KLANG: Members of the public were momentarily shocked when a social media site claimed that former Selangor mentri besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim (pic) had passed away.
However, the news was untrue and Khalid was still under treatment at a private hospital.
When contacted, Khalid’s former political secretary Faekah Husin said it was a callous act to spread such a rumour.
“We have rectified the matter by posting that it was not true and Tan Sri is receiving treatment in hospital,” said Faekah.
The post by Khalid’s team, on his official Facebook Timeline, also demanded that the rumour be immediately stopped out of respect for the former mentri besar’s family as they were already facing a difficult time.
It is understood that Khalid is suffering from kidney failure and undergoes dialysis.
Khalid had also undergone an open-heart surgery sometime earlier this year.
Khalid was a prolific mentri besar during his tenure from 2008 to 2014 and being a stickler for efficiency, ensured the smooth running of the state government machinery.
Being frugal, Khalid also held on very tightly to the state’s purse strings which saw Selangor’s coffers having a healthy balance.
He was ousted by his party PKR in 2014 which saw Khalid vacating the mentri besar’s position and then assumed by former party deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali.