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By Mihar Dias November 2025
Nazrin Ramlan said it best — there was a time when Malaysia moved with purpose. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AfA3EGgnx/
You could almost hear the hum of Vision 2020 in the air, that grand symphony of ambition where everyone, from the kampung kid to the cabinet man, believed we were headed somewhere.
Then, of course, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad retired — and the orchestra promptly lost the conductor.
Since then, our political class has been trying to play Beethoven with a kazoo.
Let’s give Nazrin credit where it’s due. He dares to say what polite society won’t: the decline didn’t begin with the rakyat. It began with leaders who thought they could out-do Mahathir — each convinced that the nation needed their personal brand of vision, slogan, and signature blue folder. But in trying to build their own legacies, they bulldozed the very foundations Mahathir had already laid. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AfA3EGgnx/
Mahathir built highways, they built hashtags.
He built industries, they built Instagram posts.
He produced a nation of producers; they produced a nation of consumers — of everything from instant noodles to instant gratification.
Ego, as Nazrin wrote, is louder than wisdom. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AfA3EGgnx/
And in Malaysia, ego has its own loudspeaker system — the political microphone. Every prime minister since Mahathir has used it to announce some “new direction,” as if governance were a GPS that must be recalibrated every five years.
We didn’t need new directions; we just needed to stay the course. But no — each leader wanted a personal slogan.
So we had Islam Hadhari, then 1Malaysia, then Malaysia Baru, and now Malaysia Madani — which roughly translates to “We still haven’t learned our lesson.” https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AfA3EGgnx/
Each time, a new prime minister would reset the nation’s ambitions like a factory reboot. Policies rebranded, plans rewritten, billions reallocated. We went from “developed nation by 2020” to “please survive until 2025.”https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AfA3EGgnx/
When Nazrin says “ego replaced discipline, weakness replaced will,” it’s hard not to nod. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AfA3EGgnx/
You can almost see it — leaders more interested in surviving a party election than leading a nation.
Once the steel spine of governance softened, opportunists moved in like termites. By 2008, the cracks were showing, and by the 2010s, the termites had eaten the rafters.
Barisan Nasional’s fall wasn’t just political — it was moral. As Nazrin noted, everyone wanted to be a leader, and no one wanted to be loyal. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AfA3EGgnx/
What began as a coalition of purpose turned into a cafeteria of self-interest. Every faction now believes it’s the saviour, though most can barely save themselves from scandal.
And when politics becomes a business, loyalty becomes a currency. “Cash is King,” remember? That was the slogan that defined an era — not on posters, but in practice.
Suddenly, the national conversation wasn’t about education or innovation but allowances, positions, contracts, and pensions.
We stopped asking “What can I do for Malaysia?” and started asking “How much does Malaysia owe me?”
From there, as Nazrin wrote, “greed became culture.” https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AfA3EGgnx/
And culture is hard to change once it’s mainstream. The capable left politics, disgusted. The incapable filled the vacuum, delighted.
Ministries turned into job agencies, GLCs into piggy banks, and policy meetings into performance art.
The irony is, Mahathir’s biggest flaw may have been his success. He built a nation so efficient that his successors thought it could run on autopilot. They mistook maintenance for progress and ended up steering us into the ditch while arguing over who should hold the steering wheel.
Today, we no longer talk about nation-building — we talk about seat-sharing. The flag still flies, but the meaning behind it sags. Integrity became optional, accountability unfashionable, and sincerity unprofitable.
Nazrin’s essay isn’t nostalgia; it’s a post-mortem report. A reminder that Malaysia’s sickness is not economic, but ethical. We had the infrastructure, the institutions, and the intelligence — we just lost the integrity.
So, when Nazrin says, “The nation doesn’t need another dreamer; it needs a finisher,” it’s not just rhetoric. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AfA3EGgnx/
It’s the slap the political class needs but refuses to hear.
Malaysia doesn’t need another Vision 2080 or Malaysia Lestari Super Madani+. It needs someone with the humility to complete what’s already been started.
Because leadership isn’t about legacy. It’s about continuity.
Until our leaders rediscover that — until service means more than salary — we’ll keep circling the same drain, renaming the same failures, and rebranding the same decay.
Nazrin Ramlan’s words sting because they’re true: Vision 2020 wasn’t just a deadline. It was a direction. We’ve been walking backwards ever since.
Maybe it’s time someone reminded our leaders: Malaysia doesn’t need another saviour. Just someone who can read a map — preferably the one Mahathir already drew.
Mihar Dias (mihardias@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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