Abdul Rahman Dahlan

In this Malay name, there is no surname or family name. The name Dahlan is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by their given name, Abdul Rahman.

Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Abdul Rahman bin Dahlan (Jawi: عبدالرحمن بن دحلان; born 24 November 1965) is a Malaysian politician. He is the former Minister in the Prime Minister's Department and the Minister of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government. He had served as the Member of Parliament (MP) of Malaysia for the Kota Belud constituency in Sabah from 2008 to 2018. He is a member and Division Chief of Tuaran of the United Malay National Organisation (UMNO) party, a component of Barisan Nasional (BN).^[1]

Yang Berbahagia Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Abdul Rahman Dahlan SPDK PGDK SMW DIMP ADK
عبدالرحمن دحلان‎
Abdul Rahman in 2014
Ministerial roles
2013–2016	Minister of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government
2016–2018	Minister in the Prime Minister's Department
Faction represented in Dewan Rakyat
2008–2018	Barisan Nasional
Other roles
2021–	Chair of board of directors of Universiti Malaysia Sabah
Personal details
Born	Abdul Rahman bin Dahlan (1965-11-24) 24 November 1965 (age 58) Sabah, Malaysia
Political party	United Malays National Organisation (UMNO)
Other political affiliations	Barisan Nasional (BN) Perikatan Nasional (PN) Muafakat Nasional (MN)
Spouses	Datin Seri Panglima Norazlina binti Tan Sri Awang Had ​ ​ (m. 1999)​ Datin Seri Vie Shantie Haroon Khan ​ ​ (m. 2019)​
Children	Kencana Putera Karisma Putera Kaseh Raina Vie Raissa
Alma mater	Sonoma State University
Occupation	Politician

Abdul Rahman was elected to Parliament in the 2008 general election for the UMNO-held seat of Kota Belud,^[2] after UMNO dropped its incumbent member Salleh Said Keruak.^[3] Before his election he was a party official for UMNO.^[4]

On 16 May 2013, after the 2013 general elections he was appointed Minister of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government under the cabinet of Prime Minister Najib Razak.^[5] On 28 June 2016, he was appointed to be the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of Economic Planning Unit. He was the first Sabahan to hold the EPU position.

In 2018, he was widely acknowledged as the person entrusted by the Prime Minister to secure Saudi Aramco's US$7 billion investment in Malaysia.^[6]

In the 2018 general elections, Abdul Rahman had switched to contest the Sepanggar parliamentary seat but had lost to Azis Jamman of Sabah Heritage Party (WARISAN).^[7]

Most people attributed his loss in Sepanggar to an incorrect strategy by the party top leadership, knowing that Abdul Rahman was still hugely popular in Kota Belud constituency which he had represented for 10 years. Despite Abdul Rahman's strong objection, the party went ahead with the decision to put him as a candidate in Sepanggar. In the end, the instruction for him to switch to Sepanggar, a new constituency for him, barely 3 months before the parliamentary general election in 2018 was proven flawed and disastrous for the party. UMNO lost both in Sepanggar and Kota Belud parliamentary seats, the latter because of voters’ anger towards UMNO for issuing instruction to Abdul Rahman to contest in Sepanggar.

In January 2021, Abdul Rahman was appointed the Chairman of Board of Directors, Universiti Malaysia Sabah for a period of three years. He pledged to solve the construction delays afflicting the university's teaching hospital and the students housing projects.^[8]

Marriage and children

Rahman married former News Anchor NTV7 Nor Azlina Tan Sri Awang Had in 1999. Together they have three children (two boys, one daughter), a few years later he married again former wife Malaysian actor Eizlan Yusof named Vie Shantie Khan. Rahman has a daughter with her.

