Message From Tan Sri Azman Hashim , Chairman , Board of Trustees , Perdana Leadership Foundation
Perdana Leadership Foundation
Honorary President YABhg Tun Dr . Mahathir Mohamad
“ The challenge for youth in the 21st century is to try to throw off the baggage of history . The youth of the 21st century must think of themselves as true citizens of the world . They must forget colour and creed and notions of superiority or inferiority . They must think of equality not in terms of material wealth alone but in being all members of the same human race .”
The quote above is from a speech given by Tun Dr . Mahathir Mohamad in Waseda University , Japan , in 1997 . It remains relevant today , if not more so .
With more than half of our population made up of people under 35 , Malaysia can consider itself as a young country . Our youth is our advantage . This will not always be the case . Our demographics will change and experts say that by 2040 , our population pyramid will start to invert . Like many other developed nations , including Japan , older people will outnumber our youth . To prepare ourselves for that inevitability , we need to fortify our economy , upskill our workforce , improve social cohesion , strengthen our institutions , revisit and if necessary , rework , our education system . This requires a strong vision of where we wish to be in a few decades ’ time and the principles we need to uphold to reach that destination . It requires good leadership .
There are many definitions of what good leadership is , and it is up to the young people themselves to define what good leadership means to them .
We received many interesting answers when we asked young Malaysians to respond with essays and stories to the theme of “ Leadership ” for our writing contest with Maybank Foundation . More than 4,000 young Malaysians responded through fiction , essays and photos . The responses are illuminating and the winning entries will be published this year . It was our most successful contest and I thank Maybank Foundation for agreeing to be our sponsor and co-organiser . As always , the Foundation organises this contest to encourage greater reflection and articulation on issues , and I believe
the contest made the participants think harder about certain themes .
I hope the young contestants realise that present and future successes depend on effort , and that where a nation is concerned , we build upon the work of previous leaders . There are always lessons to be learnt from those who have “ been there , done that ”. Our Foundation is predicated on the idea of learning from history and nowhere is this more evident than in our Oral History programme . In 2016 , we conversed with Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz , arguably Malaysia ’ s best-known Minister of International Trade and Industry . We were also lucky enough to have conversations with Tan Sri Arshad Ayub , the former Director of Institut Teknologi MARA , who holds very pragmatic views on education . Our Perdana Discourse Series facilitates knowledge-sharing between Malaysian leaders and young people . In August 2016 , at our 20th Perdana Discourse Series , none other than the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia , Tun Dr . Mahathir Mohamad explained why federalism works in Malaysia and what ’ s made Malaysia so unique among all countries that have opted for this system of government . As always , Tun successfully shed light on a complex topic , enabling us to understand the issue from a historical as well as political perspective .
Our efforts to make materials on Malaysian leadership and history easily accessible continue . As our archives grow ( we now have more than half a million digitised titles ), so will our efforts to draw some connections among them . We have connected the dots for the lives of our former Prime Ministers and the events leading up to our Independence as a nation . Simple as they seem to be , they should not be overlooked in the insight that they can provide for those keen to learn more about Malaysia .
The narrative about our country – even of its past – is constantly evolving , and we , as Malaysians , should play our part to ensure that the narrative is positive and meaningful .
Board of Trustees YBhg Tan Sri Azman Hashim YBhg Tan Sri Dato ’ Seri AP Arumugam YBhg Tan Sri Dato ’ Francis Yeoh YBhg Dato ’ Zainal Abidin Putih YBhg Tan Sri Dato ’ Seri Dr . Jeffrey Cheah Fook Ling YBhg Tan Sri Dato ’ Lee Kim Yew YBhg Datuk Mohaiyani Shamsudin YBhg Tan Sri Dato ’ Sri Haji Mohd Khamil Jamil YBhg Tan Sri Datuk Hj Mustapha Kamal YBhg Tan Sri Datuk Tee Hock Seng YBhg Tan Sri Dato ’ Teh Hong Piow YBhg Dato ’ Sri Robin Tan YBhg Tan Sri Dato ’ Sri Shahril Shamsuddin YBhg Tan Sri Lee Oi Hian YBhg Dato ’ Soam Heng Choon YBhg Tan Sri Datuk G . Gnanalingam YBhg Tan Sri Dr . Azmil Khalili Dato ’ Khalid YBhg Tan Sri Nik Mohamed Nik Yaacob
Executive Committee YBhg Tan Sri Azman Hashim ( Chairman ) YBhg Tan Sri Dato ’ Sri Shahril Shamsuddin ( Honorary Treasurer ) YBhg Tan Sri Datuk Tee Hock Seng ( Joint Honorary Treasurer ) YBhg Tan Sri Nik Mohamed Nik Yaacob ( Executive Director ) YBhg Tan Sri Dato ’ Sri Haji Mohd Khamil Jamil YBhg Dato ’ Soam Heng Choon YBhg Tan Sri Dato ’ Lee Kim Yew YBhg Datuk Mohaiyani Shamsudin YBhg Dato ’ Sri Robin Tan
Editorial Team
Editor Zarina Abu Bakar
Assistant Editors Nurul Humaira Kamarulzaman Mohammad Faridzuan Abd Rahman
Contributors Sri Fitriaty Mohd Kenali Nur Faizah Kasim Maizatul Kartini Kamaruldin Adnan Haris Suriyana Mohd Noor
Layout & Design Twentyfivecents Creative Solutions
Printed By I Graphix Solutions 9-1 , Grd Floor , Jln Wangsa Delima 2A , Section 5 , Bandar Baru Wangsa Maju , 53300 Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia .
2 PERDANA MAGAZINE 2016