SINGAPORE, April 15 — Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Malaysia’s former premier who passed away yesterday, was remembered as a sincere friend and a leader who recognised the importance of close cooperation between Singapore and Malaysia.
Singapore’s former prime minister and Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said Abdullah once likened the two countries to a pair of semi-detached houses, whose occupants should find ways to live peacefully and happily as neighbours.
“He acted on his belief,” he said in a Facebook post, along with a photo of the two leaders at the Kongsi Raya Chinese New Year open house at Danga Bay, Johor, in 2004.
Goh added that he and Abdullah, who were prime ministers together in 2003/2004, had shared a friendship long before that.
Abdullah served as Malaysia’s fifth prime minister from October 2003 until April 2009, while Goh was Singapore’s second prime minister from November 1990 to August 2004.
Goh, saddened by the passing, also expressed his deepest condolences to Abdullah’s wife, Tun Jeanne Abdullah, and to the people of Malaysia for their loss.
He is among many Singaporean leaders who have expressed their condolences. Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong attended the state funeral at the Heroes' Mausoleum of the National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur.
Abdullah, affectionately known as 'Pak Lah', passed away at the age of 85 at the National Heart Institute in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. He was laid to rest at the Heroes' Mausoleum at 2.30pm today.
— Bernama
