Abdul Hamid Jumat

Abdul Hamid was born on 12 April 1916[1] in Singapore.[2] His father was Haji Tengku Mashoordin Jumat (Police Inspector and Court Interpreter), and his mother was Aishah Hannan. He attended Raffles Institution.[1]

Abdul Hamid had seven children. His youngest child, Tengku Putra Haron Jumat (born 1963), is a Malaysian politician who is a member of Barisan Nasional.[3] During his political career, Abdul was an acquaintance with Lee Kuan Yew, although they were not in the same political party.[3]

Abdul Hamid as Ambassador of Malaysia to the Federal Republic of Germany during the signing of a capital assistance agreement at German Federal Foreign Office, Bonn.

Abdul Hamid first started out as a skins exporter with his own company until around 1955, when he founded the Singaporean division of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO).[1] Abdul Hamid was a member of political party Labour Front.[4] Following David Marshall's rise to power as Chief Minister in 1955, Abdul Hamid was given the role of Minister for Local Government, Lands, and Housing, making him the first such minister;[1] he was initially intended to be Minister of Communication and Works.[5] Cited as "Singapore's first Malay minister",[3] he carried the position until June 1959; Abdul Hamid subsequently became the "first Singaporean ambassador to Germany".[1] He was ambassador to other countries too, such as Egypt, the Netherlands, and the Philippines.[3] In addition, Abdul Hamid served as Deputy Chief Minister of Singapore from 1956 to 1959.[6] Abdul was conferred the title of Dato' and the Order of the Defender of the Realm, rank Commander of the Order of the Defender of the Realm.[7]

In 1973, Abdul Hamid went back to Malaysia, where he lived most of his later life as ambassador to various countries. He died some five years later in 1978.[3]