This evening a class mate from MCKK posted this blast from the past... a news item of one of our very own who tragically passed away nineteen years ago : Yahaya Ahmad....and my thoughts turned to the last time I saw him.
It was at a lunch for classmates in that hotel (whose name escapes me now) opposite PWTC. As usual Yahaya had to leave early but he did the right thing before leaving.....he paid for our bill...all of it...as always he was generous to a fault.
As I look at this image of him I remember that I was in Perth at the time of his passing. I did not really remember what it was that distracted me from the TV as the news was being read but I distinctively remember hearing the newsreader said "...Malaysia's Car Tycoon died in a helicopter crash...." and I knew instinctively and instantly that it was Yahaya.
It has been nineteen years since you left us brother and yet I know that I would not be surprised if you had walked into another of our old boys gathering to meet and greet us with that booming voice of yours....for we know that in our heads, you are still with us, in spirit, in our thoughts and in our prayers. Until we meet again brother.....
Millionaire behind Lotus killed in crash
The Malaysian millionaire Tan Sri Yahaya Ahmad, who took control
of the Norfolk-based car maker Lotus in a pounds 51m deal last year,
was killed along with his wife in a helicopter crash on Monday, it was
disclosed yesterday.
The news cast a pall over the Hethel factory,
shocking Lotus's 1,100 workers and producing a flood of tributes to Mr
Yahaya, who was a close friend of the Malaysian Prime Minister Dr
Mahathir Mohamad, and one of the country's most powerful businessmen.
Mr Yahaya, 50, was chairman of the giant Malaysian holding company
Hicom, which owns the car maker Proton and several other industrial,
export, finance and banking companies.
He invested pounds 10m of his personal fortune in the takeover of
Lotus last October, taking a 16 per cent stake in the company. Proton
took a further 64 per cent giving the Malaysians a controlling 80 per
cent stake.
News of his death emerged on the same day as Lotus announced further
investment at the Hethel plant on new engine test facilities. Under its
new ownership, production is being expanded to 2,500 cars a year with
output of the Elise model due to increase from 750 last year to 1,900 in
1997. Production of the Esprit is expected to rise from 300 to 400 cars
a year.
A spokesman said that Mr Yahaya's death would not affect its
investment plans although he was unable to say what would happen to his
shareholding.
Romano Artioli, the Italian entrepreneur and former Lotus chairman
who brokered last autumn's deal and still retains a 20 per cent minority
stake, said: "Tan Sri was a great friend of Lotus who believed in the
company traditions and appreciated the exceptional ability of its
engineers. He had a great vision for the future of the company and we
will ensure that we succeed in carrying through this vision."
Mr Yahaya and his wife were killed flying to the eastern state of
Pahang. The pilot of the helicopter was also killed. The cause of the
crash is under investigation.
An automotive engineer who gained a degree from Loughborough
University, Mr Yahaya was one of a handful of well- connected ethnic
Malay, or "Bumiputera" entrepreneurs groomed to boost efficiency and
bolster exports from Malaysia's lumbering state enterprises. In 1995, he
took the reins of Malaysia's "national" car maker, Proton.
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