Dr. Bakri Musa's New Book: Towards A Competitive Malaysia

From Dr. Bakri Musa

I am pleased to announce to the release of my latest book, Towards A Competitive Malaysia: Challenges in the Twenty-First Century (ISBN 0595423671).


For students and academics: You may get a complimentary copy of the e-version of the book in pdf format by e-mailing the author at bakrimusa@juno.com.

For Others: You may get one complimentary copy of the e-version of the book in pdf format after a voluntary donation (on honor) of at least RM10.00 to the Library Fund, Malay College, Kuala Kangsar, Perak.

The 497-page book, fully indexed and referenced, is available at all major on-line bookstores including Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/) and Barnes and Noble (http://www.bn.com/), and retails at US $28.95.

A Malaysian edition is expected out by April 2007.

From the back cover:

Malaysia’s foremost challenges are the fragmentation of its society and the deterioration of its institutions. Social stability is a prerequisite for economic growth, and effective institutions are needed for optimizing it. The deepening polarization of Malays poses a far greater threat than the more readily recognized divisions between the races, while Malaysian institutions are fast losing their integrity and effectiveness through the twin blights of corruption and incompetence.

The author presents the framework of his “Diamond of Development” through enhancing its four cardinal elements: LEADERSHIP, PEOPLE, CULTURE, and GEOGRAPHY. Optimizing all four, with each synergistically reinforcing the other, would propel Malaysia into its next trajectory of development.

Malaysia has done many things right: attaining independence peacefully, defeating the communist insurgency, and achieving economic growth with equity. Those should give Malaysians confidence to tackle the current challenges.

Regionally Malaysia should integrate its economy with Brunei and Indonesia (IMB) instead of the ambitious and unattainable ASEAN common market. Malaysia could potentially lead the greater Malay world through IMB and then be a model for the Muslim world in demonstrating the compatibility of Islam with modernity. Malaysia is also ideally positioned to bridge East and West, as well as the West and the Islamic world.