Obituary

PDG Dato' Seri Yang Rashdi B. Maason
'Servie Above Self" to the end.........

PDG Dato Seri Yang Rashdi passed away peacefully on Thursday at 2.30am on 3rd July 2008 - one day short of his 83rd birthday. It was also tow days after the 5th anniversary of the funeral of Datin Seri Shamsiah - his life long partner and much loved wife. He was put on rest at the ancestral cemetery near his house in Kampung Buaya, Padang Rengas. Hundreds of people from far and wide, from all levels of society came to pay their respects at the funeral. This was indication of their love and respect fro this great man. Even the Sultan and Raja Permaisuri of Perak a week earlier came to cheer him up at the Hospital.

Who was this great and diminutive man so respected by so many?

To The Rotary Club of Ipoh, Yang Rashdi was no small man nor was his words not heard when he was an active member. He joined the Club on 30th October 1975 when he returned to Ipoh as the Director of Land and Mines from Sabah, where he was a member of the Rotary Club of Kota Kinabalu. His love for history had turned his house into the Club's archives where every conceivable historical document of the Club found safe haven. He was a passionate royalist as he came from a long line of Malay aristocracy (He was later conferred The State Orang Besar Toh Maharaja Indera). Naturally he became the Club's point of reference on protocol and "royal petition writer". Yang Rashdi was appropriately made the President for year 1979 / 80 to coincide with the Club's 50th Anniversary. It proved to be a very busy and active year for the Club - with so many celebrations and projects to organzie. It proved to be a very busy and active year for the Club - with so many celebrations and projects to organize. Among the notable projects were the first Sports for the Disable Children, and a successful International Concert at the Town Hall (Chairman was the late PP EK Yeap) The community project that stands till todya was the planting of the Ipoh Tree opposite the Ipoh Railway Station.

He was ever immaculately dressed, and always had his signature long-strap handbag slung over his right shoulder. His speeches were seldom off the cuff. H would spend hours researching for facts and would personally type his own speeches in flawless English. He was a charmer and was very generous with compliments. He had people working for or seving him voluntarily with little difficulty.

Yang Rashdi was a great man and love by all. His spirit of Rotary "Service Above Self" lived on to the end.

May he rest in peace.

Dato' Mohd Ariff Shaffie
16th July 2008