Forum 2016
and
Book Launch
Pushing the Boundaries (Stories from the Putrajaya Years)
17 February 2016
Speech by Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop
Dato’ Ng Tieh Chuan (CEO, MPH Group dan CEO, Malaysian Reserve)
Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar dan Puan Sri Mastura;
Your Excellencies;
Tan Sri-TanSri;
Datuk-Datuk;
Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan yang dihormati sekalian.
Asalamualaikum Warahmatullah Wbt dan Salam Sejahtera
Terlebih dahulu ingin saya mengalu-alukan tuan-tuan dan puan-puan yang dihormati
sekalian ke Forum 2016 dan majlis pelancaran buku bertajuk ‘Pushing the Boundaries’
pada pagi ini, dan mengucapkan setinggi penghargaan kepada tuan-tuan dan puan-puan
kerana telah melapangkan masa untuk menghadiri majlis ini.
2. I read a beautiful passage some time back which goes like this :
“As we grow older, the past looms larger. There is more of it. So we go on
accumulating the past with reckless abandon, like children guzzling candies. Yet the
past is never dead. It is not even past. Rather we are the sum of our lived moments.
Sometimes it is worth turning time’s arrow backward. Behind the statistics, there
are lives changed and hopes created.”
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3. This book, that we are launching today, does turn time’s arrow backward to a specific
period of our past, namely the period when I had the privilege to serve in Putrajaya
under three Prime Ministers, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad as his Economic Adviser, Tun
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as the Second Minister of Finance and Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib
Tun Abdul Razak as the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, responsible,
among others, for the Economic Planning Unit. Looking back at my days in the
Government service, I continue to marvel at the commitment and stamina for hard work
on the part of the many Government servants. I have seen first hand the quality of work
produced by Government servants, such as Tan Sri Rebecca, Datuk Seri Rahamat Bivi
Yusoff, Datuk Seri Zohari Akob and Datuk Azailiza Mohd Ahad, who are now holding
senior positions in the Government service.
4. The book, entitled Pushing the Boundaries is a collection of institutional memories
of the Putrajaya Years (May 2000 – May 2013) by some of those who were intimately
involved in several critical activities. I believe they, as well as many others who were also
part of the team, have influenced, to some extent, the inexorable march of progress of
our beloved nation. This book has benefited from the articles contributed by some very
distinguished personalities of the nation, including Dato’ Sri Abdul Wahid Omar, Tan Sri
Azman Mokhtar, Tan Sri Syed Anwar Jamalullail and several chief executives of
Government agencies and GLCs.
5. Looking back, many of us, at that time, were young of age. And the few, who were not
that young (that includes me and my friend YAM Syed Anwar Jamalullail), we were
nevertheless very young at heart. Therefore, William Wordsworth’s famous words deeply
resonates with us :-
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“Bliss was it that dawn to be alive,
But to be young was very heaven.”
6. I hope that the stories in this book can become part of the nation’s institutional memory.
As we well know, transmitting individual and institutional memories and experiences
acts as a binding glue between individuals of different generations, thereby inculcating in
us a sense of pride in association and identity, as well as providing us an important
source of knowledge. When we study the institutions that have succeeded in
transforming individual experiences into institutional strength, we see the emergence of
an internal culture based on values and purpose. Take Apple, for example. Steve Jobs is
no more, and with him has gone the ‘Steve Jobs’ factor in Apple. However, Apple
employees continue to feel that they are changing the world by what they are doing, with
an almost religious level of commitment, based on a set of common internal culture and
ethos, built over the years.
7. How do we summarize the ethos of Putrajaya Years ? What was it that motivated the
men and women to serve with such commitment and passion for King and Country ? I
believe that all of us were motivated by a positive attitude, a sense of responsibility and a
quiet optimism that we can make big changes for the greater good. As we all know, a
positive attitude creates a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes. It is
the catalyst. It is the spark that creates extraordinary results. And the nation’s leadership
gave us the air cover to make the changes. This is very important – the air cover. Just to
mention two examples, we would not have resolved the issues at MRCB and UEM,
without the air cover from the national leadership.
