Abu Bakar bin Abdul Jamal

Admiral (Retired) Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Abu Bakar bin Abdul Jamal was the tenth Chief and the first four-star Admiral of the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN). He was born on 13 November 1946 in Johor, Malaysia and received his early education at the Royal Military College in Sungai Besi, Kuala Lumpur. Admiral Abu Bakar joined the naval service in 1965 and commenced training as a cadet at the Britannia Royal Naval College, United Kingdom. Admiral Abu Bakar was trained in weapons engineering at HMS Excellent School of Weapons Engineering, United Kingdom. He was also trained in Training Technology by the Royal Australian Navy. Admiral Abu Bakar is also a graduate of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, United Kingdom and the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California, where he studied Defence Management. He went on to enrol in a fellowship programme at the Wolfson College, Cambridge and later studied at the Royal College of Defence Studies, United Kingdom.

Admiral Abu Bakar served for nearly 40 years in the RMN and held various positions and ranks. He was commanding officer of several RMN ship including patrol ship, destroyers (missile) and corvettes. Between 1981 and 1984, Admiral Abu Bakar was made senior officer for the Corvette Project Team in Kiel, Germany. He later held the position of Assistant Chief of Navy (Human Resource) and Deputy Chief of Navy in 1996. Admiral Abu Bakar became the Chief of Navy on 15 October 1998 and was elevated to the rank of Admiral on 1 June 2000. He retired in 2002.

Besides the various Malaysian awards and medals, Admiral Abu Bakar was also awarded the Bintang Jalasena Utama by Indonesia and the Legion of Merit (degree of commander) by the United States of America.

Admiral Abu Bakar is married to Puan Sri Datin Seri Kamariyah binti Buang and they have three children, namely, Katerina Maria, Azlena Maria and Johannes Esqander.