The results were based on 1,075 Malaysians surveyed by the British market research firm.

It saw Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, the first Malaysian astronaut, in second place after the 94-year-old prime minister.

Another notable Malaysian in the top 10 is Lee Chong Wei, the recently retired Olympic badminton player, in sixth place.

Technology billionaire entrepreneurs make up a significant part of the list.

Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates is in fourth place, Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma in fifth and Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg in ninth.

Politicians also fared well in the top 10 with former United States President Barack Obama in eighth place and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 10th.

The top-10 list of most admired men is complete with Hong Kong martial arts actor Jackie Chan in third place and Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo in seventh.

Singer Siti Nurhaliza Tarudin is Malaysia’s most admired woman for the second year running, followed by Mahathir’s wife, Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali.

Malaysia’s first female deputy prime minister, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, is in third place.

Entrepreneur and co-founder of FashionValet and The dUCk Group, Vivy Yusof, is in seventh place.

Talk show host Oprah Winfrey comes in fourth, Hollywood actresses Angelina Jolie and Emma Watson in fifth and sixth respectively, and American singer Taylor Swift is in 10th place .

The list is rounded up with former First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama in eighth place and Queen Elizabeth II in ninth.

In December, YouGov gathered open-ended nominations from panellists across 41 countries, asking them simply: “Thinking about people alive in the world today, which man or woman do you most admire?”

These nominations were then used to compile a list of the 20 men and 20 women who received the most nominations and were nominated in at least four countries.

An additional 10 popular local figures were added to the lists for individual countries.