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8. If we look back at our history since 1957, we will see that there were only three periods
when talented professional Malaysians were given the opportunity to take up top
leadership roles at a young age. The three periods were :-
i. Immediately after Independence in 1957, as colonial officers returned to the
United Kingdom, many senior positions in the Government service became vacant.
This enabled qualified Malaysians to take up senior positions in the Government
service at a very young age (mainly in their 30s). Names that come to mind are Tan
Sri K. Thanabalasingam (Royal Malaysian Navy Chief), Tan Sri Sulaiman bin Sujak
(Royal Malaysian Air Force Chief), Allahyarham Dato’ Malek Ali Merican (Deputy
Secretary General of the Ministry of Finance), and Allahyarham Dato’ Shamsir Bin
Omar (Accountant General). There were, of course, many others. ii. During the 1980s, the privatization exercises implemented by the Economic
Planning Unit provided great opportunities for many young Malaysians to assume
senior positions in the private sector. iii. The Putrajaya Years undoubtedly enabled many young Malaysians to assume
senior positions in the corporate sector.
9. The Putrajaya years, gave many young professionals (such as Dato’ Sri Wahid Omar, Tan
Sri Azman Mokhtar, Tan Sri Bakke, Datuk Tajuddin Atan, Puan Sharifatu Laila, Datuk
Mohd Radzif Yunus, Datuk Dzulkifli Fadzilah, Datuk Izzaddin Idris, Dato’ Sri Che
Khalib, Dato’ Abdul Rahman Ahmad, Datuk Shahril Ridza Ridzuan, Datuk Izham Yusof,
Datuk Fazlur Rahman and Datuk Redza Rafiq Abdul Razak and many others) the
opportunity to prove themselves heading major corporations or important institutions.
Having been exposed to difficult challenges early and having proven themselves in
meeting these challenges, many of them have moved on to even larger responsibilities
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today. Our principle during the Putrajaya Years, in choosing candidates for senior posts
in the GLCs, was simple. To the young, we said, if you are good enough, you are old
enough. And, by the same token, for the older ones, we said, if you are good enough, you
are young enough.
10. The appointment of young and capable professionals to lead major GLCs, particularly
Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar to head Khazanah, also had a waterfall effect, since the CEOs
themselves attracted many other young professionals to join the GLCs. And these
professionals, in turn, attracted others – hence the waterfall effect. Two good examples
of outstanding professionals, who were attracted to join Khazanah during the Putrajaya
Years, based on Khazanah’s strong leadership, were Dato’ Ganen and Dr. Nungsari
Ahmad Radhi. There were other professionals too, who have dedicated their lives to do
national service, including Encik Johan Mahmood Merican, Datuk Husni Salleh and YM
Raja Azura Raja Mahayuddin, to name just a few. And we inculcated in these young
professionals the belief that they can and should make positive changes in their
respective organizations in the context of the greater good for the nation. In this regard, I
wish to quote President Obama’s advice on change to young Americans, not so long ago,
since it reflects our own philosophy during the Putrajaya Years :-
“Through your life, you will face many challenges in seeking change; and there
will be many periods when you will be at the crossroads, wondering whether it
is worth your while; whether you should not just narrow your interests and get
on with your own life (rather) than trying to be a crusader for the larger good.
But I hope you will remember, during these times of doubt and frustrations, that
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there is nothing naïve about your impulse to change the world. Because all it
takes is one act of service – one blow against injustice – to send forth…. that
‘tiny ripple of hope’. That is what changes the world.”
11. The nation needs to continuously create space for the young to participate at senior
levels, both in the Government service and the corporate sector, in the ongoing quest to
chart a better future for our country.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
12. Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar has noted in his article that most of the people involved in the
transformation activities of the Putrajaya Years did not know each other at the
beginning. To quote Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar, “This is a good thing, as it meant that it
was not some exclusive and shadowy cable, but instead a quite happy confluence of
hard-working and wholly committed professionals, who were gathered with one most
persistent common thread : to serve and to do their very best for King and Country.”
