Tony Fernandes CEO Blog

Yesterday, I was appointed on the board of trustees of the newly set up 1Malaysia Foundation.

I broke the news and immediately posed this question on my Twitter and Facebook accounts. A small part of Malaysia spoke up on what 1Malaysia means to them and I can only conclude that we are a passionate bunch of people about our nation. Here’s what they have to say.

Tiong Lim: We are the true melting pot of Asia. This is where great ideas and creativity like what are you doing now prevailing.
Shaolin Tiger: It means NO vernacular schools, 1 education system = 1 malaysia.
Jason Lo: Check any AirAsia flight for your 1Malaysia. Everybody equal, trying to get by, those who put in effort get a better deal.
Suazzer: means fair & equal treatment 2 all, decisions based on merit, respecting oth's views & religion
AttyaAttylla: 1Malaysia should be abt being equal. race especially states! west n east Msia.. big difference!!!!!!
Tej Fernandez: A common identity for all malaysians regardless of race, religion or creed! no more Malaysian Indian, Malaysian Chinese, etc
Ditesh: 1Malaysia means not being discriminated on racial or religious grounds
Khailee: acknowledging and celebrating differences... that 1malaysia is made of many tiny colourful and distinct pieces

Mokhster: 1 Malaysia shouldn't just B equality in opportunity for all races, but equality & opportunity between the haves and have nots
Abinesh: being colour blind. 1 Standard for all Malaysians~
Jeff Teo: being one against common outside "enemy/enemies", not Malays against Chinese, India vs Chinese, federal vs E.M'sia like now
Azreen: one malaysia means that regardless race / religion / status we are 1.chanting respect all the way.
Khoo KK: Simple,putting "we" before "I"! V hv multi-racial, cultures, religions, languages, but only 1Malaysia, the nation v all luv
Mitrat Singam: 1Malaysia means all the races united as 1, in all means. Bt to achieve dis we need 2 change da mentality, esp our politicians
Lim KJL: when we go anywhere especially now with AA & when ppl ask where are we from We just say 'we are Malaysians fullstop.' no race
Yang Razlan: Imsia just a slogan. In terms of race relation 40yrs ago,i had chinese, punjabi, indian friends. No talk of race, We share.
Edwin Koh: Justice and Respect and A Ringgit that is higher ! that's what 1 Malaysia is to me
Mai: 1Malaysia means not having to remind everyone that Malaysia is one. Ppl shld just know we are "one" & not make it an issue.
Cherry Kam: 1Malaysia should be able to fully utilize&maximize every single Malaysian's brains, body, & spirituality agility.. to focus only on the goodness in ppl & never criticize in what ppl lack, at least a direction, x just a mere concept.
Adeline Ng: my defination of one malaysia wld be all malaysian never has to be graded via their race anymore.
Alfred Juan: it means to me EQUALITY to ALL
Nocholas Sagau: irrespective of religion, gender, race, colour or creed everyone should be one
Saravanan Sahadevan: 1 Malaysia = Open Economy, Zero Policies. Allow us to develop as how Australia is doing now.

Robert R. Samuel: Martin Luther King's I have a Dream speech where he yearned for a time when people will be judged by the content of their character.
He spoke of it in 1963, the year Malaysia was formed by the coming together of 4 nation states.
One Malaysia is the culmination of that coming together of 4 nations (one of whom was forced out). Now we have a 3 strand rope, a trinity that binds us as Malaysians, strong in our unique diversity.
Leon Wee: Showing the world that we as a malaysian with multiculturalism could work together.
Vimalah Rajahrathenam: Equal opportunity for those who deserve it in all fields - education, business etc
Gan Chinkeong: and remove the religion indication on our IC. (beside the gender, but only muslim is indicated )
Jon Tan: Meritocracy. Full stop.
Vicknaraj Thanarajah: Bravo Tony, To me it means having a single identity and united to take our Nation to the next level, while not forgetting the underpriviledged. Progress (in physic, mind and sprite) with a Social Conscience which is blind to colour creed or race........what a mouthful.
Phyllis Wong:
Shared Faith
Shared Power
Shared Life
There is a hope in the future that we may manifest a unity of love among ourselves which will show the world that we are one in the bond of love - truly 1Malaysia.
Sharon Yap: 1 Malaysia = I dun need to fill up the race column of a form, there is only one race, Malaysian.... and of course equality, no quota, no special priviledge, etc
Seb Oh: Foremost Congrats for being invited to join the council... As for what Malaysia means; 1Malaysia should be Equal Benefits & Opportunity for all Malaysians regardless of race/ethic/religion. 1Malaysia should be fairness to ALL Malaysians, having Negara Ku sang by all Malaysians. 1Malaysia = 1Country = 1People = 1Family. But we should always showcase Malaysia's uniqueness of having Multiple Cultures and Religions living together. Now that's Truly Asia.

