Malaysia Madani: a guiding framework or folly?

[superadmin]

Dr Mahathir Mohamed had his “Vision 2020” or “Wawasan 2020” which reflected his eagerness for development. Abdullah Ahmad Badawi came up with “Islam Hadhari” as a reflection of his vision, which he even tried to export to other Islamic countries. Najib Razak used “1Malaysia” on everything from sundry stores to cash hand-outs. Ismail Sabri Yaakob had “Keluarga Malaysia”.

Slogans create a mini-industry for a few weeks. No doubt it will cost money for the government to rip down and reprint stationery. There will be the “Malaysia Madani” introductions and “Malaysia Madani” seminars and workshops to promote it as a new ideology.

What is “Malaysia Madani”?

The slogan was used by Anwar earlier this week in a 2023 budget dialogue meeting. The word has its roots in Arabic (which hasn’t gone unnoticed in non-Malay circles), meaning city, indirectly referring to the City of Medina.

According to the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, “madani” means being developed in terms of thinking, spirituality and materiality.

- More -