Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
5th Prime Minister
2003 - Current
Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was born on the 26th of November 1939 in perils village, Bayan Lepas, Penang. His grandfather Hj. Fahmi a famous Malay astronomer was whom Tunku Abdul Rahman saw to help choose a good day to proclaim the nations independence.
He started his early education at the Permatang Bertam national school and later attended Bukit Mertajam High School and Methodist Boys' School Penang. He also attended a religious school started by his family. He pursued his tertiary education at the University of Malaya where he graduated with a bachelor degree in Islamic studies in 1964.
Dato' Seri Abdullah Badawi married Datin Seri Endon bt. Mahmood in 1965 and have 2 children a son Kamaluddin and a daughter Nori.
In 1964 after graduating he joined the civil service and was attached to the public service department as an Assistant Secretary. In 1969 he was moved to the National Operations Council (NOC), a body responsible in running the country after the May 1969 racial riots. From 1973- 1974 he was promoted to the Ministry Culture, Youth and Sports as Director General and in 1974 was made Deputy Secretary General.
In 1978, Dato' Seri Abdullah resigned from government service to go into politics. He won the 1978 Parliamentary seat of Kepala Batas and has retained it since. In the same year he was appointed Secretary General to the Federal Territory Ministry and in 1980 promoted to Deputy Minister in the same Ministry. From 1981 to 1984 he held the post of Minister in the Prime Ministers Department and Minister of Education from 1984 to 1986. Dato' Seri Abdullah Badawi was Minister of Defence from 1986 to 1987 and Minister of Foreign Afairs from 1991 to 1999. He has been a loyal UMNO member since 1965 and was elected UMNO Supreme Council Member in 1981 and Vice President in 1984 and UMNO Deputy President in 1999. In January 1999 he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs.
On 31st of October 2003, Dato' Seri Abdullah Badawi took over the premiership of the country when Dr. Mahathir stepped down.
Since taking over as Prime Minister, Abdullah has taken a very firm stand against corruption and has given more authority to the anti corruption agency and making it easier for the public to report corrupt practices. Abdullah Badawi is also known for stressing on the country's internal security after noticing an increase in corrupt practices such as those is the police force recently.
In the 2004 General Elections, his first as Prime Minister he led the Barisan National coalition to a resounding victory winning 198 out of 220 seats in parliament and won back the State of Terengganu from the Islamic opposition party and came close to capturing the State of Kelantan which has been held by the opposition Islamic party.
He has also advocated an interpretation of Islam known as Islam Hadhari which maintains that Islam, economics and technology development are not incompatible. It consists of 10 fundamental principles:
- Faith and piety in Allah
- Just and trustworthy government
- Freedom and independence to the people
- Mastery of knowledge
- Balanced and comprehensive economic development
- Good quality of life for all
- Protection of the rights of minority groups and women
- Cultural and moral integrity
- Protection of the environment
- Strong defense policy