We need to build inclusive groups of committed professionals from different
backgrounds and different ethnicity in our nation-building efforts. The best example of
this is Khazanah itself. By appointing the right people with the right skills for the right
jobs, we transformed the corporate culture and performance of Khazanah into world
class level.
13. This book does not tell the entire story of development in Malaysia between May 2000
and May 2013. It is only a portrait or a snapshot, if you will, of one cluster of activities
undertaken by a dedicated group of professionals working with me. But it does give the
essence of some of the triumphs and tribulations of that period, the battles won and the
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lessons learnt. I should add that this book is a sequel to Wong Sulong’s “Notes to the
Prime Minister” published in June 2011.
14. Wong Sulong’s book was a record of the Financial Crisis of 1997 / 1998 and how we, as a
nation, rose to the occasion and beat the currency manipulators. This subject is not
covered in the new book. I would encourage all of you to read “Notes to the Prime
Minister” as well, to get a comprehensive view of the Putrajaya Years, and to learn of the
role of many other participants during the Putrajaya Years. At the launch of Wong
Sulong’s book “Notes to the Prime Minister” in June 2011, I did recall how it all started
with a phone-call. On 29 September 1997, I received a phone call requesting me to meet
the Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 2
October 1997. I went home almost immediately, packed my bags and informed my family
that I was leaving for Argentina to meet a very important personality. My family wanted
to know who I was going to meet. I told them that it was Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. My
wife, Fawziah, was excited, but my children were disappointed. “Dad”, they chimed in
unison, “We thought you were going to Argentina to meet Maradona!”
Ladies and gentlemen,
15. I must explain the background to that crucial phone call. It was a sunny afternoon, in
late September 1997, when the Prime Minister’s motorcade was speeding along the
streets of Kuala Lumpur. At one junction, as the motorcade slowed, Tun Dr. Mahathir
turned his head to look out. And he saw a forlorn-looking man walking towards a row of
shops for lunch.
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16. That forlorn-looking man was me ! A few days later, the Prime Minister left for an official
visit to Cuba, Chile and Argentina. In Cuba, the image of the man appeared before Tun
Dr. Mahathir. And he made a phone call. The rest, as they say, is history.
17. I met Tun Dr. Mahathir at his suite at the Alvear Palace Hotel in Buenos Aires on 2
October 1997 at 5 pm. He asked me to explain to him what was happening in the
financial markets. He said that he had two hours and the briefing had to end at 7pm, as
he had to attend a dinner arranged by the Malaysian Ambassador to Argentina.
18. For two hours, I explained to Tun Dr. Mahathir how the financial market works. He
hardly said a word. He stopped me at 7pm. He asked me what I was doing for the night. I
told Tun Dr. Mahathir that I was also invited to the dinner by the Ambassador. He said
“No, you are not going for that dinner. You go back to your room and put in writing what
you had been telling me for the last two hours, and see me at 7am tomorrow.” I went to
my room, skipped dinner, and started writing the report, finished it by dawn the next
day. I went to see Tun Dr. Mahathir at 7am, and passed him the report. Tun Dr.
Mahathir read it carefully; his face brightened up and he said “Now I understand how
the financial market works.”
19. There were numerous other notes that I wrote to him subsequently, all of which are in
Wong Sulong’s book. In one note, I attempted to explain to the Prime Minister various
terms used in the financial market. One such term was KLIBOR, which stands for Kuala
Lumpur Interbank Offer Rate, which is the daily index reflecting the money market
conditions. I explained to Tun Dr. Mahathir that, originally, we had wanted to name the
index Malaysian Interbank Offer Rate or MIBOR in short. However, someone
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pointed out to us that the BOR in Hokkien means wife. MIBOR, therefore, means my
wife. We, of course, did not want the world to think that wives are traded in the
Malaysian interbank money market. Worse, if they are traded at a discount ! Therefore,
we chose the term KLIBOR instead of MIBOR. I was trying to cheer up Tun Dr.
Mahathir. I think it worked. I saw a faint smile on his face.
