Y. A. M. Tunku Abdullah is the youngest son of the late D. Y. M. M. Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Yang Di-Pertuan Besar (Sovereign Ruler) of Negeri Sembilan and the first Yang Di-Pertuan Agung (King) of Malaysia.

Tunku Abdullah was born in Sri Menanti in 1925. He received his college education in Japan until the end of the Second World War. He continued his studies at Raffles College in Singapore and later studied Public Administration at Glasgow University, Scotland.

On his return to Malaya, he joined the Malay Administrative Service/Malaya, Civil Service and climbed the ranks to become a senior official in the Federal Government. During this time, his other main interest was the development of youth as President of the Malaysian Association of Youth Clubs and was subsequently elected President of Malaysian Youth Council and the Asian Youth Council. All of this experience stood him in good stead during the 10 years he served as a Member of Parliament and as the Assistant Whip of the ruling party. In 1965, he was appointed Secretary-General of the First Bumiputra Economic Congress.

Tunku Abdullah's keen acumen as an administrator, an organizer, a leader of people and a politician, proved very useful in business. He began his business empire by managing a construction company. Later through a JV with foreign companies, he went into the beverage business and with some foreign and local partners, established later on, his own travel agency.

In 1974, he established the family holding company to consolidate his personal investment in several businesses. Apart from being the Melewar Group Berhad Chairman, Tunku Abdullah is also the chairman of the Boards of MAA Holdings Berhad and Melewar Industrial Group Berhad. Apart from being the director of various non-listed family companies, he is directly managing Masterconsult Sdn. Bhd. and the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club.

Education

• Malay College, Kuala Kangsar
• Kokusai Gaku Yukai, Tokyo (May to December 1943)
• Miyazaki Koto Norin Gakko  (December 1943 to February 1945)
• Fukuoka Koto Gakko (February to August 1945)
• Raffles College, Singapore
• University of Glasgow, Scotland

Experiences

Y. A. M. Tunku Abdullah served in the Malay Administrative Service and the Malaysian Civil Service from 1952 to 1963. Later, he served as an elected member of the Parliament for 10 years for the constituency of Rawang. While he was a member of Parliament, he was appointed as the first Secretary-General of the Bumiputra Economic Congress.

He was very active in the Malaysian Association of Youth Clubs and was President for 19 years. In 1966, he was elected as the President of Malaysian Youth Council. He did not seek re-election in 1972. He was an Executive of the World Assembly of Youth 1968-1970. As founder of the Asian Youth Council with membership from 14 countries, he served as President from 1972-1979.

In 1963, he was responsible for the formation of the National Construction Co. Ltd. (now known as Binaan Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.), the first major Bumiputra construction company, where he was the Chairman.

In 1964, he set up the Malaysian operations of the United Kingdom firm of Duncan, Gilbey and Matheson Ltd. , an organisation dealing in the blending and bottling of beverages to which he was the Managing Director.

In 1973, Y. A. M. Tunku Abdullah formed Melewar Holdings Sdn. Bhd., a holding company for consolidating the majority of the various interests and investments of his family, in 22 companies.

Besides being the Chairman of The Melewar Corporation Bhd., and the companies and their subsidiaries, he was also the Chairman of :

• MBf Finance Berhad
• MBf Holdings Berhad
• MBf Capital Berhad
• Malayan Cement Berhad
• Taisho Marine and Fire Insurance (M) Sdn. Bhd.
• PWE Industries Berhad
• George Town Holdings Berhad
• Nusantara Steel  Sdn. Bhd.
• Aokam Perdana Berhad
• Toshiba Electronics Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.
• Gentali (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.