HARI MALAYSIA 2026 - THE POWER TO INFLUENCE

 

MALAYSIANS – DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE YOUR POWER TO INFLUENCE

My dear Malaysians, Peace.

Lately, I have been hearing recurring feedback that worries me.

“What I personally do doesn’t make much difference.”

I hear it from fellow Malaysians who are disappointed with our leaders and our politics. Many have lost trust in leaders they once believed in. Some feel betrayed. Others are simply tired. We have hoped, voted and tried, and now many wonder whether anything we do can really change anything.

I understand how you feel. Like you, I too love this country. Like you, I too want our nation to change for the better. No, not just better. I want Malaysia to be the best that we can be!

These feelings of helplessness are not new. We hear the same thing at work. “What can I do? I don’t have the power.” Or, “What to do? I am not the boss.”

A WINNING FORMULA

Allow me to share a way forward. A winning one.

I was fortunate to learn early in life that we do not need power before we can make a difference. Most of us will never have absolute power anyway. Even those sitting at the very top do not. But what we can have in abundance is influence.

When I was a young executive working for a multinational company, I had very little formal power. Instead of feeling powerless because I was not the boss, I learnt to work with people, build relationships, network, share ideas and persuade through influence.

Let me share a story.

While working at the head office as a coffee executive, I was reading Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. I was fascinated by his ideas and felt that the company could benefit from them. But how could a young executive get an entire company interested in Sun Tzu?

I decided to start with my National Sales Manager, Benny.

We were working together in Penang one day. After finishing our “market work”, we went by the beach to chat. I brought the book along.

I looked him straight in the eyes and said very seriously, “Benny, this book can change the company. Trust me.” And I passed him the book.

He read it, liked the ideas and took them one level higher to our Business Unit Manager (BUM). Not long after that, I saw my BUM reading my red-coloured book too.

I never got my book back!

But that year, The Art of War became the theme for our business unit’s national sales convention. We were going to “conquer” the market and “crush” the competition  -  the convention was complete with sword fights, Art of War T-shirts, bandanas and all kinds of paraphernalia.

Our Managing Director saw the excitement, energy and team spirit. The following year, he made The Art of War the theme for the entire organisation, across all three business units.

Think about that. I was only an executive. But I influenced one person. That person influenced another, and another.

That is the power of influence.

Let me tell you a second story.

In the mid-1990s, I discovered that while we celebrated August 31 in a big way, many Peninsular Malaysians knew very little, or nothing at all, about September 16  -  Hari Malaysia, the day Malaysia itself came into being.

To me, this was unacceptable.

So, from 1996 onwards, we made Malaysia Day our company day at zubedy. We organised Hari Malaysia gatherings, inviting clients and friends to celebrate our cultures, learn our history and understand why September 16 mattered.

Then, in 2001, we set an audacious 15-year goal: Malaysians on both sides of the South China Sea should know and celebrate Malaysia Day, and September 16 should become a national public holiday. At the time, it was a public holiday only in Sabah and Sarawak.

We took the message wider by placing our first full-page Malaysia Day advertisement in The Star  -  a simple black-and-white advertisement introducing and explaining Malaysia Day, particularly to Peninsular Malaysians.

There were only four of us in the company then. We were a tiny Human Development company with no political power and limited resources.

But we had the power of influence.

Year after year, every September 16, we placed a full-page advertisement explaining Malaysia Day. We continued our gatherings and worked through our network - clients, media, NGOs, organisations and anyone willing to listen and participate.

Slowly, the circle widened.

By 2007 and 2008, Malaysia Day was increasingly part of the national and political conversation. More Malaysians were talking about September 16 and asking why it was not receiving the national recognition it deserved.

Then, in 2010, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's government made September 16 a nationwide public holiday.

We had achieved our 15-year goal well ahead of time.

I am not suggesting that zubedy did this alone. Many others played their part, especially our fellow Malaysians in Sabah and Sarawak who had long understood the importance of September 16. But I believe our little company was one of the most important catalysts that helped bring Malaysia Day into the consciousness of more Peninsular Malaysians and helped give it the attention and honour it deserved.

We simply used what we had — our ideas, advertisements, gatherings, relationships and networks - our INFLUENCE.

Now, let me come to my third story.

This story is still unfolding. And I need your help to make it come true.

Earlier this year, I began thinking about Malaysia in 2057, when our nation turns 100. I started asking: What kind of Malaysia do we want to see when we are 100 years old?

From that thought came Vision 2057.

I felt that we should give ourselves one year  -  from August 31, 2026 to August 31, 2027  -  to come together, think, reflect and imagine our future. Not simply to talk about what is wrong with Malaysia today, but to decide what Malaysia should look like 30 years from now.

What kind of country do we want? What kind of economy and society? How should Malaysians relate to one another? What should our institutions look like? What does it really mean for Malaysia to be a great nation?

And once we have painted that picture together: What must we start doing today to get there?

I have been fortunate to have a group of friends who believed this was worth pursuing. Over the last couple of months, we met, talked, argued, reflected and developed the idea further.

We elected a captain -  Datuk Hussamuddin Yaacub, Chairman of Yayasan Sinar Untuk Malaysia.

On August 31, 2026, we launched the Malaysia 100 campaign.

And on this Hari Malaysia, I would like to invite you to join us.

No matter who you are, you have the power to influence. You may be a student or teacher, an engineer or AI expert, an advertising executive or entrepreneur, a vice-chancellor or CEO, a civil servant or political leader. Each of us has something to contribute.

We cannot leave Malaysia’s future only to the politicians. Malaysia belongs to all of us, and all of us have influence.

Start where you are. Talk. Listen. Connect. Share an idea. Persuade someone. Do something. Then encourage that person to do the same.

Use whatever you have. Your knowledge. Your relationships. Your network. Your experience. Your creativity. Your position, if you have one. Your voice. Your INFLUENCE.

This Hari Malaysia, let’s come together and believe in the power of influence. Never tell ourselves that we cannot make much of a difference.

WE HAVE THE POWER TO INFLUENCE, AND WE ARE GOING TO USE IT!

“Yield not to this unmanliness… Cast off this petty faint-heartedness and arise.”  -  Bhagavad Gita 2:3

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”  - The Bible, Joshua 1:9

“By effort and heedfulness, discipline and self-mastery, let the wise one make for himself an island which no flood can overwhelm.”  - The Buddha, Dhammapada 25

“The gentleman may indeed have to endure hardship, but the small man, when he is in hardship, gives way to unrestrained licence.”  - Confucius, The Analects 15:2

“So lose not heart, nor fall into despair: For ye must gain mastery if ye are true in Faith.”  -  Qur’an 3:139

Have a meaningful Hari Malaysia 2026.

Peace,

Anas Zubedy