LETTERS: Come 2057, Malaysia will be celebrating its first Centennial as an independent nation.
After today (Aug 31st), we will have 35 years to go before arriving at that historic year.
Between now and 2057, I believe we have much to do. Given the right political and economic environment at home and abroad, Malaysians can work together to ensure a bright future for the country.
The push must be made to study political changes in the country.
For me it came in the wake of the 14th general election on May 9, 2018, that saw changes in the structure, personalities and systems of government that had been in power for the last 60 years.
While certain rationales and causes could be factored in to explain the new situation, at best this represented only a change in name rather than substance.
The government that came into power was still carrying a political tradition that had been practised in the country since it started political development of any kind as early as 1955.
Political continuities in the form of coalition politics and the visioning process have been the main influences in politics for the country.
For this analysis, I made use of an article that I wrote for the Journal of Future Studies, Volume 13, Number 2, November 2008, titled The Next Fifty Years for Malaysia — An Inquiry Using Alternative Futures Methods, page 43 to 56, which was published by Tamkang University in Taipei.
Since 2008, the country has held three general elections.
I have attempted, through my analysis of the election process and the manifestos of the various political parties, to study the trends, needs and strategies that they have identified for the people.
In my journal article, I presented a set of Alternative Futures for the country by 2057, in celebration of Malaysia's First Century.
These included a closer working relationship between the government and people in education, economy and ecology. The "China factor" also comes into the picture, and the issue of migrants takes centre stage.
What has become clear from the analysis is the timing of the occurrences identified in the scenarios and alternative futures. Many have remained similar, while others appeared much earlier than expected.
As possible reasons futurists have believed firstly, it is always difficult for people to make up their minds and what they wish or prefer in a particular year.
Secondly, it is normal to expect in a visioning process for the people to agree on a set of agenda topics that will become part of manifestos for political parties or components in a coalition participating in a general election.
For the most part, the scenarios that result will be repeated over time and will seldom change.
DR AZHARI-KARIM
Former Malaysian Ambassador, Kuala Lumpur
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times