By Dr. Arujunan Narayanan
During the 1980-1981 period, I was the Community Relations Officer from National Unity Board, working in Butterworth. During my short service there, I came across many people of different races, religions and classes who were involved in our department’s community relation activities. Almost all of them always talked about the goodness they saw in our late Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Badawi and asked me many times to visit and learn from him.
My former school teacher, Mr Mahendran who then was teaching at Kepala Batas Secondary School always spoke good about his family and how much the people loved and respected him. He brought more medical facilities and schools to his constituency. As I left for University Malaya in mid-1981 to pursue my study, I did not have the opportunity to visit him which is a matter of regret to me until today.
While I was working in the Ministry of Defence, a friend of mine, who served under him before, always talked about the goodness he saw in him. When he was offered to pursue his Masters in Management at the Asian Institute of Management in Bangkok, he did not have enough finance to pursue his study. It was Tun Abdullah Badawi who facilitated the necessary finance for him to pursue and complete his study. He returned with his qualification successfully, today contributing much to the good of our society. I also had the opportunity to see Tun Abdullah Badawi him during his brief tenure as Minister of Defence. I always saw in him a simple, humble, polite and caring person with full commitment to his duties.
He was from High School Bukit Mertajam which was also my alma mater. Whenever he was our guest of honour in our HSBM Old Boys Annual Dinners, on his arrival he would walk to see all his teachers first to pay his due respect to them. That was an exemplary act many of us still treasure.
When he was the Foreign Minister he was invited for the school’s Speech Day. When he arrived due to very heavy rainfall the guard of honour was cancelled. The event went smoothly and ended well. Knowing the students would have worked hard for the guard of honour, Tun Abdullah Badawi requested for the guard of honour and did his fare share. He also played a significant role in the renovation of the old BM High School building which today stands as majestic as before.
When he was the Foreign Minister, the Malaysian International Affairs Forum led by Prof Dr Dato Zakaria Hj Ahmad invited him for a guest lecture on Malaysian Foreign Policy. The hall was full and as an academic in International Relations I would say with confidence that it was very enlightening.
The last I saw Tun Abdullah Badawi was at Subang Airbase when he was still the Prime Minister with just a few people. There was a rumour then that someone was trying very hard to remove him from his position and most of us knew who he was and for what reasons. I felt extremely sad and tears welled up when I heard that he had left us. But to many Malaysians he is a role model and he will always be remembered for his good values to build our country and the care he had for our people. May his soul rest in eternal peace and be placed amongst the kind, noble and the righteous. God bless.
Dr. Arujunan Narayanan is a senior lecturer at HELP University and a committee member of the International Movement for a Just World (JUST).
18 April 2025