Badawi was born in the northern Malaysian island of Penang. He received a BS in Islamic Studies from the University of Malaya in 1964.
As a member of Mahathir's Cabinet, Badawi has held portolios in Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Education.
He is unofficially known in Malay circles in Malaysia as 'Pak Lah', a term that refers to him as "Uncle". The Malaysian government has issued a statement that PM Abdullah should not be referred to by this nickname in official articles and in newsprint.
Since coming into power as Prime Minister, Abdullah Badawi has clamped down on corruption, giving more power to anti-corruption agencies and making it easier for the public to reveal corrupt practices to the authorities.
This article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by fixing it.