Bottom-up approach for TN50 vision needed to reflect people's will, aspirations: Najib

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak said he wants the National Transformation 2050 (TN50) vision to be materialised through the bottom-up approach, that is from the grassroots upwards.
Insisting that this vision was not about denying Vision 2020, the Prime Minister said he viewed TN50 as a continuation that used a different approach as opposed to Vision 2020's top-down approach.
"... I want TN50 to be bottom-up (in the approach), I want it to come from the people. (In fact,) I want this new vision to truly come from the people – a vision that reflects the aspirations of the people," he said.
Najib said this in the "Bicara 4 Mata" talk show which was aired on theRakyat news portal, Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) and TV3 in conjunction with the launch of the portal at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) here tonight.
He said the country needed a new vision post-2020 and that this cannot be done only when 2020 came.
"We have to start from now because we must have enough time to gather feedback and views from the rakyat (people)," said Najib.
Towards this end, he said the government was holding a series of dialogues with various groups in society and the process also saw his personal involvement as well as that of his ministers.
"We want to summarise the suggestions and feedback and form a new vision for the country. I can imagine it but it is not comprehensive yet, not complete.
"I have said before that I want Malaysia to be in the Top 20, that is among the top 20 nations in the world. That is the aspiration." he said.
According to him, all the aspirations of the people were collected through the process for example concerning the environment, digital Malaysia, a new lifestyle and the like.
Asked about the huge expenditures for projects like the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system, the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR), East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) and Pan Borneo Highway, Najib rubbished that they were burdensome to the rakyat.
Instead, he stressed, they would spur economic growth at a faster pace and thus be immensely beneficial to the people.
"Secondly, when we build infrastructure for the people, it provides employment opportunities to Malaysians. The universities are churning out thousands of graduates each year. Can't be all want to work with the government," he said.
Najib added that projects like these also had a positive impact in terms of increasing productivity and preservation of the environment. — Bernama