The lifelong dream of
Malaysia’s 6th Prime Minister, Najib Tun Razak, is a united, peaceful and
prosperous Malaysia, with abundant opportunities for all citizens. As the son
of Malaysia’s second Prime Minister, the late Tun Abdul Razak, Najib was born
into Malaysian politics. Najib grew up watching his father and knew the demands
of mainstream politics, and he always knew that at some point in his life he
wanted to serve his community and country. But the untimely passing of his
father on January 14th, 1976, at the age of 54, suddenly thrust Najib into the
spotlight. Five weeks after his father’s passing, Najib, at the age of 22, was
elected to fill the Pekan vacancy, becoming the youngest Member of Parliament
in Malaysia’s history. In 2004 he ascended to the second-highest office in the
nation, Deputy Prime Minister, 47 years after his father’s appointment to the
same post. His contribution is phenomenon.
Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Razak was born on July 23rd 1953 in Kuala Lipis, Pahang. He was educated at St.
John’s Institution in Kuala Lumpur and Malvern Boy’s College in Worcestershire,
England before earning a degree in Industrial Economics from Nottingham
University. Returning to Malaysia in 1974, he entered the corporate world,
serving briefly in Bank Negara (Central Bank) and later with PETRONAS (the
national petroleum corporation) as a Public Affairs Manager. But the untimely
death of Tun Abd Razak dramatically altered the course of his life.
Najib Tun Razak quickly adapted
to public life as a Member of Parliament, and soon found that the art of
politics came naturally to him. Within a short time, the young Najib showed
that he was a credible and capable politician and a leader in his own right. In
his first year as an MP he was appointed Deputy Minister of Energy,
Telecommunications and Posts, and later served as Deputy Minister of Education
and Deputy Minister of Finance. In 1982 the nation’s new Prime Minister, Dr.
Mahathir Mohamad, placed Dato’s Sri Mohd Najib to contest the State Assembly seat
of Pekan. Following Najib’s election victory, the 29-year-old Najib became the
Menteri Besar of Pahang, the biggest state in Peninsular Malaysia. Pahang was
at the time on the verge of a political crisis due to serious differences
between the previous MB and the Sultan of Pahang. But Najib was not only a
rising political star, he was one of the Four Noblemen of the Pahang Royal
Court (by virtue of his inherited title as the Orang Kaya Indera Shahbandar)
and he was warmly welcomed by the palace. The crisis quickly abated, ensuring
the unity of Pahang UMNO whilst Najib embarked upon measures to strengthen
education in the state. In 1982 Najib played a key role in establishing Yayasan
Pahang, a foundation dedicated to promoting education and sports among the
youth of Pahang through scholarships and funding. Najib strengthened state
enterprises to maximize earnings from Pahang’s abundant natural resources. In
cooperation with FELDA, the Federal Land Development Authority, he paved the
way for the establishment of new land settlement schemes, 2 providing new
income opportunities for those who were landless and in the lower income group.
Najib’s appointment will definitely bring evolution in the country
Dato’s Sri Mohd Najib
became the deputy chief of UMNO Youth in 1982, and assumed the top job in the
organization in 1987. In 1988, after a struggle for control of the party, a
newly reconstituted UMNO came into being and Najib was appointed as Youth
Chief, a post he held until 1993.
In the 1986 general
elections Najib was returned as the Member of Parliament for Pekan, and was
appointed as Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports. He immediately focused on
improving Malaysian sports and introduced the National Sports Policy in 1988.
In 1989 Malaysia achieved its best-ever performance at the South East Asia
(SEA) Games, which were held that year in Kuala Lumpur.
In 1991, Dato’ Sri Mohd
Najib was appointed Minister of Defence. Najib revitalized a Ministry that was
seen as lethargic and listless, and modernized the Malaysian Armed Forces
through strategic capability enhancement, procurements and exercises. In 1995,
Dato’ Sri Najib had a change in cabinet portfolio and was appointed Minister of
Education. His challenge was to respond to Malaysia’s newly proclaimed
aspiration to become a fully developed nation by the year 2020. During his
five-year tenure, Najib put into place the mechanisms that would enable a
generation of Malaysians to meet the challenges of the future. He restructured
the Ministry, corporatized the public universities, and encouraged
collaboration with foreign universities and institutions. This provided more
educational opportunities for Malaysians and positioned Malaysia as a regional
learning hub. Dato’ Sri Najib also upgraded teaching certificates to the status
of diplomas, so that teachers in that category would receive a higher monthly
starting salary.
In 1999, following the
political turmoil of the year before, Najib won re-election to his Pekan
Parliamentary seat. He was then appointed as Minister of Defence for the second
time and resumed his efforts to improve and modernize the Malaysian Armed
Forces. Upon his appointment in 2004 as Deputy Prime Minister, Dato’ Sri Najib
was given a broad portfolio of responsibilities, including oversight of FELDA,
the Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM), and the Election Commission. He also
chairs more than 28 Cabinet Committees which preside over a wide range of
issues. Dato’ Sri Najib is married to YABhg Datin Paduka Seri Rosmah Mansor,
and is the proud father of five children. Being Defence minister his priority
is to promote security for all Malaysians.
On April 3rd 2009,
before the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Razak was appointed
Prime Minister of Malaysia in a smooth handover from YAB Datuk Seri Abdullah Hj
Ahmad Badawi
The concept of
"wasatiyyah" or moderation as taught by Prophet Muhammad should
prevail to ensure that the mission of building a progressive and competitive
nation is achieved, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. In his
message in conjunction with Prophet Muhammad's birthday celebration Thursday,
Najib said the Prophet was a role model who practiced moderation in his life
and the concept had brought about unity and solidarity of Muslims throughout
the world."Moderation as practiced by the Prophet has resulted in creating
the momentum to drive the development of each race and country in the
world."Therefore, this momentum needs to continue to ensure our mission to
build a progressive and competitive country is achieved," he said in his personal
blog
On the era of Dato’ Sri
Mohd Najib Tun Razak, some major policies was initiated by him. One of them is
New Economic Model (NEM) which was unveiled on 30th March 2010. The aim of this
policy is to change the ethnically based economy to all needed based economy
where any ethnic can involve in a particular economy business which brings more
competitive among them, more market and more investor. The main goal for this
policy is to transform the Malaysian economy to become one with high income and
quality growth. It also to simulate the productivity of workers across the all
sectors of society. NEM seeks empower of private sectors and want to reduce the
comparison between the wealthier and poorer Malaysian. NEM was initiated for
replacing New Economy Plan (NEP). This NEM programme was supported and
criticized by government parties, NGO and other sources too.
The main policy Najib Tun Razak brought right
after he become Malaysia’s sixth prime minister was initiating One Malaysia
concept with “People First, Performance Now”. One Malaysia concept stresses
more in national unity and ethnic tolerance where eight values were included,
that is perseverance, a culture of excellence, acceptance, loyalty, education,
humility, integrity and meritocracy. The important aspect in One Malaysia is to
improve the quality of government services towards peoples.
