In this Malay name, there is no surname or family name. The name Ahmad is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by their given name, Ali. The word "bin" or "binti"/"binte" means 'son of' or 'daughter of', respectively.
Ali was the UMNO Division chief of Pontian after Pontian Selatan and Pontian Utara Parliamentary seat were merged before 1974 Malaysian general election.[2] In the election, he won the newly created seat, Pontian by a walkover.
On 4 December 1977, while he was still Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, he was one of the passengers killed in Malaysian Airline System Flight 653 plane crash at Tanjung Kupang,[7] along with his press secretary Hood Fadzil.[8] Ali was 47 years old.[6] He was returning to Kuala Lumpur after a visit to Perlis.[9]
Parliament's Dewan Rakyat on the next day observed a minute silence before the start of meeting as a sign of respect of Ali and others who perished in the tragedy.[10][6]
The remains of Ali was buried, along with remains of other victims of the crash, in a common burial site at Jalan Kebun Teh, Johor Bahru.[11]
Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Dato` Ali Hj Ahmad, a secondary school in Pontian, Johor, is named after him.