SEREMBAN, Sept 8 — The people of Negeri Sembilan today mourned the passing of their former Tunku Ampuan of Negeri Sembilan Tunku Ampuan Najihah Almarhum Tunku Besar Burhanuddin, who was once dubbed the “People’s Queen’.
Tunku Ampuan Najihah breathed her last today at 6.53am today at the Cardiac Vascular Sentral Kuala Lumpur, at the age of 100.
The former Tunku Ampuan of Negeri Sembilan, who reigned from 1967 to 2008, had also served as the country’s Raja Permaisuri Agong when her husband Tuanku Jaafar Ibni Almarhum Tuanku Abdul Rahman ascended the federal throne as the 10th Yang di-Pertuan Agong from 1994 to 1999.
Born on Sept 1, 1923, in Seri Menanti, Kuala Pilah, Tunku Ampuan Najihah received her early education at the Tengku Mohamad School Kuala Pilah before pursuing tertiary education at the School Of Oriental and African Studies, London.
She married Tuanku Jaafar on August 8, 1942, and they were blessed with three sons and three daughters.
Tuanku Jaafar died in 2008 at the age of 86.
Tunku Ampuan Najihah was known as an active queen who loved sports and was once the president and patron of several associations including the Tunku Ampuan Badminton Team, the Malaysian Women’s Hockey Team, the Malaysian Women’s Golf Association and the Malaysian Girl Guides Association.
She was also the former Chancellor of Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM).
Tunku Ampuan Najihah had also been conferred the Tun Fatimah ‘Srikandi Negara’ Award in 1999.
She was also known as the ‘Lady with a Heart of Gold’ following her commitment and involvement in charity work to help and ensure the well-being of the poor and the underprivileged.
For that, several charity homes and orphanages in the country and in the state were also named after her, such as Taman Sinar Harapan Tuanku Ampuan Najihah, Tuanku Najihah Foundation and Tuanku Najihah Children’s Home. — Bernama
