KUALA LUMPUR: A sombre atmosphere prevailed at the Heroes’ Mausoleum as the former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was laid to rest with full state funeral honours today.
The weather was overcast, and the Jalur Gemilang was flown at half-mast in front of surrounding buildings, accompanying Tun Abdullah’s journey to his final resting place.
Tun Abdullah breathed his last at the National Heart Institute (IJN) at 7.10 pm yesterday. He was 85.
Tun Abdullah’s remains were brought to his residence at Bait Badawi in Persiaran Tuanku Jaafar last night before being transported to Masjid Negara (National Mosque) for the lying-in-state.
By 10 am, thousands of people, regardless of race and age, had flocked to the mosque to pay their last respects to Tun Abdullah, the esteemed statesman fondly known as Pak Lah and Mr Nice Guy.
Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin of Terengganu graciously attended to offer his respects to the country’s 5th Prime Minister. Also present were Melaka Governor Tun Dr Mohd Ali Rustam, and Sabah Governor Tun Musa Aman.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, along with four former prime ministers, namely Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, were also spotted paying their last respects to Tun Abdullah at the mosque.
Both Deputy Prime Ministers Datuk Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar, and former Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong, also attended the lying-in-state to offer their respects.
Most of the leaders then joined the congregation to perform the funeral prayer for Tun Abdullah, which was led by the Grand Imam of Masjid Negara Ehsan Mohd Hosni.
After the prayer, the coffin carrying the remains of the statesman, covered with the Jalur Gemilang, was carried out to the Heroes’ Mausoleum by a group of pallbearers consisting of officers of the Malaysian Armed Forces and the Royal Malaysian Police, as part of the state funeral honours accorded to the former prime minister.
Tun Abdullah is the fifth leader to be buried at the Heroes’ Mausoleum after the country’s 2nd Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak, 3rd Prime Minister Tun Hussein Onn, as well as two former Deputy Prime Ministers, namely Tun Dr Ismail and Tun Abdul Ghafar Baba.
