LETTER | The significant year is coming, the year that marks Dr Mahathir Mohamad's Vision 2020 for Malaysia. How much has Malaysia accomplished so far on Tun’s vision when we are just a mere 15 months away from that target year?

We need to think ahead to make the celebration of the year 2020 more meaningful and spectacular. A routine and normal celebration of a parade, marches and display of our defence equipment lacks creativity and is boring, to say the least. We can do better than this mundane independence day observation as we've done over the past years

Time is precious if we are to do something spectacular and outstanding and we must start planning for Aug 31, 2020, in order to commemorate it with a memorable day in our nation-building.

Our future as a nation to prosper and shine and become an Asian Tiger again rests and depends on our human resources.

What can we boast about the talents and ability of this country? We have to go beyond displaying the tallest building or the longest satay in order to make us proud and stand tall as a nation.

The following proposal for our nation’s talent pool to single out outstanding achievements in many different fields, professions and industries will make our national day celebration even more sparkling.

Let us see how we can attract and inspire the whole nation to work in earnest to single out the following important successes in nation-building in terms of human achievement.

· Man of the year 2020

· Woman of the year 2020

· Parents of the year 2020

· Youth of the year 2020

· Teacher of the year 2020

· Healthiest man of the year 2020

· Healthiest woman of the year 2020

· The cleanest town of Malaysia 2020

· The most beautiful town of Malaysia 2020.

· Writer of the year 2020

· Journalist of the year 2020

I throw this challenge to the whole nation, to companies, tycoons, ministries, individuals the media and our thinkers to explore the definitions, perimeters and boundaries of all the above categories of human achievements.

Let's attract and locate all such persons who are worthy and who are willing to be recognised and to act as role models to inspire and motivate the whole country to reach for excellence.

To attract a bigger number of applicants and worthy candidates, sponsorship from both government and private sectors will spell the difference between success and failure.

Our hopes to survive and prosper as a nation into the next century depends on what author Alvin Toffler in his book, Future Shock, said:

“The illiterate of the twenty-first century will not be those who cannot read or write but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.”

As a nation who harbours the hope to excel and progress, we have no choice but to be open, be willing to explore and risk-taking ventures into the unknown to advance into the future with confidence and optimism.

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