FEB 10 — If you’re on the look-out for Malaysia’s future generation of leaders then you should have been at the Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Memorial last week when a small think-tank — the Malaysia Think Tank was re-branded as the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs or IDEAS for short.
Of course, IDEAS is not the country’s first think-tank, nor will it be the last. Still, think-tanks play an important role as a laboratory for public policy initiatives and indeed, politics itself.
At their best, they can help generate new ideas and programs. They also facilitate debate and training - providing a spring-board for bright young Malaysians keen on entering public life.
Certainly, Umno desperately needs more such institutions. The party has become a killing-field for new ideas and talent.
Three things however, make this particular think-tank stand out from the rest.
The first is the relative youth of its progenitors. None of the three founders of IDEAS are over forty and two of them are not even thirty. The second is their personal calibre and diverse interests.
The first of the three is twenty-six year old Tunku Abidin Muhriz. He’s been very busy despite his youth, graduating from the London School of Economics, and working, among other things as a researcher for a British MP and at the World Bank. He’s also completed a stint under my tutelage (lucky him, eh?) where he was made to work very hard.
Next up is 34-year old Wan Saiful Wan Jan. He’s a card-carrying member of PAS — the new PAS, that is: smart, internationally-orientated and curious. During his fourteen years in the UK he worked with the Conservative Party and other Tory-linked organizations.
The group is rounded-out by Wan Firdaus Wan Mohd Fuaad. Wan Firdaus is also 26 years of age. Hailing from Kelantan, he graduated from the University of Nottingham and was Chairman of the UKEC, the British-based Malaysian student’s whose alumni have become veritable gold dust in the KL job market.
Wan is also Chairman of the Young Corporate Malaysians business club. He also happens to be a member of Umno.
As anyone knows him will attest, Wan is a walking ‘rolodex’ with friends of all races and ages. Charming and enormously intelligent, Wan is a pleasant surprise for those who have watched Umno degenerate over the past few years.
So there you have it. A member of the aristocracy, a PAS turned Tory and a die-hard member of Umno.
Bi-partisanship, mind you, is ingrained in IDEAS (all three boys are also good friends of Nik Nazmi, PKR’s impressive rising star).
The Institute is determined to maintain its independence from the political mud-slinging. As such it has established a Cross-Party Advisory Group of senior politicians from both Barisan and Pakatan.
Only in Malaysia! Or rather, amongst Malaysians living in the UK, where the three young men met and, finding that they had a common interest in Malaysian public life, decided to form a think-tank in 2006. These kinds of pacts are de rigueur amongst ambitious young Malaysians, except that they stuck to it with unusual tenacity and determination.
Via their well-known Akademi Merdeka youth training seminars and other activities, they gradually built a name for themselves back home. This is turn laid the groundwork for the-then Malaysia Think Tank to shift its entire operations to Malaysia in 2009, and to widen the spread of their ideas (no pun intended) to Southeast Asia.
And what are those ideas? Well, that’s the third remarkable thing: the Institute, unlike its rivals which have stuck to the nation’s developmentalist fixations, is a classical liberal and libertarian think-tank.
What does that mean? Very basically put, classical liberals and libertarians believe that there should be less government intervention in the economy, politics and indeed people’s lives, in favour of more freedom and the determination of market forces. This ideology is encapsulated in IDEAS’ four philosophical pillars, namely the Rule of Law, Limited Government, Free Market and Individual Liberty.
These are explosive ideas anywhere in the world, not least Malaysia where a feudal, patronage-style of government and Keynesian economics are all but enshrined.
On the other hand, it could be just the thing we need considering the parlous state of our civil liberties and how over-dependent our economy is on the public sector.
The challenge is for bodies like IDEAS to reach out and engage. Can they win over people with their policies? Can they persuade the skeptics? The Institute will also need to negotiate an increasingly polarized political landscape.
Malaysia needs young men (and women) like the three fellows at IDEAS. We need them to pull together and try to figure out where we are going as a nation.
This is how Dr Mahathir started out all those years ago - with friends discussing and debating the problems facing Malaya as it was. We might not agree with his conclusions but that’s how change begins.
In the face of calls to crack-down on debate and political freedom, they are advocating greater openness. And while others demand more government control on all aspects of Malaysian life, they’re championing greater individual freedoms. I’m impressed by their willingness to challenge conventional wisdom and political correctness. It’s exactly what Malaysia needs: courageous thinking and determination.
I also like the way they’ve chosen Tengku Razaleigh as the man to re-launch IDEAS. The Kelantan prince and de facto leader of Umno’s progressive wing continues to surprise us all.
Still, one can only wish the founders of IDEAS all the best. I am confident that their Institute will shake up our political and intellectual landscape for the better. — mysinchew.com
* This article is the personal opinion of the writer or publication. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified.
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Are you endorsing Dr. Evil???
"We might not agree with his conclusions but that’s how change begins."
We might no agree with his conclusions but that's how change begins. What do you mean? Are we forced to go with his conclusion or no change will begin?!? Don't you mean to say : "WE MIGHT NOT AGREE WITH HIS CONCLUSIONS BUT KNOW OUR STAND WILL BE RESPECTED AND GIVEN SPACE TO EXIST."
And not once did you mention :
Freedom from Apartheid, Freedom from Religious Persecuation. Equality among all ethnicities and faiths in all aspects of the law and constitution, in concurrence with the Human Rights Charter Article 1 and Hadiths of Islam prohibiting racism. DO NOT PUT A SPIN ON THINGS . . .