SEPTEMBER 16 — When I was a teenager in the early 90s, I was inspired with Vision 2020, the brainchild of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, our longest serving Prime Minister. So I simply decided I should pursue an engineering at the university (given the opportunity) as I see then that an engineer could contribute significantly to turn Malaysia to a developed country by 2020, as envisaged by the then prime minister.
Not that at that stage I knew much about being an engineer or what does an engineer do. Coming from a kampung in Kelantan, I have never met an engineer in my life. I was pretty much clueless as to what an engineering career entails, but it was a fashionable career for any ambitious Bumiputra to venture into back then, alongside medicine, accountancy and architecture.
But then, I have a dream — a simple dream inspired to make at least some difference in the development of a nation.
Twenty years down the road and as 2020 is approaching in less than five years, I do not know whether I have made the right decision. Not that I am ungrateful, my education journey post SPM was a pretty smooth one, a scholarship to study in the UK (a convertible loan to be exact) and a job at a Fortune 500 company upon return, despite the country facing one of the worst financial crisis then. As an individual, I have immensely benefited from the career and today, I am still in the same profession.
I would like to think that Malaysia progressed immensely from the late 80s. We were the Tiger of Asia and Malaysia Inc was a success story. Malaysia turned to a manufacturing country and a very respectable nation. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) was really good and if I remember correctly, growth has always been at or above seven per cent in the early 90s.
Then came 1997. What started as a financial crisis rapidly shifted to a political turmoil. That was 18 years ago. Today, while the Asian financial crisis is a story of the past, the nation has not yet healed from the political wound.
Post 13th General Election, more issues started to surface and the fabric of our society seems to have been torn apart. One would imagine that those kind of problems, be it political, economic or social could not have started over a short span of time.
In younger days, my expectation has always been that as a nation, we can only move forward. In other words, Malaysia will always register positive growth, many people will get better and wealthier, and more Malaysians will gain tertiary education. We would live happily ever after! I was naïve.
While I do not speak for others, as with many other citizens, I aspire to see Malaysia where every citizen regardless of creed or ethnicity can accept each other, where each child can develop their talent to the full potential, where differences are celebrated and common sense prevail.
We want material development yes, but I think the whole world now realised that what we really need is a responsible, sustainable development. This can only happen if at macro level, greed can be minimized (it is not possible to eliminate greed altogether for as long as human being is in existence).
I believe this aspiration is shared by many others. However as I ponder on this 52nd anniversary of the birth of this nation, while always keeping a positive outlook, I can only realistically think that it will take at least another 20 years before we turn into a mature society, let alone a developed nation, if ever there is one.
Selamat Hari Malaysia!
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.
