KUALA LUMPUR: Tan Sri Mohd Desa Pachi, the former chairman and managing director of the New Straits Times Press Bhd, died yesterday (Sun) at 91 years old.
His passing was confirmed by a family member, who said he died at 1.47pm at a hospital in Petaling Jaya.
At press time, there were no further details on the cause of death.
It is learnt that the ‘solat jenazah’ was performed at Masjid Ara Damansara after Asar prayers, before he was laid to rest at the Section 9 Muslim cemetery in Kota Damansara.
Desa studied accountancy in Melbourne, Australia and was one of the first Malays to be granted a scholarship under the Colombo Plan.
Upon his return to Malaysia, he joined the Shell Group of Companies in 1962 and served in various capacities in the Finance Administration.
From 1970 to 1976, he practised as a chartered accountant and was a partner of Desa Megat & Co, the firm which also bore his name.
He would later be appointed as the first chief executive officer (CEO) of Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB). He would play a role in PNB’s famous ‘Guthrie Dawn Raid’, an economic maneuver by PNB in Sept 1981 to reclaim control of Guthrie on the London Stock Exchange and bring its operations and plantations back to Malaysia.
Desa later also served as the chairman and CEO of the Malaysia Mining Corporation Bhd.
He was also chairman of Fleet Group, whose subsidiaries included the NSTP.
Desa joined NSTP’s board of directors in Dec 1984. He would remain at the NSTP until May 31, 1990, when he resigned as director and chief executive officer.
Desa was also chairman of Commerce Asset-Holding Bhd, and played a key role in its eventual transformation into CIMB Group, where he would remain for 23 years.
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