Election results

Parliament of Malaysia^{[2][9][10][11]}

Year	Constituency	Candidate		Votes	Pct	Opponent(s)		Votes	Pct	Ballots cast	Majority	Turnout
2008	P169 Kota Belud		Abdul Rahman Dahlan (UMNO)	17,842	54.62%		Saidil @ Saidi bin Simoi (PKR)	14,822	45.38%	33,710	3,020	78.27%
2013			Abdul Rahman Dahlan (UMNO)	21,768	51.44%		Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis (PKR)	16,673	39.40%	43,502	5,095	84.52%
							Jalumin Bayogoh (STAR)	2,709	6.40%
							Lamsil Amidsor (IND)	979	2.31%
							Kanul Gindol (IND)	185	0.44%
2018	P171 Sepanggar		Abdul Rahman Dahlan (UMNO)	15,436	32.30%		Azis Jamman (WARISAN)	28,420	59.47%	49,012	12,984	78.53%
							Jeffrey Kumin (SAPP)	2,958	6.19%
							Robert Sopining (PCS)	971	2.03
2022	P169 Kota Belud		Abdul Rahman Dahlan (UMNO)	20,566	38.06%		Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis (WARISAN)	25,148	46.54%	55,272	4,582	67.64%
							Madeli @ Modily bin Bangali (PKR)	8,323	15.40%

Honours

•  Pahang :
  • Knight Companion of the Order of the Crown of Pahang (DIMP) – Dato' (2005)
•  Sabah :
  • Member of the Order of Kinabalu (ADK) (2001)^[12]
  • Commander of the Order of Kinabalu (PGDK) – Datuk (2013)^[13]
  • Grand Commander of the Order of Kinabalu (SPDK) – Datuk Seri Panglima (2017)^[14]
•  Federal Territory (Malaysia) :
  • Grand Commander of the Order of the Territorial Crown (SMW) – Datuk Seri (2017)^[15]

References

1. "Abdul Rahman bin Haji Dahlan, Y.B. Dato' Haji". Parliament of Malaysia. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
2. "Keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum Parlimen/Dewan Undangan Negeri". Election Commission of Malaysia. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Percentage figures based on total turnout (including votes for candidates not listed).
3. "Amir Kahar, Salleh axed but 'controversial' Bung included in Umno list". The Star. Star Publications (Malaysia). 22 February 2008. Archived from the original on 22 June 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
4. "Sabah Umno's new faces vow to work hard". Daily Express (Malaysia). 22 February 2008. Archived from the original on 21 June 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
5. "Full minister a big responsibility – Abdul Rahman". The Borneo Post. 16 May 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
6. ADNAN, VEENA BABULAL and AHMAD SUHAEL (28 February 2018). "Saudi Aramco to invest US$7b in Malaysia | New Straits Times". NST Online. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
7. Kristy Inus (10 May 2018). "Rahman loses Sepanggar, congratulates Azis Jamman via Twitter". New Straits Times. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
8. Hasan, Che Hasruddin Che (5 March 2021). "UMS Hospital to start ops next year". ums.edu.my. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
9. "SEMAKAN KEPUTUSAN PILIHAN RAYA UMUM KE - 14" (in Malay). Election Commission of Malaysia. Archived from the original on 13 September 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2018. Percentage figures based on total turnout.
10. "Malaysia General Election". undiinfo Malaysian Election Data. Malaysiakini. Retrieved 4 February 2018. Results only available from the 2004 election.
11. "The Star Online GE14". The Star. Retrieved 24 May 2018. Percentage figures based on total turnout.
12. "Senarai Penerima Darjah Kebesaran, Bintang dan Pingat Sabah Tahun 2001" (PDF). www.sabah.gov.my.
13. "235 receive state awards from Head of State". Borneo Post. 14 November 2013. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
14. "Rahman Dahlan heads list of Sabah honours". Avila Geraldine. New Straits Times. 6 October 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
15. "'Strive for people's wellbeing'". Bernama. The Star. 2 February 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2018.

External links

• Abdul Rahman Dahlan on Facebook