Ramesh Ramanathan: Individuals enjoying the same benefits and privileges regardless of color, race and religion. Meritocracy should prevail.
Yogendran Subramanium: UNITY Sir!
Respecting each others faith, religion, believes, political views, family, work, walks of life, genre, age, level of education, food and simply accepting them as a Malaysian.
That is what UNITY is and that is what 1Malaysia means to me.
John Zachariah: To me, 1Malaysia would be where all Malaysians regardless of race & religion be treated equally in every field be it politics, education or work etc. Together we can acheive much more than we have acheived. Work the saying "do unto others what you want others do unto you".
1Malaysia is a pillar to Malaysia modern civilization based on theory of reason, the natural laws of moral (Emanuel Kant). It should be something above race and religion. Eventually "Freedom" will prevails.
Joseph Tan: 1Malaysia is more like a "one nation sharing the same spirit of patriotism". perhaps we should name it as "1Malaysian", then we're talking about unity.
Baladevan Balakrishnan: One Malaysia - Neither a Malay, Indian, Chinese nor any race. Just humans with right values in one's heart, The Malaysian way!
Catherine Wong: Perpaduan tak kira bangsa & agama, kaya atau miskin.
Bavani Rengasamy: the sharing of a common aspiration, common values and love for the country. Respect towards one another, the law and our unique heritage. The singing of Negaraku.

To me, our diversity has always been our nation’s greatest strength and a lot of work needs to be done to get people to work together. The brand of Malaysia is a multicultural heritage and that attracts huge interest from the world to set up shop here. It is important that we as a nation stand together in this belief of 1Malaysia. Comment on what you think and please vote on the new voting at the sidebar of the blog. So the rest of Malaysia, what do you think 1Malaysia means to you? Do you feel Malaysian?

A lot has been said about 1Malaysia. My views on that are very clear. I hope one day there will be 1Asean.

So I won't dwell on it. What I would like to focus on are the reforms implemented in the commercial sector by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's administration.

The removal of NEP requirements for 27 service sub-sectors represents a great start. I hope the rest of it will also wound down in time. But I hope more importantly, that the entire domestic economy is reformed.

My wish is that Datuk Seri Najib does a Margaret Thatcher. At present, there is too much vested interest, conflict and red tape that kill creativity, discourage innovation and provide little incentive for entrepreneurs to start and grow businesses. Before all of you jump on me and point to AirAsia's success, yes, we have survived and thrived, but AirAsia could be so, so much bigger and successful if we didn't have to deal with all these issues.

What are they?

1) Government-owned firms should be divested by the state. The government should facilitate the operations of businesses, not run them. I'm not saying GLC's should be sold to individuals like in the past but the public should own them. So instead of Khazanah owning 70 percent of several supposedly private entities, let the public own them. These companies should be put in charge and empowered, not led by civil servants. No matter how highly qualified, civil servants tend to have a singular mind-set which is that of regulators. When they are in charge of GLC's, they are likely to be conflicted in dealings with private firms such as AirAsia. Can Khazanah be really objective on issues regarding AirAsia when it owns MAS and Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad?

2) If GLC's are 70 percent owned by the public and overseen by professional boards of directors, it is much more likely that the senior management, including the CEO will consist of qualified and experienced professionals --- people seasoned in the private sector and who will come into the job knowing that they can't rely on government intervention and protectionism. This can only help nurture the building of stronger and better brands.

3) Monopolies stifle and strangle innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. They should be broken up. Look at our airports, almost all under the control of MAB. We have 40-odd airports. Have they been effectively developed? Are they contributing as much to the national and local economies as they should? AirAsia has been stubborn and fought all this every inch of the way, but it has taken a toll on us as well. As for the country, how many good businesses have we lost? How many great entrepreneurs have just given up, tied up in knots by the tangles of red tape and the regulator-mentality of GLC's determined to protect their own turf rather than consider the broader national interest?

4) Private industries coupled with efficient marketing-driven GLC's will get us out of this rut. And then we can have firms that can go out there and be the best in Asean and then in Asia.

Good luck to our new prime minister. He has started off well but as the Beatles once said, it's a "long and winding road." He is right to focus on the economy. Attracting foreign investment is great but he would do equally well, if not better, to remove the shackles that prevent local talent from soaring. It is a Malaysian (note Malaysian) who will grow and drive this country. There is so much talent among our people. Liberate it.