Sri Mohd Najib was born in Kuala Lipis, Pahang. He was educated at St. John’s Institution in Kuala Lumpur and Malvern Boy’s College in Worcestershire, England before earning a degree in Industrial Economics from Nottingham University. Returning to Malaysia in 1974, he entered the corporate world, serving briefly in Bank Negara (Central Bank) and later with PETRONAS (the national petroleum corporation) as a Public Affairs Manager. But the untimely death of Tun Abd . Najib quickly adapted to public life as a Member of Parliament, and soon found that the art of politics came naturally to him. Within a short time, the young Najib showed that he was a credible and capable politician and a leader in his own right.
In his first year as an MP he was appointed Deputy Minister of Energy, Telecommunications and Posts, and later served as Deputy Minister of Education and Deputy Minister of Finance. In 1982 the nation’s new Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, placed Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib to contest the State Assembly seat of Pekan. Following Najib’s election victory, the 29-year-old Najib became the Menteri Besar of Pahang, the biggest state in Peninsular Malaysia. Pahang was at the time on the verge of a political crisis due to serious differences between the previous MB and the Sultan of Pahang. But Najib was not only a rising political star, he was one of the Four Noblemen of the Pahang Royal Court (by virtue of his inherited title as the Orang Kaya Indera Shahbandar) and he was warmly welcomed by the palace.
As the son of Malaysia’s second Prime Minister, the late Tun Abd Razak, Najib was born into Malaysian politics. Najib grew up watching his father and knew the demands of mainstream politics, and he always knew that at some point in his life he wanted to serve his community and country. But the untimely passing of his father on January 14th, 1976, at the age of 54, suddenly thrust Najib into the spotlight. Five weeks after his father’s passing, Najib, at the age of 22, was elected to fill the Pekan vacancy, becoming the youngest Member of Parliament in Malaysia’s history. In 2004 he ascended to the second-highest office in the nation, Deputy Prime Minister, 47 years after his father’s appointment to the same post.
The crisis quickly abated, ensuring the unity of Pahang UMNOwhilst Najib embarked upon measures to strengthen education in the state. In 1982 Najib played a key role in establishing Yayasan Pahang, a foundation dedicated to promoting education and sports among the youth of Pahang through scholarships and funding. Najib strengthened state enterprises to maximize earnings from Pahang’s abundant natural resources. In cooperation with FELDA, the Federal Land Development Authority, he paved the way for the establishment of new land settlement schemes, providing new income opportunities for those who were landless and in the lower income group.