Ahmad Zaidi Adruce

Ahmad Zaidi Adruce bin Muhammed Noor (29 March 1924 – 5 December 2000) was the fifth Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak (Governor of Sarawak). He was the longest-serving governor of Sarawak (in consecutive terms from a single appointment), from his inaugural in 1985, to his death in 2000. He was also remembered as the first Sarawakian Bumiputera to receive a MA Degree from a British university (University of Edinburgh). Personal life Ahmad Zaidi was born on 29 March 1924 to Muhammad Noor (father) and Siti Saadiah (mother) on a small boat on the Rajang River near Kampung Semop, Daro, Sarawak. His father was a farmer while his mother was a housewife. He was adopted by descendents of Syarif Masahor (a Rajang basin chief that opposed Brooke rule from 1860 to 1862). Sharifah Mai was a daughter of Syarif Masahor. She has a unmarried daughter named Sharifah Dayang Aisah who later adopted Ahmad Zaidi. Sharifah Mai also has a childless son named Wan Abu Bakar Adruce. Ahmad Zaidi Adruce was married to Hjh Hamsiah Bte Hj Ismail (born 22 November 1923) and had eight children. During his exile in Indonesia, he later married Toh Puan Datuk Patinggi Hajjah Rosmiati Kendati, and had four more children. Education At 5 years old, he was sent to two schools, Chung Hua and also Abang Ali in Sibu, where he developed interest in poetry, gymnastic and acting. At age 12 he passed his standard seven exam with exemplary marks – which at the time was an achievement far beyond what was expected of a young man born and raised in Sarawak. Ahmad Zaidi was an exceptionally bright student, who was always either first or second in class throughout his primary and secondary education. After his standard seven exam, he moved to Kuching to further his studies and joined St. Thomas school in 1936, where he graduated with a Junior Cambridge qualification in 1938. Out of 63 students, he was among the seven who passed – and of the seven, Ahmad Zaidi was the only bumiputera. He joined an Anglo-Chinese school in Singapore in 1938 and graduated in 1939 at 15 years old with a Cambridge School Certificate, and was at the time the only bumiputera to have achieved such an honour.