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wenty years after Indonesians said “enough is enough” for Soeharto’s dictatorship and decided to navigate a reformasi, Malaysians eventually followed suit after putting an end to the 61-year rule of the government coalition.

Many Indonesians may tease Malaysians, saying the “wind of change” sweeps the neighboring country at a much slower pace. The two nations are known for their bitter rivalry, with each of them thinking they are superior to the other.

But Indonesia’s situation 20 years ago was much more complicated than Malaysia’s today. At that time, corruption was entrenched and the threat of national disintegration loomed large in Indonesia. Despite the different settings that marked the reform, the two countries can learn from each other.

Unlike Indonesia, where riots and crimes against humanity preceded the regime change in May 1998, Malaysians took a peaceful and democratic path to punish their leader. Malaysia shocked the world by granting a landslide win to the opposition. This shows the truly honorable and highly civilized Malaysians. No one, including the opposition, had imagined the ruling party would crumble.

Malaysians voters were clearly so upset with Prime Minister Najib Razak that they elatedly welcomed back 92-year-old Mahathir Mohamad on May 10. It remains to be seen whether the former iron-fist leader will simply act as a transitional leader before handing over the PM seat to his former protégé and political foe, the 71-year-old Anwar Ibrahim, as agreed.

When dictator Soeharto stepped down on May 21, 1998, there was a joke that compared him to Jesus. In fact, that date was a national holiday to respect the Ascension Day of Jesus Christ, but for the retired five-star general, the day marked his fall from grace.

The same joke crossed my mind, as on May 10, Christians celebrated the same holiday and Mahathir returned to power. On the same holiday, Mahathir and Soeharto took a totally different juncture of fate. Accept my apologies for this “religious” anecdote.

The former Malaysian prime minister climbed back to the top executive post 15 years after he handed it over to Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in October 2003 in a peaceful transfer of power.

Mahathir, however, seemed to regret his decision to become an ordinary citizen, and later turned into a staunch critic of Badawi and his successor, Najib, who came to power in April 2009. Mahathir even became the main driver behind the movement to oust Najib with full support of the man he fired as his deputy in 1998 and imprisoned a year later, Anwar Ibrahim. Mahathir has indicated 71-year-old Anwar, who is in prison after being convicted of sodomy, would replace him as prime minister.

One thing is sure is that Mahathir will take all possible measures to bring Najib to justice, especially for his alleged involvement in the 1MDB state investment scandal. “We believe that we can get most of the 1MDB money back,” Mahathir said on Thursday.

Malaysian Ambassador to Indonesia Dato’ Seri Zahrain Mohamed Hashim insisted last month that “a simple search on the internet would explain that none of the accusations leveled against Mr. Najib Razak were true”.

The envoy also said: “Malaysia consists of a mélange of people from different races and religions, and everyone is duly represented […] Rather than noisy democracy, we have guided democracy with a strong and capable leader carrying the aspirations of the whole nation.”

Both Soeharto and Mahathir were former dictators. But Mahathir is much luckier than the late former Indonesian president. Soeharto lived in self-isolation for 10 years since his political fall in 1998 until his death in January 2008. By contrast, Mahathir remained very active in the public after his resignation in 2003, especially in criticizing his successors and the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO).

Soeharto ruled Indonesia for about 32 years, while Mahathir for 22 years. They were widely recognized as the “father of development” in their respective countries. During Soeharto’s era, Mahathir was often called “Little Sukarno”, as he tried to portray himself as the speaker of the developing countries.

Unlike Mahathir, former president Soeharto chose to hide from the public and refrained from attacking his successor, BJ Habibie, apparently because the latter did his best to protect his mentor, Soeharto, and his family.

This year’s Ascension Day of Jesus was a stark contrast to the holiday back in 1998. On Thursday, the world witnessed Mahathir ascend back to power. It was a joyful day for him, because he became the world’s oldest democratically elected leader. Now it is more precise to call him the “Grandpa of Malaysia”. He may wish to rule his country for a longer period, but he cannot defeat Father Time.

Hopefully Malaysia’s political journey in the coming days will not be as harsh and rocky as that of its neighbor Indonesia, and its social segregation of Malays, Chinese and Indians will also diminish as a result of the historic election.

Both Malaysia and Indonesia are predominantly Muslim nations and key players in ASEAN. But as Indonesia’s reform has taught, Najib’s defeat and UMNO’s loss can mean nothing for Malaysia’s democratization, because the regime change is only a very preliminary step in a long journey.