KUALA LUMPUR: The remains of veteran journalist and author Rehman Rashid, 62, were laid to rest at the Kuala Kubu Bharu Road Muslim Cemetery at 2.30pm today.
About 100 of Rehman’s family members and friends had gathered at the Ar-Rahimah mosque here by 1pm.
His body arrived at the mosque about 10 minutes later from the Selayang Hospital where he had been warded since suffering a heart attack in January.
Funeral prayers for the remains were carried out at around 1.40pm.
Rehman passed away at the hospital at 6.30am this morning after almost six months of being virtually paralysed.
His childhood friend, Datuk Dr Abdul Ghaffar Ramli, said he was saddened by Rehman’s passing.
"He was a great writer and will always be remembered as that in the years to come," he said at the cemetery.
Rehman began his career as a journalist in 1981 at the New Straits Times, and later, served as associate editor and columnist, before joining Asiaweek in Hong Kong as a senior writer.
He wrote several celebrated books on Malaysia, including A Malaysian Journey and its sequel, Peninsula: A Story of Malaysia.