Three years ago, Malaysia was on the verge of making its 'great leap forward,' says one time deputy minister and group editor-in-chief of the New Straits Times Abdullah Ahmad. Now, he claims, it is not just suffering from a crisis of confidence, but has completely lost its direction.

"We seemed to be on the cusp of the dawning of a new era socially, economically, ethically and politically. We were about to make our great leap forward," he said in a talk on current issues in Malaysian politics yesterday.

"Instead, many of us are now left wandering where we, as a nation, are heading. I don't think that the situation is so bad that it warrants being termed a crisis of confidence, but the feeling is just that. Where exactly are we heading?" he said.

Addressing guests at the Bankers' Club in Kuala Lumpur, Abdullah cited the government's backtracking over the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission after initially vowing its set-up.

Corruption, meanwhile, had become 'rampant and pervasive as things have gone from bad to worse,' said Abdullah in his speech, a copy of which was made available to malaysiakini .

"The prime minister has already made it clear that one of his objectives is the elimination of corruption and the events of recent weeks have put this conviction to the test in an open manner," he said.

MP fiasco

In particular, said Abdullah, the government lost an excellent opportunity to demonstrate its seriousness to tackle graft when the ruling Barisan Nasional cracked its whip to quash debate on allegations of wrongdoing by its parliamentarian Mohd Said Yusof.

Abdullah was referring to the resignation of BN Backbenchers Club chairperson Shahrir Abdul Samad following the failure of fellow MPs to support an opposition motion on the Mohd Said's request to a government to ignore a wrongdoing.

"One would have thought that a parliamentary investigation of a serious allegation of corruption would have been within the party's best interest and a symbol of its seriousness in dealing with the scourge, curse or plague of corruption," said Abdullah.

"The government lost an excellent opportunity to show its serious commitment to combat increasing graft," he added.

Abdullah also expressed unease over the seemingly increasing Islamisation of the country.

Nation's direction

In trying to prove its Islamic credentials by 'out-Islamising' opposition party PAS, he said, the government has only succeeded in 'galvanising conservative and radical Muslims'.

"It is therefore on a note of caution that issues in Malaysian politics today are not the varied little scandals that pop up every now and again reported or unreported.

"The issue is larger than that. It is one of direction; the direction that we wish to take as a nation and as a people," said Abdullah.

Apart from holding senior government positions Abdullah was also an Umno supreme council member for two years.

He was removed from his position in the News Straits Times in November 2003 due, according to him, to the 'cumulative effect of my views and opinions.'