Mohamad Noah Omar
Tan Sri Haji Mohammad Noah bin Omar (13 August 1898 – 6 September 1991) was a Malaysian politician. He was one of the leading figures during the founding of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and became the first Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat.
Noah Omar was born in Muar, Johor on 13 August 1898. He is a descendant of the 17th century Bugis Raja Chempa. His ancestors were the aristocratic Orang Kaya of Muar. He attended the Syrian Protestant College in Beirut, Lebanon, after which he acquired the nickname "Noah Beirut". After returning, he worked as a lorry driver and clerk before joining the Johor civil service.
Noah was very active in the Malayan nationalist movement along with his contemporaries, Onn Jaafar, Haji Anwar bin Abdul Malik and Haji Syed Alwi bin Syed Sheikh al-Hadi. Together they founded UMNO on 1 May 1946 as a means to rally the Malays against the Malayan Union, which was perceived as threatening Malay privileges and the position of the Malay rulers.
After independence, he became the first Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat, the lower house of Parliament between 1959 and 1964. Subsequently, he was President of the Dewan Negara, the upper house, from 1968 to 1970.
Noah together with Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong formed a private company called Genting Highlands Berhad, which was set up on 27 April 1965. Tan Sri Lim successfully obtained approval for the alienation of 12,000 acres (49 km2) and 2,800 acres (11 km2) of land from the Pahang and Selangor state governments respectively between the years 1965 and 1970. Genting Highlands is currently Malaysia's only casino and highland resort.
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