Moving Forward Book Launch

On 8 December, my book, Moving Forward: Malays for the 21st Century and Mendepani Zaman: Melayu untuk Abad ke-21 was launched by the Selangor Menteri Besar, Tan Sri Dato’ Khalid Ibrahim.

It was held at Itudio Studio, a small studio at Kelana Mall. I didn’t expect a big turnout but eventually the small studio was packed to the brim. Luckily I did not wear a blazer like many others. Sharon Bakar described it as a sauna!

In my speech I spoke about how the view that Malays need to move forward to a more inclusive Malaysia is now no longer on the fringe, but accepted as mainstream. It is also unfortunate that today people forget that the architects of the NEP in itself understood that the policy was a temporary compromise to solve the problems of the time, but today it is regarded a sacred cow.

In his speech, Tan Sri Khalid mentioned that the critical views of today’s generation as a sign of achievement of the NEP. He spoke about his experience at PNB, getting the Bumiputeras to save and invest and the need for a new mindset in facing the 21st century. Tan Sri Khalid capped it off by reciting a part of Allahyarham Usman Awang’s poem, Melayu.

I was happy to see my family, friends and colleagues at the book launch. My parents, wife and sister came along, with my uncles. Syed Shahir Mohamud, the Keadilan Kelana Jaya Division Chief and MTUC President attended with the rest of the Kelana Jaya members. Among the elected representatives who attended were Amirudin Shari, Gwo-Burne Loh, Nurul Izzah Anwar, Tony Pua and Hannah Yeoh. Jason Tan, Off the Edge Editor which has serialised Moving Forward and Dato’ Hussamuddin Yaacob, the Chairman of Karangkraf were there. My friends, Shidi, Qisti, Edree and Safawati were also in the crowd. My KYUEM teachers, Puan Rogayah Ibrahim and Rahazana Rahmat were there with their spouses. Tengku Maraziyah, Arfa’eza Aziz and Tricia Yeoh – my colleagues from the Menteri Besar’s Office – took time off to be there as well.

Also, thank you to Karim Raslan, Dr. M. Bakri Musa, Khoo Kay Peng, Sharon Bakar and Malaysian Today for reviewing my book.

Sales have been good, we’re already going for the second print. Photos are here.