KUALA LUMPUR, June 30 (Bernama) -- Former Army chief General (rtd) Tan Sri Zain Hashim died at Selayang Hospital at 3.50pm Thursday due to old age illness.
He was 81.
His remains were brought to his house in Tropicana Indah, Kota Damansara, and then to the Kota Damansara mosque for funeral prayers before burial at 10pm at the Section 9 Muslim cemetery in Kota Damansara.
He leaves a wife, Puan Sri Salifah Mohd Esa and two children, Zubaidah and Zainul Bahrain.
Zain was made a general and Army chief in the Malaysian Armed Forces from Jan 20, 1981 until his retirement on Jan 15, 1984.
Zainul Bahrain, 38, said his late father was admitted to Selayang Hospital since a month ago and last Friday, the doctor said it would be difficult for him to recover.
"But like a soldier, he tried to fight it but he passed away in the presence of family members this afternoon," he said when met at the burial.
Also present was Malaysian Armed Forces chief, General Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin.
Known for his strict discipline, the late Zain was appointed in October 2001 to head a special task force to put the trouble-ridden Malaysian Amateur Athletics Union (MAAU) back on track by the Youth and Sports Minister at the time, Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein, following the Malaysian athletes' poor performance at the SEA Games one month earlier.
