Abdullah Ahmad Badawi began a two-month stint as acting prime minister today, urging Malaysians to discard the "third world mentality" and to help the nation become industrialised by 2020.

Malaysians must learn to stand o­n their own feet, stop relying o­n the government as a "provider of contracts and concessions" and fight corruption, said Abdullah, who is filling in for vacationing Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad before formally taking over in October.

In a tough, no-holds barred speech o­n "Competing for Tomorrow" to the Oxbridge Society, Abdullah made it clear that he would embrace Mahathir's "Vision 2020" goal of making Malaysia an industrialised nation by 2020.

The government has set aside RM21 billion from 2001-2005 to enhance infrastructure but he said Malaysians lacked "world-class management and working practices" to be competitive.

In a world competitiveness report last year, Malaysia was ranked seventh for infrastructure planning but dropped to 13th for bureaucracy hindering business and 24th for customer satisfaction, he said.

Only o­ne Malaysian hotel made it to a list of prestigious ranking of service for Asian hotels.

Third World services

"The malaise affecting Malaysia that may well jeopardise our way forward is a case of having first world infrastructure and third world mentality," Abdullah told some 500 people at the talk.

"From poor execution and inept management to shoddy maintenance and appalling customer service, Malaysia is in danger of possessing the hardware but little software."

Abdullah pledged to rectify heavy red tape and bureacracy slowing down business progress under a new cabinet committee o­n competitiveness that he chairs.

But he prodded local corporations to move up the value chain and venture beyond Malaysian shores, warning that Vision 2020 would be an "elusive dream" if they o­nly aspire to be "village heroes."

Malaysia prides itself as being the "standard bearer" of developing world but Abdullah vented his anger over growing graft, poor intellectual property rights, "ugly" virtues such as vandalism and a notion that the government "owes us a living."

He urged Malaysians to face up to their shortcomings and not be too over-confident after short-term successes as it would lull them into a false comfort zone.

"We become oblivious to the many things that still need to be done. We avoid introspection and dismiss criticism. We must not live in such a state of denial," he warned.

"Without changing our mindset, attitude and mentality, we will not usher in the future that we envision... we will almost certainly be poor Malaysians - left behind."

Destiny decides

At a question-and-answer session later, Abdullah said he believed that it was "destiny" that led him to where he was now.

"One can plan and work hard to become a minister... but destiny decides," he said, adding that this was why he was not ruffled despite having been through a "rollercoaster" in his political career.

On the qualities that he expected from Malaysian politicians, he said: "Integrity, honesty, sincerity, hard work and incorruptible."

The 63-year-old Abdullah is also taking charge of the finance ministry during the absence of his 77-year-old mentor.

His two months will be a rehearsal for when he replaces Mahathir, who has pledged to retire after an Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) summit here in October after 22 years in power. - AFP