His former boss Ramon Navaratnam fondly remembers when Herbert was his deputy at the Treasury’s economics division, responsible for drafting reports dealing with the implementation of projects under the finance ministry.

“Herbert was very apolitical. He was very affable and very Malaysian, with the right mix of experience and know-how in public finance policy. He eventually headed the economics division when I left for the transport ministry,” he told FMT.

Sheriff Kassim, who preceded Herbert as secretary-general, praised his successor’s sense of duty and role in helping to plan federal budgets.

“Herbert served a longer period in the federal Treasury than me at the old Jalan Duta building,” he recalled. “He often read foreign reports to see what critics were saying about Malaysian government policies, especially on matters like privatisation which was a hot political issue back then,” he said.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, posting his condolences over Herbert’s death, described him as crucial in the development of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), of which he was chairman from 1994-2000.

Herbert joined the administrative and diplomatic service in 1964 and was Treasury secretary-general from 1994 before retiring in 1997.