Datin Seri Jeanne Abdullah nee Danker daughter of Matthew Danker is the wife of the current Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Early life

Born Jeanne Danker on 29 July 1953 in Kuala Lumpur to a Roman Catholic Portuguese-Eurasian family,^[1] she was the eldest of four siblings. She is an alumnus of Assunta Secondary School in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Jeanne later converted to Islam at the age of 25, when she married her first husband, Othman Mahmood, who was the younger brother of Abdullah's first wife, Endon Mahmood.

Jeanne worked in the hotel management field at major hotels including Kuala Lumpur Hilton and the Pan Pacific Hotel. At one point, she was supervisor of the Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister's official residence while Abdullah Badawi was Deputy Prime Minister, and became the manager of Seri Perdana, the Prime Minister's residence, when Abdullah assumed the premiership.^[2][3]

Family

Jeanne has two daughters, Nadiah Kimie, 29 and Nadene Kimie, 27 from her previous marriage. Nadiah runs a visual communications company in Kuala Lumpur. Nadene is involved in the fashion industry, dealing with fashion-related and lifestyle projects.

Marriage with Abdullah

On 9 June 2007 she was escorted in a Proton Chancellor car bearing the Prime Minister?s favourite license number 13, by police from her home in Damansara Perdana to be married to Abdullah Badawi at a private ceremony attended by close family members at the Prime Minister's official residence, Seri Perdana in Putrajaya. The bride-to-be arrived at around 2.20 pm. Among the wedding guests which included some 50 relatives were Abdullah?s daughter, Nori, daughter-in-law Azrene Abdullah, his four grandchildren, Jeanne?s two daughters, her father Mathew Danker and Endon?s nine surviving brothers and sisters. Also present at the private wedding were Yayasan Budi Penyayang executive officer Leela Mohd Ali, Abdullah?s private secretary Datuk Mohamed Thajudeen Abdul Wahab, his brother-in-law Telekom Malaysia Bhd chairman Tan Sri Muhammad Radzi Mansor and wife Puan Sri Aizah Mahmood.

The marriage was solemnised in the surau of Seri Perdana by the Imam from the Putra Mosque of Putrajaya, Haji Abd Manaf Mat, at 2.50pm and was witnessed by the prime minister's son, Kamaluddin, and son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin. Abdullah slipped a solitaire diamond ring onto Jeanne's left ring finger and kissed her on the cheek. Jeanne then slipped a wedding band on Abdullah?s finger before taking his hands together into hers and kissing them. Upon marriage, she was referred to by the female version of her husband's honorific title, Dato' Seri, which is Datin Seri.

Later in the evening, Abdullah and Jeanne visited Endon's grave which is located at the Taman Selatan Muslim cemetery in Precinct 20 of Putrajaya.

Her first official engagement as the wife of the Prime Minister was when she accompanied Abdullah to Brunei on 11 June 2007 to attend a banquet hosted by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei in conjunction with the wedding of the Sultan?s fourth daughter Anak Puteri Hajah Majeedah Nuurul Bulqiah to Pengiran Khairul Khalil Pengiran Syed Haji Jaafar

At a press conference after the engagement was announced, Abdullah stated he had known her for about two decades, as she had been his sister-in-law; Jeanne had been married to Othman Mahmood, who was the younger brother of Abdullah's first wife, Endon Mahmood. Abdullah also denied that Endon had asked him to marry Jeanne, but said Endon had loved her as "Otherwise she would not have asked her to manage our official residence".^[4] Abdullah also said that there would be no bersanding ceremony or hantaran (exchange of wedding gifts) as this was not his first marriage.^[3]

Public life

Datin Seri Jeanne Abdullah was recently made Open University Malaysia's second chancellor. The first was Datin Paduka Seri Endon Mahmood Ambak, the Prime Minister's first wife before passing away.

Notes and references

• Jeanne is OUM's second chancellor, The Star, December 8, 2007.

ms:Jeanne Abdullah