I read with great interest The Umaking of Malaysia written by Ahmad Mustapha Hassan and watching with great enthusiasm a documentary on Discovery channel: The Smart Tunnel.
Interestingly, The Unmaking Malaysia compares administrative style eschewed by two Malaysia’s ex-premiers, Tun Razak and Tun Mahathir. As a reader who had experienced living under both administrations as ordinary rakyat, I can make my own conclusion and judgment too.
Tun Razak was pictured as a humble PM cared deeply for the rakyat. I remembered I was just in secondary school when Tun left us and we Malaysian mourned deeply as we were stunned and shocked by the news.
No doubt, Tun Razak had left a legacy and created a tremendous impact on socioeconomic development of our nation, however, it is still indisputable that Tun Mahathir had also moved this nation to a greater height despite his controversial arrogant leadership style that bypassed government processes and procedures.The outspoken Tun Mahathir was depicted as a man in a hurry who had failed in prescribing a successful remedy for the nation.
In the same context, I observe that building a SMART tunnel is like building a nation. It requires hard work of dedicated engineers and skilled workers.
Vision and implementation are two different things. Many leaders have vision but failed to implement what they have dreamed on.
I am not going to be overly critical on the author. I believe justice can be served if this book is written in a more objective manner.
Idea-logy 