5 April 2021.
89.
Najib Razak's lawyer stated that his client, who remained outside prison on bail, would further appeal to the Federal Court of Malaysia against his conviction and sentence.
90.
On 23 August 2022, when the Federal Court was finishing hearing the appeal, Najib Razak's counsel made an application to recuse the Chief Justice Tengku Maimun.
91.
Najib Razak is the first Malaysian former prime minister to be convicted and jailed for corruption.
92.
Najib Razak has four long-haired cats, named Kiki, Leo, Tiger and Simba.