No one can ever know us as well as we do

Friday, 30 December 2011 | Filed under Nation Building

There’s something about the end of a year and the start of a new one that feels empowering.

The past 12 months were filled with 525,600 minutes through which we experienced our world. Every minute counted for something - be it good or bad, productive or unproductive, a path that either moved us forward, or took us backwards.

When the clock strikes midnight on Dec 31st 2011 those half a million minutes will be relegated to part of history.

Come 2012,  we have a fresh deposit of 525,600 minutes to correct mistakes, make course corrections and put in place well-designed plans to move us forward.

What is non-negotiable is that as a nation, we must keep our focus solidly trained on promoting Malaysia’s future productivity and prosperity for all.

For this, I have put together a set of 5 guiding principles that combine both the software and hardware of development that must underscore all national efforts. If implemented properly, they will be crucial socio-economic game changers in the coming year.

Guiding principle #1:  There is no them, just us

I believe no one knows us as well as we know ourselves. We know what our strengths are and we know intimately what our weaknesses are too. Often the weaknesses are interwoven with the strengths, and that is certainly true with us. All the qualities that have made Malaysia strong, that have built this nation are being spotlighted as major differences by narrow interests set on sowing discord for reasons best known to themselves. Yet they do not represent the majority who are fair-minded, peace-loving people who respect (and even celebrate) our differences as one of the most unique success stories in the world. Science proves we are 99.9 percent the same, no matter our skin or hair colour. We don’t have to agree on everything all the time, but let’s listen and respect valid disagreement for it may contain valid solutions.

Guiding principle #2: Wealth creation for all is the only sustainable path forward

Malaysia is a country blessed with great resources, both natural and nurtured. Our natural resources like rubber, oil and palm oil have built and sustained our growth for decades. Now our focus must be on building the wealth of human capital that will take us to the next level of growth, defined by creative and innovative products and services for the world market. Scarcity thinking will keep us believing in a limited, and diminishing piece of the economic pie. Wealth creation is about growing the pie so there is more to go around. It is the only sustainable path forward, if we are to become a high-income nation - not just in urban centres, but throughout the nation.

Guiding principle #3: Future-focused education

High quality and relevant education is at the heart of building a future-focused economy. It will determine if we attract investment, businesses, and wealth into our country. Education cannot be a political pawn for it is the very foundation on which all our socio-economic plans hinge. We must move away from measuring education by the quantity of graduates. The measure must be in the quality of human capital we are producing. It must be based not on an obsolete industrial-age rote learning measure, but one where creative thinking and problem solving are embedded not as a subject, but within the entire learning process. It has be inculcated from childhood so that it becomes second nature. We must make this the most important measure of our success.

Guiding principle #4:  Benchmark what it means to be innovative

Last October, the Prime Minister has named 2012 as the year of the National Innovation Movement to encourage innovation in all sectors of society.

The Prime Minister’s commitment to Innovation is firm, but what we wait to hear and see is a plan of what the movement will specifically entail. Perhaps all the innovation related agencies have a plan but we the public have not heard anything since the PM’s announcement.
How will the success of the Innovation Movement be measured? Showcasing of innovations will not be enough because the average Malaysian has yet to grasp what it means to their lives.

Most relate it to products, not realizing that the product is the result of the innovation process that begins with a curious mind, moves on to a creative thinking and problem solving. It begins with a What if thinking and creative process. 

Good intentions alone will not get us where we want to go. We have to have a proper roadmap tied to a measurable benchmark of any national movement or plan. Only then can we say that the money and efforts have been well spent.

Guiding principle #5: Do what’s right, not what’s convenient

Malaysia has never been short of blueprints and plans. We have done a pretty good job of implementing many of them, but we have had serious shortfalls in others because of implementation. Taking the path of least resistance has increasingly become a cancer in many of our public systems and has led to a culture of complacency and conformity. Taking the easy way out means no thinking required. Doing what’s convenient may yield instant gratification and short-term successes, but seldom long-term important paybacks.

We cannot be competitive if we are surrounded by a culture that more often than not gravitates towards the easy way out. Real innovators will be disillusioned by obsolete rules and regulations that someone has deemed too troublesome to do away with. We must do all we can to nurture our very own with the greatest potential instead of driving them away to countries that embrace their gifts because we fear competition .

The best are already here

This is my wish for the New Year.

I believe we already have the best people to come up with the best solutions to the challenges we face. Most of us have been here all our lives, believing in this country and building it with our dreams, hopes and our passions while many have left to seek their fortunes in other countries.

Today, those who have left are being actively pursued to return home to bring their talent with a great deal of goodies. Yet, those who have stayed here do not have the same attraction despite being in the best position to know how to turn things around.

Those who have remained here have not always had it easy or convenient. We have faced many challenges but we keep moving forward one step at a time (and sometimes two steps backward!).

No one knows us like we do. We have so much talent. We have so much potential. We are in the right place at the right time as the world trains its eyes on the Asian market. We have everything going for us.

These guiding principles require a leap not just of faith, but function. If we can collectively make that leap, the 525,600 minutes of 2012 will change our game forever.

Happy New Year.