20. Often times I had wondered, what if I had postponed lunch that fateful afternoon in
September 1997 ? What if the Prime Minister’s car arrived at that junction a minute
later ? Well, these are idle thoughts, really. History happens. And there is no undoing of
what is done. The important point is that every crisis demands statesmanship, which
cannot be composed of calculations alone, but must also reach for the unquenchable in
the human spirit. This is what the nation’s leadership did in 1997 / 98. Even in the
darkest hours, it gave us hope.
21. In Greek mythology, when Pandora opened her box, she let out all evils, except one:
hope. The Greeks considered hope dangerous, its bedfellow can be delusion. Nietzsche,
the German philosopher, later saw hope as the evil that prolongs human torment. But, in
the end, Pandora opened the box again and released hope, because, without hope,
humanity was filled with despair.
22. As we move forward into challenging times, particularly given the difficult external
environment, we ought never to minimize the nature of the challenges that are
confronting us today. However, learning from our history, particularly the 1997 / 98
crisis, we ought never to underestimate our ability to deal with them. During the
Putrajaya Years, the challenge was to restore the nation’s growth and development
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momentum, post the 1997 / 1998 crisis. The challenge today is to build a new Malaysia
under a very different global environment. While we, as a nation and as citizens, require
many strong qualities to succeed in these difficult times, hope and confidence in a
better tomorrow for Malaysia are indispensable qualities we need to have.
23. What are the lessons from the Putrajaya Years that could be useful to the nation as it
faces the current challenges ? There are many, but I would like to mention just a few, as
follows :-
(i) The ability to think out of the box. The way we resolved problems faced by the
GLCs, including MRCB and UEM / Renong, required unorthodox thinking. The
creation of ValueCap in 2002 also required original thinking. These are just a few of
the many activities that we undertook during the Putrajaya Years, going beyond text-
book theories. Malaysia is not short of great ideas, but all too often these ideas get
shot down by skeptics who will say, “It won’t work” or “We cannot succeed.” All too
often, we would have defeated ourselves in our own heads, even before we have
begun the work. As President John F. Kennedy once said “The problems of the world
cannot be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious
realities. We need men (and women) who can dream of things that never were and
ask – Why not?” A key success factor of the Putrajaya Years was that we did not
believe in the word “impossible”, and we were able to empower various CEOs, who
were not afraid to take on seemingly impossible tasks. Given the increasingly
challenging external environment today, we need to continue to think out of the box,
rather than depend on ‘business as usual’ based on orthodox theories. Indeed, sooner
or later, almost all theories fail. The world is too complicated for them. Most crisis
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require weighing unknowns against unknowns, and choosing between competing
alternatives on the basis of wisdom and courage.
(ii) Never let the perfect be the enemy of the good. In life, there are seldom
perfect solutions. One example of this principle during the Putrajaya years was the
setting up of TalentCorp. We knew that TalentCorp was not the perfect solution to
prevent brain drain – there was no perfect solution. However, having TalentCorp was
a good measure to harvest talent. TalentCorp has done well. Similarly in enhancing
Bumiputera participation in the economy, we knew there was never going to be a
perfect solution. That did not prevent us from adding to the range of instruments
that had existed prior to the Putrajaya Years, including introducing the PROSPER
scheme (under PUNB) in 2000, setting up Yayasan Amanah Hartanah Bumiputera
in 2006, Ekuinas in 2009, Teraju in 2011 and Yayasan Peneraju in 2012, to name just
a few.
(iii) Use existing channels and infrastructure as much as possible. One example
of this principle is the specific dedicated affirmative action programmes for the low
income groups that we implemented beginning 2008, targeted largely at students,
high risks youths, single mothers, as well as women from low income households.
The objective was to build capacity and increase their potential to generate income
through education and entrepreneurship. While the Government’s poverty
eradication programs were largely based on direct intervention by ministries and
agencies, we introduced an additional new approach in assisting the disadvantaged
group, by including various stakeholders, and inculcating in them a sense of
ownership and a shared commitment. We wanted some of the poverty eradication
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efforts to be a collective responsibility of the Government as well as non-
governmental organizations (NGOs) and local communities. This initiative included
assisting several Malaysian Indian NGOs, which had previously undertaken
successful programs that were run by volunteers on a non-profit basis. The
programme had produced great results at minimum cost. Another example of this
principle of not reinventing the wheel was our extensive usage of the resources in
PROKHAS to plan and implement new projects during the Putrajaya Years.
