COMMENT | Kamal Salih: Academician, economist, politician

COMMENT | This is to add to the tributes in honour of Kamal Salih who passed away recently.

Kamal was a good friend and colleague whose interaction with me began in the early days of Universiti Sains Malaysia in the early 70s - at that time Universiti Pulau Pinang - to which both of us returned after postgraduate studies abroad.

He was more than the usual good friend or fellow academic. We were close neighbours with our better halves and children often running into each other and socialising, it went beyond just being in the same neighbourhood.

Back then, it was clear that Kamal was destined for higher achievements. Deservedly fast-tracked in the university administration, he quickly became the university’s deputy vice-chancellor owing to his intellectual and managerial abilities.

This was at a time when merit, proven ability to excel, and hard work meant much more in Malaysian academia than they have become in the last 30 years or more.

Although we pursued different disciplinary areas of scholarship - Kamal in urban studies and I in peasant studies - we were both concerned with the policy impact of academic research and worked collaboratively and closely.

Kamal attempted to bring about public sector and urban planning innovation through the Nidas project whilst I pursued my concerns with rural underdevelopment and reform through the USM-Mada land tenure and related rural reform projects.

Since then, although our careers took different turns, we have followed each other’s intellectual and societal journeys with interest, though from a distance, until his departure from national politics in 1995 and my return to Malaysia in 2005 brought us together more often.

Our last close meeting was at a Selangor economic symposium during Azmin Ali’s stint as mentri besar at which we were both featured speakers.

During this meeting, in which I posited a reformed New Economic Policy (NEP) - in effect a NEP 2 - Kamal proposed that we jointly undertake a talk series in the main cities on the subject, whilst working with the Selangor state government on it.

For reasons not disclosed to me, and which I did not enquire further, this failed to materialise. Perhaps a younger generation of scholar activists can take this up.

Best minister we never had

To my mind, Kamal was the best Malaysian economics or finance minister that the country failed to have.

Far from being just an economic thinker, he was someone who turned his talents and energy to the more ruthless world of Umno and national politics to bring about the changes that he felt were necessary for his community - that is Malay - and the larger Malaysian communities’ development and progress to be fair, inclusive, merit-based, and sustainable.

How and why he was not successful is best examined in his own words in his blog, which should be required reading for all wannabe politicians in the country

Check out especially, Chapter 5: Academic as Politician, Episode 4: This Political Life.

I am sure that Kamal would want his dreams and mission for the country taken up by the younger generation.

LIM TECK GHEE is an economic historian, analyst, and former senior official with the United Nations and World Bank.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

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