DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang has raised the question if there is a replacement for the Wawasan 2020 (Vision 2020) and Bangsa Malaysia which had inspired and united all Malaysians for more than a decade regardless of race and religion.
Taking a pot shot at former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the former Iskandar Puteri MP said while it is sad and tragic that both concepts have failed, it is sadder and more tragic that the creator of Vision 2020 and the concept of Bangsa Malaysia had repudiated both concepts to relapse to “very racist rhetoric”.
“In 1991, when propounding the Vision 2020 and Bangsa Malaysia concepts, Mahathir Mohamad expressed his hopes that the Malaysian who is today and the years to come will be the last generation of our citizens who will be living in a country that is called ‘developing’,” he recalled.
“As such, Mahathir said the ultimate objective that we should aim for is a Malaysia that is a fully developed country by year 2020.”
Lim lamented that the country has missed the 2020 mark by three years and yet still remain a “developing” country with “no clear plans to become a ‘developed’ nation”.
“In 1990, there were 19 countries generally regarded as ‘developed countries’. Now this number of developed countries have more doubled but Malaysia is not one of them,” he said.
“In 1990, Malaysia per capita GDP was over seven times that of China, but three decades later, Malaysia has lost out to China.
“We have also lost out in the pace of development of our per capita GDP in the last three decades as compared to India and Indonesia.”
Lim went on to note that over the last three decades, Indonesia’s per capita GDP has grown by six times, India by nearly seven times, and China by eleven times.
In contrast, he said Malaysia’s per capita GDP has only grown by five times in the last three decades.
“The nine strategic objectives of Vision 2020 failed because Malaysia deviated from the original nation-building principles for a plural Malaysia which was agreed by the nation’s founding fathers, the first fruit of Malaysia’s ‘unity in diversity’,” Lim continued.
“Michelle Yeoh’s Oscar win and the selection of Amanda Nell Eu’s film ‘Tiger Stripes’ for the 62nd Semaine de la Critique Cannes 2023 are evidences that Malaysians are capable of world-class standards and achievements.
“What is needed is a vision for the future to replace Vision 2020 to inspire and unite Malaysians for the next few decades.” – April 21, 2023
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