Mr Nice Guy leaves legacy of compassion, but failed to escape Mahathir's shadow

Malaysia's fifth prime minister, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, died on April 14, his son-in-law and former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin said in an Instagram post.

- Hazlin Hassan

KUALA LUMPUR - The former premier had been suffering from dementia in the last few years. He was 85.

The soft-spoken politician was prime minister for 5½ years from October 2003, taking over from Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who at that point had led the country for a record 22 years from 1981.

Mr Abdullah was a deeply religious man and his rise as Malaysia's leader was seen as a breath of fresh air, following the long Mahathir era with its fast economic growth that was also ridden with corruption scandals and fierce political infighting.

Promising to battle corruption and carry out reforms, Mr Abdullah — who was widely known by his moniker "Pak Lah" (short for Uncle Abdullah) — steered the Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition to its biggest-ever win at the March 2004 general election.

The BN coalition, which always won a two-thirds parliamentary majority in the general elections, scooped up an unprecedented 198 out of 219 wards — or 90 per cent of the total seats in Parliament.

In his early days as prime minister, Mr Abdullah called for Malaysians to "work with me, not work for me", and captured the imagination of many, sparking optimism that he would deliver on his pledges of a clean and people-oriented administration.

Compared with his predecessor, Mr Abdullah was more consultative and democratic. He was a "breath of fresh air" after Dr Mahathir's autocratic style, Dr Bridget Welsh, an academic at the University of Nottingham Malaysia, told The Straits Times.

"He opened up the political system, and he showcased a different type of political system that was more consultative," she said of Mr Abdullah.

Mr Abdullah also brought in Islam Hadhari or Civilisational Islam — his signature policy of moderate Islam.