In a sudden twist of fate, Abdullah Ahmad's journalistic career in the Umno-linked New Straits Times Press (NSTP) ended abruptly yesterday when he was sacked as the group's editor-in-chief.

Abdullah, 66, often identifies himself as "Dollah, Kok Lanas" or DKL, a reference to his former parliamentary seat in Kelantan, and his enduring attachment to the memory of the late Abdul Razak Hussein, the country's second prime minister.

He spent 13 years with Abdul Razak and by the time his mentor succumbed to his illness, Abdullah was an Umno supreme council member, MP and deputy minister.