KUALA LUMPUR: Did we make the right decisions and seize the opportunities for nation-building?
This is the central question posed by Datuk Mohammed Hussein in his latest book, How Malaysia Missed 7 Chances at Nation Building.
"I want to make readers think. What do we want Malaysia to become? Are we on the right track?
"If not, we need to reassess our position and determine our course for the next 33 years, before the country celebrates its 100th year of independence," he said after the launch of his book on Saturday.
Mohammed said despite its title, the book is about going forward and also reflecting on the past to see whether there is a need for adjustments.
The 12-chapter book is divided into two parts — Reflections and Aspirations.
"Reflections is about backtracking, reflecting on where we could have taken the wrong turn.
"I picked what I consider seven carpe diem moments in our history and pondered 'What if we had seized that moment and decided differently'.
"This is not a futile exercise of trying to change history, we can't change history, but we can interrogate it to understand why we did not seize those opportunities and instead did what we did.
"The current and the next generation will be in charge, but it is our responsibility now to prepare them with the right education to produce the right skills and reassert the values to keep us on track.
"They will be confronted by the same legacy issues that have hindered our progress since independence.
"Therefore, they must understand the history and background of many of these issues.
"That's the theme of this book. Going forward by leveraging on our strong points but confronting the uncomfortable truths about our situation," he said.
The book tells the story of nation-changing events by weaving facts from documented sources with anecdotes from in-depth interviews to provide an alternative view of "what might have been" if our leaders at the time had made different choices after certain key events.
It also analyses the effectiveness of the New Economic Policy and the Bumiputera Agenda.
"It addresses our current situation — here we are, two-thirds of the way to celebrating our first 100 years as a nation — and poses the question, 'Have we achieved the aspirations of our founding fathers when we became independent 67 years ago?'
"To use a corporate analogy, we are in August, coming to the third quarter of our financial year, and we have to review whether we are on track to achieving our KPls for the full financial year.
"Similarly, for the country, we must pause to assess whether we are on the right track."
Mohammed said the book provided long-and short-term solutions, addressed the unintended consequences that arose from the NEP, and suggested how a new Bumiputera economic model should be implemented.
It also stresses how crucial it is for policies and implementation to align with the goal of nation-building to achieve what Malaysians want.