Dear Pak Lah,

This is not a letter from one of those political-analyst type Malaysians who have lots of comments to pass about the political system and every other politician within it together with the policies attributed to them. It's a letter from a simple Malaysian who has more to say about who you are as a person than what you have done as Prime Minister.

Well... thank you. Your brief leadership over the nation has had more "felt" impact on me than the previous leadership under which I had grown up.

I know why many people feel you do not deserve to be the leader of the nation. It is because of the virtue you embrace. You seek to be open, godly, moral, honest, and inclusive - everything a successful politician can never truly be. And this is why I honour you.

For the first time as a Malaysian citizen, under your leadership, I had felt like I meant something to this nation. And I felt like I mattered. And I felt like a Malaysian.

I am proud that you were my Prime Minister, for all that you had succeeded in doing and failed to do. You have shown yourself to be examplary in character, and that has been of utmost importance in the political climate of Malaysia today.

In another life, had you not been a politician or a Prime Minister, I would have truly been proud to have you as a personal friend. I would have gladly sat at your feet to learn of the religious virtues you embrace for your life. When you do things, it appears quite apparently to me that you do not do these things for yourself; and I must add here, I have never thought likewise of any other politician before.

For all that people have said about you, the good and the bad, one thing is for sure - you have succeeded in stirring our imagination. Because of you, I now dare to dream of a better Malaysia. But I wonder if my dream has to die with your departure from national leadership.

One thing your successor/s will have to prove is that they know what it means to be the better men - like you.

Pak Lah, thank you. Thank you for showing yourself to be vulnerable, human, and meek. You inspire me.