(iv) In controversial matters, be flexible. The railway land issue with Singapore was
a controversy burdening the nation for more than two decades. The story by Puan
Zaida Khalida Shaari in this book shows how, with some flexibility in thinking, and
yet perseverance in pursuing our goals, with no stones left unturned, we successfully
resolved the railway land issue with Singapore on the basis of a win-win formulae. In
the same article, Puan Zaida also writes on the process of arbitration that took place
in London in July 2014 to determine whether Malaysia had to pay a development tax
to Singapore on the land. We worked very hard for four long years, preparing for this
arbitration. Alhamdulillah, the arbitration findings was in Malaysia’s favor. Malaysia
won, and this saved the nation RM 2.3 billion. This proves that, if we are deeply
committed to any task and work hard at it, we can succeed, Insya’Allah.
(v) Booms and busts will continue to occur. The Putrajaya Years had its fair share
of booms and busts. Each time there was a downturn, the Government was
pragmatic and courageous in implementing the right measures to overcome the
challenge. In all our plans for the future, we need to continuously take into account
these cycles. This may sound obvious, but all too often, even in business
corporations, we have business plans based on an average sales growth of 10 % for
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the next 10 years. The problem is that, while revenues fluctuate, debt servicing and
overheads do not. The management of debt and risks must always be the critical
element in all our plans. As Keynes famously said, “The inevitable never happens. It
is the unexpected always.”
(vi) Always consider the long-term. Dr. Nungsari in his recent column in The Edge,
quoted a Greek saying, “A society grows great when old men plant trees, whose
shade they know they shall never sit in.” The great American philosopher and
journalist, Walter Lippman, made the same point when he asked: Why do old men
plant trees and young men die in battles for their countries ? The answer is : To give
a better life for the future generation which they deserve. It is, therefore, crucial that,
in making important decisions, we consider not only the effect of that decision on the
present generation but also generations yet unborn. Some of the decisions made
during the Putrajaya Years were unpopular in the short term, but had very positive
long term effects.
(vii) Institution building is essential. As Jean Monnet said, “Nothing is possible
without men, but nothing is lasting without institutions.” Since Independence in
1957, we have had a great record at institution building. The Putrajaya Years
continued that momentum in strengthening existing institutions and setting up new
institutions in the context of changing circumstances. Going forward, we need to
continue the process of institution building, including strengthening the institutions
that we have.
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24. There are other lessons as well. I am sure you will hear more on this subject in the Forum
later. Let me end my speech with a tribute to a dear friend of ours, who was very much
part of the journey of the Putrajaya Years, but who left us in December 2009.
Allahyarham Ismail Fariz Ali, as described by Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar in Chapter 5 of
this book, was, for me and many of my colleagues, a key confidant and a gracious critic.
To quote Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar, “(Allahyarham’s) contributions would almost always
be wise yet worldly, firm yet humane and always based on the right sources…He would
always remind (us) not to judge by ego or by our nafsu (desires) and to be careful of the
many trappings of power.” Let’s pray to Allah SWT to grant Allahyarham Ismail Fariz Ali
every felicity and every mercy. I am glad that Allahyarham’s wife, Puan Wan Hashimah
Ahmad Merican, and daughter, Ayesha Ismail Fariz, are here with us today.
25. In concluding, I would like to thank everyone who has contributed, in one way or
another, to the publication of this book, in particular the authors who have penned their
articles; Dato’ Ng Tieh Chuan of MPH and his staff for their commitment to get this book
organized and printed on time; my wife Fawziah and my family members, who are
always a source of inspiration; and my office colleagues for working diligently on the
details of this book through numerous drafts and redrafts.
26. Ladies and gentleman, I am indeed extremely grateful for all your support. I am excited
and happy that so many of my friends can make it for this function. Thank you very
much.
Wabillahi taufik wal Hidayah Wassalamualaikum Waramatullahi Wabarakatu
(17 – 02 – 2016)
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