“A Quantum Leap for Felda”: “The Audacity of Hope”?
By Dr. Collin Abraham
Prime Minister Najib Razak’s appeal for the ‘quantum leap in the fortune of settlers’ with the new tagline “Only 1 Felda in the World” is both nostalgic and defining. (NST 27/5)
To those of us who were fortunate enough to be associated with the social development at the inception of Felda (Dr Agoes Salim/Professor Milton Barnett and myself), as well as my continued consultancy as the Malaysian Government Consultant to the Regional Master Plans (Johore/Pahang Tenggara) and the lead Consultant to the UNDP study of the Social Impact Assessment of Felda (2002/03), I have to say that Najib’s appeal is both defining and urgent because it is long overdue.
Indeed it would be a fitting tribute to Tun Razak himself, who had the vision of creating a viable modern agricultural community, to take its place alongside the network of urban industrial complexes that were rapidly being established. Central to this objective was the allocation of land ownership whereby landless settlers would become land owners owning, operating, and managing their respective landholdings
However, it is important and timely that Najib emphasized that this ‘quantum leap’ should be reflected ‘in the fortune of settlers’, because otherwise YAB’s call will amount to nothing more than ‘the audacity of hope’ for them. This is because Felda has become a ‘victim of its own success’ by achieving phenomenal economic growth and physical development in its economic objectives, but unfortunately this has been at the expense of viable settler involvement and participation in the overall social development.
In this connection Najib must be fully aware of the numerous critical articles by some of us pointing out the highly bureaucratized structure of the administration of Felda over the past few decades, so that we have summarized some of these policies under the heading “Pagar makan padi”.
Therefore unless and until, invoking the powers as the Prime Minister, Najib himself directly and unilaterally puts in place the development plans for the ‘quantum leap’ and appoints consultants (both local and foreign) who have the necessary capacity and capability to restructure Felda, the interests of the settlers is not likely to be achieved as Najib intends.
