Tajuddin Abdul Rahman

Tajuddin bin Abdul Rahman (Jawi: ; born 17 January 1948) is a Malaysian politician. He has also been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Pasir Salak since March 2008 and the former Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry from May 2013 to May 2018 under former Prime Minister Najib Razak. He is a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), a major component party in the ruling Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition.
Tajuddin has also served as a member of the Perak State Legislative Assembly, for Kampung Gajah from 2004 to 2008.
Background.
He attended school at Seri Perak Secondary School, Teluk Intan. He then earned a Bachelor of Economics degree from University of Malaya.
Politics.
Tajuddin has been in politics since the early 1980s around Wednesday, Chenderong Balai, Kampung Gajah, Pasir Salak and Teluk Intan. He became Head of UMNO Youth Division Pasir Salak (1982-1988) and as UMNO Youth Movement Exco from 1986 to 1988.
In 1987, he and UMNO youth lineage gathered at the TPCA Stadium, Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur. Following that, he was arrested by ISA in Operation Lalang with Ibrahim Ali, Fahmi Ibrahim and others. He always compared UMNO's struggle with Lela Pandak Lam's struggle against James W.W. Birch.
In 1988 after the establishment of UMNO Baru, he was barred from re-joining UMNO for being accused of joining Semangat 46. However, in 1990 he was re-accepted as a member of UMNO after the allegations were baseless.
In 1995 he was sacked by the UMNO Supreme Council for involvement in money politics of RM6 million for the post of Pasir Salak division chief who was then held by Perak Menteri Besar Tan Sri Ramli Ngah Talib. At that time, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim became Deputy Prime Minister and strongly supported Tan Sri Ramli. In 1998 he was re-elected to UMNO unconditionally and was elected as Pasir Salak UMNO deputy leader without contest in 2000.
In UMNO's Pasir Salak politics, he joined Datuk Megat Junid Megat Ayub against Tan Sri Ramli.
In the 2004 General Election, he defeated Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) candidate, Mustafa Shaari in Kampung Gajah, Perak. In the UMNO assembly in September 2004, he was elected by Perak UMNO to debate the economic proposal.
In the 2008 General Election, he defeated Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) candidate, Mustaffa Kamil Ayob in the Pasir Salak parliamentary constituency. He won with a majority of 2,688 votes. He earned 16,928 votes compared to his opponent with only 14,240 votes.
GLCs chairman.
On September 22, 2008, Tajuddin was appointed Chairman of Felcra, a government-owned GLC company to rehabilitate abandoned land like along the Perak River and throughout the country. This idle land is derived from a small rubber plantation that is no longer economical and replaced with oil palm. While the new land is planted with paddy and cocoa systematically like Seberang Perak, Perak. Previously, the chairman of Felcra was Datuk Nasarudin Hashim. He has founded the TAJ College which operates in Felda Trolak, Behrang, Perak.
Tajuddin was appointed as the chairman of Prasarana Malaysia Bhd (Prasarana) beginning 1 May 2020.
Controversies.
Tajuddin was sacked from Umno in 1995 following allegations that he had paid RM6 million to secure his position as a division chief. who was tied to allegations of corruption in the award of a RM1.3 billion 23-year concession to his company to build the MARA University of Technology (UiTM) Tapah campus. He is notorious for releasing controversial statements such as threatening "to slap" Malaysian Chinese citizens who take their complaints outside Malaysia.
Tajuddin has been described as an "outspoken" member of Parliament.
In a debate in the Dewan Rakyat on May 6, 2008, Tajuddin pledged to sue Azmin Ali from PKR if he continues to convict him with the 'six million dollar man' controversy for the purpose of gaining the post of UMNO division chief. He also claimed to be sacked from UMNO by Anwar Ibrahim then because Anwar wanted to become Prime Minister of Malaysia.
On November 5, 2008, he described then opposition Member of Parliament (MP) M. Kulasegaran a "bastard" and a "bloody bastard" in Parliament because the opposition of the Member of Parliament (MP) M. Kulasegaran made the claim that Tajuddin "was hated by Indians in Pasir Salak". Tajuddin Abdul Rahman also challenged M Kulasegaran to "settle outside the House of Commons". He also labelled M. Kulasegaran "rude". However, the Deputy Speaker of Dewan Rakyat, Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar distracting Tajuddin to take back his bad word. However, both of them retracted the word. and was cited for making sexual innuendos.
On April 13, 2010, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia warned Tajuddin for threatening M. Kulasegaran (DAP-Ipoh Barat) outside the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday, April 8, 2010. The two were summoned to give an explanation of the alleged blackmail incident. They are supposed to maintain the integrity of parliament. Tajuddin disputed Kulasegaran's actions on blogging sites to defame him and persecute him.
On 31 March 2016, Tajuddin again courted controversy when he publicly defended Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Razak and his wife, Rosmah Mansor for their extravagant lifestyle. He told reporters at Parliament that it is perfectly normal to purchase expensive handbags for significant others to court them. He continued to defend the Prime Minister and his wife's extravagant spending and luxury vacations in response to media reports by whistle-blower Sarawak Report.
On 21 November 2016, Tajuddin faced criticism when he said "The only woman with a 'Kok' (slang as vulgar word) is in Seputeh", referring to Teresa Kok, Democratic Action Party (DAP) MP for Seputeh. However, he was defended by the Deputy Speaker Ronald Kiandee, who dismissed it as a reference to her name, not a vulgarity. MP for Shah Alam Khalid Samad became involved in a heated argument with Tajuddin over his rude remark. MP for Shah Alam Khalid Samad remarks him as "sial" and "menteri sial" several times at Tajuddin and then Tajuddin says "kepala hotak kau" and "rude" in Malay language several times at MP for Shah Alam. On 24 November 2016, a group of Tajuddin supporters from Pasir Salak including his sons entered the restricted area of the Malaysian Parliament to insult and assault Khalid, who was not hurt as he was shielded by security guards. a group of Tajuddin supporters mention the bad word as "pukimak" which is a profanity in the Malay language. According to Khalid during a brief press briefing, these guards were receiving punches aimed at himself. A video shows the event where MP Khalid was attacked inside the compound of Malaysian Parliament.
In April 2017, eight of the rioters including Tajuddin's son Firdaus Tajuddin were charged and punished under Section 14 of the Act which only meted out a maximum punishment of 100 fine by the court.
Health.
In January 2021, Tajuddin was tested positive for COVID-19.