VISION 2057 – Why Start on
31st August 2026
Tomorrow
is Hari Merdeka 2026.
As we
celebrate 69 years of independence, perhaps we should ask ourselves not only
how far we have come, but how far ahead we are prepared to look.
Accordingly,
during US President Richard Nixon’s historic visit to China in 1972, Zhou Enlai
was asked what he thought about the impact of the French Revolution, which had
occurred nearly two centuries earlier. He famously replied, “It is still too
early to tell.”
Perhaps
that should not surprise us. After all, there is an old Chinese saying: “It
takes ten years to grow a tree, but a hundred years to cultivate people.”
Similarly,
in the Islamic tradition there is a popular saying familiar to generations of
Muslims: “Work for your worldly life as though you will live forever, and work
for your Hereafter as though you will die tomorrow.”
It
reminds us to hold two horizons at once: to recognise the urgency of today,
while building and planning for a future well beyond ourselves.
I find
these two traditions, Chinese and Islamic, remarkably in tune with the thinking
of Peter Drucker. In The Dimensions of Management, Drucker stressed that
management must always live in both the present and the future.
We must
perform today, otherwise there may be no tomorrow. But we must also build for
tomorrow, otherwise what we achieve today cannot last.
In other
words, we must manage today while simultaneously managing tomorrow.
Malaysia at 100
This is
why, on this Merdeka, I would like to bring up again something I believe
deserves our collective attention:
Vision
2057, Malaysia at 100.
On 31st
August 2057, our nation will celebrate its 100th year of independence.
What kind
of Malaysia do we want to see on that day?
A more
peaceful Malaysia? A more united and integrated Malaysia? A prosperous and
advanced Malaysia? A fairer and more just Malaysia? A nation with strong and
trusted institutions? A nation where our children believe they can build their
lives and their future?
What, in
other words, would a truly great Malaysia look like at 100?
But
perhaps there is an even more fundamental question we need to ask:
What kind
of Malaysian should we be in 2057?
Because
ultimately, a great Malaysia can only be built by great Malaysians.
We can
build better institutions, better infrastructure, better schools and
universities, better companies and a stronger economy. All these are important.
But at
the centre of all of them is a person, a citizen, someone we call a
Malaysian.
Who
should that Malaysian be?
What
should an excellent Malaysian look like? How should we behave? How should we
treat one another? What values should we carry? What should our relationship be
with people of different races, religions, cultures and backgrounds?
How
should we balance our rights with our responsibilities? How should we behave
when nobody is watching? How should we contribute to our families,
organisations, communities and country?
These
questions, I believe, must sit at the heart of Vision 2057.
One year to talk
I suggest
that we approach Vision 2057 in two time dimensions.
The first
is very near: one year.
From 31st
August 2026 to 31st August 2027, let us come together as Malaysians and
seriously discuss where we want our country, and ourselves as its citizens, to
be.
But
before discussing 2057, we must have the honesty to understand 2026.
Where are
we today?
What have
we done right? What are we proud of and should preserve? What have we done
wrong? What needs correcting? What should we strengthen and enhance?
What
practices, attitudes and ways of thinking have outlived their usefulness and
should be abandoned? And what new things must we learn?
This
requires honesty.
Loving
Malaysia does not mean pretending everything is fine. Neither does loving
Malaysia mean finding fault with everything. We must be mature enough to
recognise both.
And we
should apply the same honesty to ourselves.
What is
good about us as Malaysians today? What is not?
What
qualities should we preserve? What behaviours must we change? What artificial
boundaries have we created between ourselves that we need to dismantle? What
new attitudes and capabilities will Malaysians need to thrive in the next
thirty years?
Only then
should we ask:
Where do
we want to be?
By 31st
August 2027, perhaps we can arrive at a clearer picture not only of the
Malaysia we want in 2057, but also the Malaysian we need to become to create
it.
We will
not agree on everything. We should not expect to.
But
surely there are important aspirations upon which most Malaysians can agree.
For this
conversation, we need to try to rise above partisan politics, race, religion,
ethnicity, geography, social position and personal interests.
The
bigger question must always be:
What is
good for Malaysia and for the generations that come after us?
And this
conversation belongs to everyone.
Government
and opposition. Businesses and workers. Schools and universities. Religious
organisations. NGOs and NPOs. Professional bodies. Community groups. Parents
and families. Young Malaysians. Malaysians in Sabah and Sarawak and throughout
the Peninsula. Malaysians living overseas.
Let the
conversations happen everywhere.
Then begins the 30-year work
Once we
are clearer about where we are and where we want to go, the second time
dimension begins:
31st
August 2027 to 31st August 2057. Thirty years.
Then
comes the harder question:
What must
we do to get there?
For
government, this may mean translating our long-term aspirations into perhaps
six five-year plans, and then further into annual budgets, programmes and
measurable actions.
But
Vision 2057 cannot be only a government plan.
Every
institution and organisation has a role. So does every family.
And so
does every individual Malaysian.
Consider
a young parent with a child below five years old today. In 2057, that child
will be in their thirties, perhaps a parent, a professional, an entrepreneur or
a leader themselves.
What kind
of Malaysian do we want that child to become?
If we
want that person to be honest, responsible, hardworking, competent, caring,
disciplined, united with fellow Malaysians and able to work comfortably across
race and religion, we cannot begin teaching these things in 2056.
We begin
today.
And
perhaps we adults need to look at ourselves first.
Children
learn not only from what we teach them, but from what they see us practise.
So what
must we relearn? What must we correct? What must we stop passing from one
generation to another?
At the
end of the day, Malaysia is not merely its government, its buildings, its
economy or its institutions.
Malaysia
is Malaysians.
If we
want an excellent Malaysia in 2057, our most important long-term project must
therefore be the cultivation of excellent Malaysians.
Perhaps
that brings us back to the old Chinese wisdom with which we began:
It takes
ten years to grow a tree, but a hundred years to cultivate people.
Tomorrow,
Malaysia turns 69.
We have
31 years before Malaysia turns 100.
Let us
use the first year to come together, ask questions, listen, disagree
constructively and decide both what kind of Malaysia we want and what kind
of Malaysians we need to become.
Then let
us give ourselves thirty years to work towards it.
One year
to decide who and where we want to be.
Thirty
years to build the Malaysians, and the Malaysia, we want at 100.
And we
begin tomorrow, 31st August 2026.
Peace,
anas
zubedy
Kuala
Lumpur
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