‘BAPA Wawasan’ Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad did not expect to see the year 2020 when he unveiled Vision 2020 as the country’s 30-year development plan in 1991. The three key personalities at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) director-general Tan Sri Noordin Sopiee, political sociologist Rustam Sani and fiscal economist Ismail Salleh who developed the conceptual blueprint that defined Malaysia’s path to social, economic and political development, have passed on. As the year draws to a close, The Edge senior editor
Cindy Yeap and executive editor
Kathy Fong speak to Mahathir about his unrealised vision. The following are excerpts from the 90-minute interview.
Dec 31, 2020, marks the end of the vision statement that has defined the direction of the country for many years. It is called Vision 2020 or Wawasan 2020 in Bahasa Malaysia.
The mission statement of the 30-year plan launched in 1991 includes: “By the year 2020, Malaysia can become a united nation, with a confident Malaysian society, infused by strong moral and ethical values, living in a society that is democratic, liberal and tolerant, caring, economically just and equitable, progressive and prosperous, and in full possession of an economy that is competitive, dynamic, robust and resilient. There can be no fully developed Malaysia until we have overcome the nine central strategic challenges that have confronted us from the moment of our birth as an independent nation.”