Maszlee Malik was in tears as he recalled how his religious teacher Sukijan Muri had told him to become the education minister to make Malaysia better.

This message, he said, was impressed upon him when he was a 15-year-old student in Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar in Johor Bahru.

Sukijan, who was also present, could not hold back his tears when Maszlee paid tribute to him in his speech at Universiti Putra Malaysia in Serdang this afternoon...