At the meantime, I want to prepare myself to become….

Soory for the typos.

Couldn’t agree more to what you said. (truly sorry, I missed out the “Bro” before you name in the last postings!).

Yes, Mahathir is a class above. Even now, when he’s already out of the office, I hardly find any inconsistencies or illogical statements coming from him ~ NST’s cartoon on Nabi Mohamad, APs, Proton, China’s growing economy, Singapore, Australia, Israel-Palestine, Hamas, Bush etc.
I really miss this great leader of the world.

I’m just trying to understand where the current administration wants us to go. Are we going to follow the way the Soviet Union dissolved into a lower level of complexity? Are we going to follow what Diamond describes the success of the tiny South Pacific Island of Tikopia ~ a zero growth society or are we going to follow the way England turned from wood to coal in the 1550~develop new energy source that led to the Industrial Revolution?

I knew where Mahathir will be going if he’s still in the office, without doubt! But, I’m not sure if the current leader knows where he’s going. At the meantime, I want prepare myself to become the best rubber taper in the whole Benta.

Sallam

We have to abandon our “simple” ways, and learn to deal with complexity and turbulence. We can do that if we constantly adapt, stay flexible (and be ready for points of inflexion) and innovate. We also have to create our own growth since it is a matter of survival. Stagnation and decay are no options as that over time means collapse.

Mahathir introduced policies on energy diversification and conservation. He even proposed intelligent buildings and built-in environments like in KLIA with the help of Architect Furukawa, the Japanese father of Symbiosis, and KLCC area(it was once a race course, but today it is a tourist area with upmarket apartments and posh hotels). Even Kuala Lumpur is a garden city, despite the jams and dirty toilets. But there is no follow through.

To his credit, Mahathir is not afraid to make hard decisions and deal with controversies on his own because he is intellectually awesome and can engage and bond with the public in times of crisis. But today there are people in our country are going to underdo his legacy, instead of improving and building on it. It is all politics.

For “knowledge” and learning people like me, the world is our theatre.So, I don’t worry for myself. Like you, I can adapt. I am not worried even if I became a car parking attendant (this is highly remote, of course, since I can work and teach overseas because of my qualifications). I am now more concerned about the future of my grandchildren (so far 5 of them and counting). Politicians are too short term to worry about that, although they swear that they do care about the future generation.

Thanks.

Keys to survival in times of limited resources i.e. oil are (i) simplifying the society, (ii) adopting a zero-growth society and (iii) develop new energy supplies. The first two are the easiest and are interlinked. The third- the most preferable - is the hardest. This explains the difference between him and Dr M. All evidences show that Dr M will always go for the third.

Maybe he was influenced by Diamond’s Tikopia and he’s trying to apply that to Malaysia. This planned transformation is not so bad but I dont know what’s going to happen to knowledge people like yourself. I used to tap rubber in my 4 acres plot before. I guess I can do adjustment quite easily.

Salam.

I know that Mahathir has set up the Yayasan Perdana and also has a similar library where he hold court but Malaysia should have a similar institution for each past Prime Minister.

Thanks, but you ought to elaborate on your statement that “there is a difference between a planned transformation to a simpler society, and one that occurs against his will”. Collapse!! Have you read Jared Diamond’s latest book of the same title?

Someone said to me today that we “don’t fix it, if it ain’t broke.” Badawi is not doing that. He want to things differently so that he is not identified with Tun Dr. Mahathir’s policies and actions. Folly, I say, to ignore that simple advice.

I will comment later.

About the Green Book.

Maybe he felt it’s too high a price (or too difficult for him and his young, oxbridge groupthink!) for increasing or maintaining complexity of Knowedge Workers, excellent service providers, globalisation etc, and therefore, he chosed for the society to become less complex i.e tanam padi makan sendiri. Of course. a decline in complexity is one definition of a collapse. However there is a difference between a planned transformation to a simpler society and one that occurs against his will.

I read the book, “K.Dass and The Tunku Tapes”, too and agree that Dr. Kua Sia Soong, the editor, could have done a much better job. But I congratulate him on a moving tribute to K. Dass. Maybe Dr Kua will bear your comments in mind when he decides to publish a second edition.

Our Archives people should consider creating a oral history section and actively start to interview aging political leaders, corporate types and entrepreneurs, academics, and outstanding public servants, teachers, sportsmen and sportswomen about their times and experiences. There is also a need to introduce legislation like The Freedom of Information Act in the US which can allow scholars and researchers access to official papers and other documents.

We can learn from the past, so that we do not have to copy the same ideas which may not be relevant today, and repeat the mistakes. For example, the “Green Book” idea by the late Tun Razak in the 1970s is being reintroduced in our country by the Badawi Administration; hopefully with a “biotechnology and ICT” component, we will do better as garden farmers, not as Knowledge workers and excellent service providers.

Thanks.