Malay Ideas on Development: From Feudal Lord to Capitalist

Book excerpt: …Formally speaking, the New Economy Policy had been replaced by the New Economic Order, which had been promulgated in the name of liberalism. Thus it may seem that the issues and concerns addressed by the book had been rendered irrelevant by the shift in policy. Against such proposition, I must say that my book addresses itself to the question of ideas, principles and weltanschaaung beyond mere policies and formality. It is therefore too early in the day to conclude that the new liberalism has definitively replaced the New Economic Policy (NEP) as an era and ethos, throwing into question the relevance of this book. It may well turn out to be that the issues and concerns of the book transcend superficial policy changes in a more fundamental way. -Shaharuddin Maaruf University of Malaya 15 April 2014 The sweep through the history of Malay political ideas which is to be encountered in Malay Ideas on Development from Feudal Lord to Capitalist – a sweep achieved with analytic skill and clarity – will stimulate new readers to seek more detailed examination of one targeted writer or another. Creating such desire is an indication of the book’s effectiveness. Juxtaposing one thinker with another, setting modern debate in the context of traditional political thought, proposing categories or streams of political thinking – ‘capitalistic nationalism’, ‘traditionalistic nationalism’ and so forth – is the best possible way of promoting a greater interest in the history of Malay political thinking, and not just as an academic enterprise. Shaharuddin Maaruf is one of a small handful of scholarly pioneers whose work has the capacity to enrich the quality of political debate in Malaysia. -Anthony Milner Basham Professor for Asian History, Australian National University