KJ John’s book ‘Alamak! All in God’s Name’ exposes injustice, wrongdoing, and above all, the abuse of power in Malaysia.

The 200-pager from the retired civil servant turned social activist is a compilation of 40 essays he has penned for news portal Malaysiakini since 2005.

After 32 years of involvement in formulating government policy in the civil service - including a stint at the Prime Minister’s Department - the retiree took a bold step in becoming a columnist for a portal which was started to address a gap in political coverage post-Reformasi.

The collection of essays features many of the country’s critical events, scandals, and struggles.

It offers personal insights and philosophical reflections in finding answers to urgent questions concerning inefficiencies in civil service, government agencies and the weakness in public administration.

In his essays, KJ, as he is commonly called, holds the BN leaders accountable for the follies of the government.

The book is a must read to get a glimpse of the myriad ways with which the country is mismanaged.

‘Not afraid to question’

Senior lawyer and renowned social activist Ambiga Sreenevasan comments in the foreword: “KJ writes with knowledge and experience, and it is clear that he is not happy with the current direction of this nation... (he) shows us that we must not be afraid to question our leaders.

“It would be remiss if I did not say a special word in praise and support of the media like Malaysiakini . Because of them, writers like KJ have been able to present their arguments to the public for them to judge the issue...

“We must always present our views fairly, fearlessly and based on fact and sound reason, as KJ has done in his writings.”

KJ ( left ) holds a PhD in organisation and management theory from George Washington University in the US.

He often writes unstintingly: “There can be no 1Malaysia if truth does not matter. Najib (Abdul Razak) today has a very serious paradigm problem. Umno is stuck and muddied under the why, what, and how of an older era of power, control and authority.“

“Do we even know what our PM Najib Abdul Razak means by 1Malaysia? Does Najib know what he really means by it, especially when he says he cannot stop the Malays from protesting a High Court decision. Is he walking his talk?” KJ asks, in another example.

His multi-faceted views are grounded in his experience at various government postings. He has served in the National Institute of Public Administration (Intan) and the International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti).

He was also seconded to Mimos Berhad and retired as executive director of the National Information Technology Council.

After retirement, he co-founded the Oriental Hearts and Mind Study Institute. He is also the director of the Malaysian Institute of Development and Asian Studies (MiDAS@Universities).

The book also features contributions by Zainah Anwar, Marina Mahathir, Tunku ‘Abidin Muhriz and Azmi Sharom.

The book will be launched at a forum ‘What Is a Moderate Malaysia for Malaysians?’ The speakers at the forum are Ambiga, law lecturer Azmi Sharom, and chief operating officer of Ideas Tricia Yeoh. Retired judge Mohd Ariff Yusof will give a keynote speech.

The event is being held at 5pm tomorrow, April 7, at the Royal Lake Club, Kuala Lumpur.