SHAH ALAM, April 2 — Port Dickson MP Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said confidence, mindset and action are the three key thrusts to ensure that Malaysia returns as the Asian Tiger.
He said the rise and renaissance of the nation would not happen on its own, if the current and future leaders had no conscience or high faith.
“If you want to be the Asian Tiger, you must have discipline, values, attitude, strength, confidence and be able to act,” he said in his speech at the end of the Rise of the Asian Tiger Convention at the Dewan Agung Tuanku Canselor in Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Shah Alam, here yesterday.
He said the current government, led by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, was committed to the reform agenda in fighting corruption and ensuring that the wellbeing of the people is taken care of and these were not just rhetorical slogans.
“Malaysians including Malays, Bumiputeras, Chinese, Indians, Ibans, Kadazans and others will most likely not be protected if their leaders do not have conscience,” said the PKR president.
Also present were Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman, Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Osman Sapian and UiTM Vice-Chancellor Professor Mohd Azraai Kassim.
Anwar said that the need to have the right mindset was necessary in nation building because without it a person could easily be influenced and could be bought with money and position.
He said it is this mindset that would determine the policies to be implemented and which would reflect on the current and future leadership’s concerns.
“(The leaders) should have concern for the people who are suffering, poor, or are being left out. If they show no (concern), then we will only be an ‘economic animal’ who are without morals,” he said.
According to Anwar, if students wanted change and development in the country, they need to understand the problems that are happening at the grassroots level and take action directly instead of referring to books or learning through discourse.
“If you are a student leadership council member you should go down to the ground to be with the people,” he said. — Bernama
