'He made people feel they mattered': Nori Abdullah on Tun Abdullah's legacy
Her words touched many Malaysians who had once called him their leader, but to Nori, he was simply Baba.
DANIAL HAKIM
SHAH ALAM - In a deeply moving tribute shared on Instagram, Nori Abdullah, the daughter of fifth Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, paid an emotional homage to her late father, who passed away recently after a prolonged battle with dementia.
The message, reposted from Nori's personal account by the @kitafamilypodcast account on Wednesday, offered a deeply personal reflection on his final years, his legacy and the quiet dignity with which he lived and departed, this world.
Her words touched many Malaysians who had once called him their leader, but to Nori, he was simply Baba.
“I want to thank everyone for the prayers/love/good vibes/wishes; these are most precious and possible from anywhere,” she wrote, expressing gratitude for the overwhelming support she and her family received.
Nori’s post touched on the heartbreaking experience of watching her father slowly fade away through the effects of dementia.
“It’s been a long goodbye in many ways, as that is what dementia puts us through.
“To some degree, I am grateful that because of it he was spared so much pain and worry, grief and anger at much that has transpired over the last decade – even though I felt at times that I was robbed of his counsel and comfort,” she said.
Her words hint at the duality of loss, both during life and in death. And yet, there is a profound spiritual perspective in her reflection: “There is wisdom there somehow, may God allow us to see it.”
For Nori, her father’s illness was not just a trial, but perhaps, in the eyes of faith, a form of purification.
“For believers, there is absolute hope that the difficulties of his illness may be a source of purifying him.
“Not only that, the situation was such that he was prevented from being even tempted to do anything that could have been wrong.
“I hope that his strong faith allowed Baba these thoughts for himself as a means of some solace, in what I could only imagine he went through in his altered consciousness,” she added.
Abdullah was laid to rest with full state honours, a gesture that deeply moved Nori, not for its grandeur, but for the outpouring of love and tributes that came with it.
“There is love and appreciation. It was a state funeral and a burial money cannot buy. God is so generous,” the message said.
As tributes and archived moments of her father’s leadership resurface, there is hope that history will view Abdullah with fairness and understanding.
“InsyaAllah history will be kind and fairer to him although he was also human and had flaws,” she wrote.
For her, what truly mattered was how her father made others feel, a simple yet profound aspect of his legacy: “As was said to me, how someone makes you feel really does make a difference at the end of the day. Pak Lah was pretty good at making people feel good, in the sense that they mattered.”
Nori ended her tribute with a heartfelt message addressed directly to her father, revealing her enduring love and spiritual hope for his afterlife.
“Most of all to my father: As your Siti Baba, I hope and pray that in the end, you did enough to be pleasing to your Lord, as a man not just named ‘servant of Allah’ but who very much wanted to be a good khalifah on earth.”
Abdullah, 85, breathed his last at the National Heart Institute in Kuala Lumpur at 7.10pm on Monday.
He was laid to rest with full state funeral honours at the Heroes’ Mausoleum near National Mosque at 2.30pm on Tuesday.
Download Sinar Daily application.Click Here!
