KUALA LUMPUR: The nation must return to the vision and values espoused by its second prime minister, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, for it to achieve national unity, said his son Datuk Seri Mohd Nazir Razak.

Razak’s commitment to national unity — “towards building a nation where every single one of its citizens could find a place under the Malaysian sun” — was unanimously emphasised by people who had worked with him in government, politics, the Merdeka movement as well as his personal friends, Nazir said.

“That vision was encapsulated in the two initiatives that my father spearheaded in the wake of the May 13 tragedy — the formulation of the Rukunegara in 1970 and the New Economic Policy (NEP) in 1971,” Nazir wrote in The Star yesterday on the 38th anniversary of his father’s passing.

Although crediting the NEP for helping to eradicate poverty and reducing economic imbalances, Nazir, who heads CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, was critical of its implementation, noting that “the NEP’s promise of strengthening national unity has not been realised”.

“The fixation on the quotas and the seemingly easy route to unimaginable wealth for a select few have created an intra-ethnic divide in class and status, while fuelling inter-ethnic tensions,” he wrote.

“Both these developments serve to undermine, if not completely negate, the overarching goal of Tun Razak’s NEP — strengthening national unity,” said Nazir.

In apparent reference to the escalating assault on religious

freedom and ethnic harmony by right-wing groups, Nazir said: “In fact, there are signs that inter-ethnic and intra-ethnic tensions are once again approaching worrying levels.”

Communal tensions, which have been heightening in recent years, rose further as the year started when Selangor Islamic officials seized Malay language and Iban Bibles containing the word “Allah”, citing a 1988 state enactment that prohibits non-Muslims in Selangor from using 35 Arabic words and phrases, including “Allah”. The incident has sparked a continuing row among Muslim and non-Muslim groups and political leaders.

In his article, Nazir highlighted Razak’s integrity, frugality and dedication as traits that his father had constantly displayed in his personal and public life.

Recalling the time when he and his brothers approached their father to build a swimming pool at the prime minister’s official residence, Nazir said: “Anything spent on it [the residence] would have to come from public funds; and there was no way he was going to allow the state coffers to be depleted on something as frivolous as a swimming pool. ‘What would the people think?’ he thundered.”

By the standards of today’s leaders, Razak was extremely scrupulous about public funds.

“My elder brothers often talk about one of the rare opportunities they had to accompany him on an official trip to Switzerland.

“He made sure he paid their expenses himself, was so careful with the cost of the trip to the government that he moved his whole entourage to a cheaper hotel than originally booked, and they dined over and over again at the cheapest restaurant in the vicinity of the hotel,” said Nazir.

On his father’s dedication to duty and integrity, Nazir wrote: “He was guided by what now seems a somewhat quaint and old-fashioned concept of public service — that a public servant is first and foremost a servant of the people whose trust must never be betrayed.”

In running his administration, Razak displayed qualities that stand in contrast to the in-fighting that the country is witnessing.

“He never excluded those with contrarian views; he encouraged multiplicity of opinions in order to have the best chance of making a right final decision,” said Nazir.

“Two, while he was committed to helping improve the material quality of life for the majority bumiputeras to avert another May 13, he viewed this as a national prerogative rather than a racial one,” he said.

For Nazir, the way ahead is indicated by the Malay proverb: “Sesat di hujung jalan, balik ke pangkal jalan”. Loosely translated, it means “When one has lost one’s way, one should return to the beginning”.

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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on January 15, 2014.