Awakening: The Abdullah Badawi Years In Malaysia

by Bridget Welsh (Editor), James U.H. Chin (Editor)

Tun Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi served as Prime Minister of Malaysia from 2003 to 2009. Better known as Pak Lah, he came in office with a huge mandate. In the 2004 General Elections, the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) won its best performance since 1969. Five years later in the 2008 GE, the BN won only 140 of 222 seats, a net loss of 58 seats. More importantly it meant the BN lost its customary two-thirds majority in parliament. More than thirty authors, Malaysians and non-Malaysians, give an assessment of the one-term Abdullah administration. The central theme of the book is the how did Tun Abdullah change the Malaysian political landscape? This volume offers a comprehensive glimpse of the Abdullah administration from both inside and outside the administration. “He assumed office as PM on a vast sea of optimism and he could have accomplished more. Indeed his motto when assuming office was “work with him, not for him”. He should have taken the opportunities of making sweeping changes in the cabinet, the civil service, judiciary and other organs of power and governance." -Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah- Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi; Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah; Dato’ Seri Abdul Azim Zabidi; Datuk Zaid Ibrahim; Dato’ Seri Mohamed Khir Bin Toyo; Datuk Denison Jayasooria; Datuk Ramesh Chander; YB Liew Chin Tong; Edmund T. S. Bon; William Case; Chua Sue-Ann; Mohd. Faisal Syam Bin Abdol Hazis; Farish A. Noor; Edmund Terence Gomez; Wan Hamidi Hamid; Gerhard Hoffstaedter; K. Kabilan; Clive Kessler; Khadijah Khalid; Khaw Veon Szu; Kuik Cheng-Chwee; Lee Kam Hing; Joseph Chin Yong Liow; Lim Teck Ghee; Maria Chin Abdullah; Anil Netto; Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad; Ooi Kee Beng; Oon Yeoh; Arnold Puyok; Rita Sim; Jason Tan; Andrew Willford and Zulkifli Bin Sulong

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

620 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Bridget Welsh is a Professor of Political Science at Ipek University (Turkey), Senior Research Associate of the Center for East Asia Democratic Studies, National Taiwan University (Taiwan), and Senior Associate Fellow of The Habibie Centre and University Fellow of Charles Darwin University (Australia). She specialises in Southeast Asian politics, with particular foci on Malaysia, Myanmar and Singapore. She is part of the core team of the Asian Barometer Survey. Her most recent book is an edited collection on Malaysia’s UMNO (forthcoming 2016).

Reviews

[Ooi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book worth spending our time on, mainly due to the breadth of its authors' opinions. We get to see the Badawi era from the perspectives of many actors (Pah Lah himself, his personal officer, UMNO leaders, Opposition politicians, academics, journalists, civil society leaders and so on). It gives us much to reflect on. One thing though. I'm appalled by the numerous spelling errors in the first half of the book. It just shouldn't happen.

[Cathreen Shiucheng · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mediocre...