Moving forward to becoming a developed nation<\/p>\n
Still fresh from hosting the ASEAN summits, Malaysian Prime
\nMinister Abdullah Badawi met with a group of international
\njournalists, including The Jakarta Post's Endy M. Bayuni, at his
\noffice in Putrajaya near Kuala Lumpur last week. He talked at
\nlength about his vision and the challenges Malaysia faces. The
\njournalists were part of a visit Malaysia program organized by
\nthe Institute for Strategic and International Studies. The
\nfollowing are excerpts from the interview.<\/p>\n
Question: When you succeeded Dr. Mahathir Muhammad in 2004,
\npeople said you had a tough act to follow. What is the philosophy
\nof your leadership?<\/p>\n
Answer: To be firm about many things and not only about
\nwhether I am trying to be strong or trying to be weak, trying to
\nbe soft or trying to be hard. The substance of decisions that
\nleaders made must be fair to all. Fairness and justice must be
\nthe strong reasons for why you want to do certain things.<\/p>\n
How do you distinguish yourself from Dr. Mahathir?<\/p>\n
My emphasis has been on the development of human capital. You
\ncan give soldiers the best weapons, but if he does not know how
\nto shoot, then what is the use?<\/p>\n
Some people accuse me of taking Malaysia back by several years
\nby turning to agriculture. But now, with biotechnology, the
\npossibilities of making agriculture a fully growth sector is
\nthere, because there, more and more people are involved.<\/p>\n
On good governance, accountability and transparency, that's
\nwhat I am aiming at. I have already set up the National Integrity
\nInstitute. We must battle corruption. Corruption is a disease,
\nlike a type of cancer, that if allowed to spread, the entire
\nsociety will crumble. It's not easy to fight corruption.<\/p>\n
Malaysians today are free to express their views and opinions.
\nWe have a very strong majority of 90-percent plus. I have allowed
\nmy backbenchers in parliament to ask very tough questions for
\nmembers of the government. I told them that your role is to be
\nconstructive in your criticisms.<\/p>\n
This nation is moving forward to becoming a developed country
\nby 2020. We're carrying Dr. Mahathir's vision forward. This is a
\ngovernment that is a continuation of the previous one.<\/p>\n
The style of Dr. Mahathir and mine are different. We're two
\ndifferent persons. We have different ways of doing things,
\ndifferent perceptions of what needs to be done and how things
\nshould be done. I am not concerned about that. I've been given
\nthe biggest mandate ever obtained by any Malaysian leader.<\/p>\n
Are you reviewing the affirmative action policy of favoring
\nthe indigenous Malay?<\/p>\n
We introduced the New Economic Policy in 1971 with a set of
\npolicies to help promote the Malay people who were lagging
\nbehind, not only economically, but also in education and in many
\nother aspects. We don't want another problem of race riots. We
\nwould not allow this situation (disparity) to remain permanently
\nbecause socially it is not good and politically it is going to be
\ndestructive in the future.<\/p>\n
There is nothing wrong with trying to strike a better balance,
\nthere is nothing wrong with giving a handicap to those who are
\nlagging behind. When you play golf you have a handicap, right? So
\nwe give them handicap.<\/p>\n
People must have equal opportunity to do well.<\/p>\n
Is this not discriminatory? Do you plan to end it soon?<\/p>\n
It's a policy of expanding the cake and of distributing it
\nequitably. If you're giving somebody more than what they have
\nbefore, and you have to take that portion from somebody else's
\nshare, then you are robbing Peter to pay Paul.<\/p>\n
But if you expand the cake, percentage-wise, may be you're
\ngetting less but in reality you're getting more. Thirty percent
\nof a small cake is small, but 20 percent of a big cake is big,
\nand 10 percent of a much bigger cake is big.<\/p>\n
The approach is to level up those who are down without forcing
\nthe others to come down. If am able to come to a situation where
\nthe balance is acceptable, we'll go on improving. It's just a
\nmatter of time when this (policy) will not be important anymore.
\nIt takes time to restructure society. This policy is supported by
\nthe national government of the National Front, a coalition of 13
\npolitical parties representing all the races.<\/p>\n
What are the main challenges to the Malaysian economy? How do
\nyou see the rise of Chinese and Indian economies?<\/p>\n
The main challenge is competitiveness, that is, the ability to
\ncompete for everything, for the market and for the resources.<\/p>\n
China has emerged as a competitor. Many countries see China as
\na threat. We look at China as a friend and an opportunity. A good
\nneighbor who is doing well is an opportunity for us. We can't be
\ndoing what China is doing. We cannot go for industries that rely
\non low cost labor because we don't have that anymore. We have to
\nfind a niche for ourselves. Something that we can do, something
\nwe can face favorably.<\/p>\n
We look at ASEAN as a group. Economically speaking, the
\nintegration of ASEAN is becoming more and more intensive. ASEAN
\nhas a population of 530 million, an area rich in natural
\nresources and human capital. We are among the top traders.
\nMalaysia is the world's 18th largest trader. Thailand and
\nSingapore are also world traders. This is a thriving area. We can
\nposition ourselves favorably vis-a-vis China and India. I don't
\nwant to say that we are powerful, but we're very viable to face
\nthe competition.<\/p>\n
Is Malaysia trying to become the most "Muslim" nation in the
\nworld?<\/p>\n
It is our duty to be a good Muslim. We work hard. When we do
\nthe right thing, people will look at us, give us some
\nrecognition. We have to make sure that we continue on this path.
\nWe're happy if people say that Malaysia emerges as a model of a
\nvery successful Muslim country with a government that pursues a
\npolicy of national unity.<\/p>",
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