ZAINAL Abidin Osman, the former Penang Umno liaison committee chairman, died early today at Ampang Hospital.

He was suffering from multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells, a type of white cells that produce antibodies.

His younger brother, Yaakob Osman, said Zainal Abidin died after three weeks at the hospital’s intensive care unit.

“He will be brought home to Penang to be buried at the Sg Acheh Mosque cemetery in Nibong Tebal after Asar prayers today,” he told The Malaysian Insight in a WhatsApp message.

Zainal Abidin, 58, is survived by his father, Osman Md Isa; a widow, Nur Syafiqa Amirol Melvin; and six children. Four of his children are from his first marriage with Shazarina Shamsuddin, who also died of cancer in December 2010.

Popularly known as Tok Non, Zainal Abidin served as a parliamentary secretary to the Rural and Regional Development Ministry, and adviser to the minister.

He was also formerly prime minister Najib Razak’s special adviser on the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) and chairman of JKP Sdn Bhd, a federal government agency.

He was an Umno Supreme Council member in recent years. This year, he sat out of the party polls and the 14th general election.

In the 13th general election, he contested the Nibong Tebal parliamentary seat but lost to PKR’s Mansor Othman. – August 27, 2018.