Debating TN50

ON October 21 2016, Malaysia is set to abandon Wawasan 2020 and replaced with the new National Transformation Plan 2050 (TN50) announced by the Prime Minister Najib Razak.

TN50 will embark on 30 years transformation plan and sets a new canvas for the national ideology. Khairy Jamaludin will spearhead the campaign and promise an opportunity for malaysian youth to participate in a grand project “nation of intent” which would eventually forge a new “Bangsa Malaysia”.

Chance For The Malays To Recalibrate Their Vision

As the nation of intent discourse TN50 still in a blank slate, it has provided a chance for the Bumiputera to recalibrate their vision. There is a need to reminiscing and reviving the spirit of the traditional epistemological framework of old Malay civilization concept as they are the civilization par excellence.

Viewed from the side of the history, it was Malay civilization that has led to technological advances in shipping and weaponry and became a great nation in 2AD to 16AD.

It was widely acknowledged by the scholars in Greece, Portugal, Netherlands, Spain, Japan and China that the Malay civilization has brought the world a new and profound technological advance in shipping and weaponry.

Writings from Portugal would suggest that, it was the Malay craftsmen who were brought to the country to study the marine technology. Prior from that, It has been proved that Mendam Berahi (one of the greatest Malay ships) was far superior compared to the Flor De La Mar brought by the savage Alfonso De Alburqueque to attack Melaka.

The strategic knowledge known by the malay led Panglima Awang (Henry The Black) became the key navigator that help Magellan around the world (Shaharir 2010).

The preeminence of the Malay civilization also shows that the Malays were once an expert in chemistry and great architecture and were often called as “orang seri”, quoted in Malay classical text of Hikayat Raja Pasai.

Evidently, through the making of various of temple and traditional medicine throughout the Malay realm is a justified exemplication of Malays’ expertise.

In contrast, colonial epistemology that used to be adopted by the many Malay leaders has imprisoned their souls and eventually it caught the Malay in a dilemma without clear direction.

This was visible when the state of Melaka decided to build Flor De La Mar replica as a symbol of colonialism, a symbol of Malay devastation in his own land.

Question On the Bumiputera Economy

While the nation moves progresively towards TN50, the Bumiputera economy is still in the state of impoverishedness as research shows that the Bumiputera is still trapped in the economic stagnation ever since independence.

The income gap between the bumiputera and other races has increased tenfold from RM2,600 in 1970 to RM 23,000 in 2012. Meanwhile Statistic provided by the EPU in 2016 shows that the Bumiputera is once again at the lowest strata in Monthly Gross Household Income by Ethnic Group.

The economic position of the Bumiputera is clearly in despair as they also experience discrimination in the private working sector. This phenomena is actually a time bomb as the late Tan Siew Sin in his speech once said “an economically depressed Malay community in a prosperous Malaya will not mean a peaceful Malaya”.

Controversy of TN 50

Apart from the noble intiative by Najib Razak, the call for TN50 is bedridden on tremendous controversy of 1MDB which in turn causes a political turmoil in UMNO, leading to the emergence of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM).

1MDB fiasco is also triggering a potential threat towards national sovereignty when Edra Energy is sold to China General Nuclear Power Corp – a Chinese state-owned firm, hence creating a doubt for his futuristic vission.

Indeed there is a need for a discourse on “nation of intent”. Forging a new united Bangsa Malaysia is a must as we saw the national unity weaken over the year.

Malaysia’s future lies on the sustainable social architecture which stands on national consensus and adopted malay sovereignty as the core of nation of intent. Neglectful on this aspect will cause repetition on the shortcomings that exist in vision 2020.

Let us hope that TN50 will not be another political rhetoric.

Luqman Abd Hamid
Isma Activist

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of ismaweb.net.

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