From I Lourdesamy

Kamal Salih died on March 6, 2025 at the relatively young age of 79.

I had come to know him rather well in the last 25 years, both as a fellow educator, academic, and a friend.

He became more unwell in the last year or so. Nevertheless, we continued to exchange articles, videos and ideas almost to the very end.

Kamal had been gifted with a great mind. Although trained as a geographer, he picked up economics and finance on his own and became noted for his economic models and financial analyses.

He was a nationalist and did not hesitate to criticise the government for policies and actions that he felt were wrong.

His thinking on the New Economic Policy shifted to the point where he openly declared the NEP must go because it was not contributing to economic growth or nation building.

His view was that it was holding back development and effective utilisation of human capital.

Meritocracy must be the cornerstone of public policy, with due consideration for affirmative action where needed. He was particularly critical of our tertiary education and the seemingly low quality of teaching and research.

The drop in national competitiveness vis-à-vis other Asean countries annoyed him. “How can we be behind Thailand, Indonesia and Cambodia?” he once told me.

He said our education and training are all wrong. There is a need for a complete overhaul, starting all over again. In one of his emails to me he said: “The only option for our education system is the junkyard.”

Strong words, coming from a frustrated educator. He believed there was no substitute for competition. Malays can compete. There is no need to hold their hands forever.

Kamal was a believer in liberal education, built around a core of specialisation which is constantly updated and upskilled. The old concept of a three or four-year degree is obsolete, he said.

It is not your degree that counts but your performance. There must be opportunities for continuing education, a flexible system for both teaching and learning.

He believed the technological and digital transformation of Malaysia is not possible without reforming the education system first. He believed in international education.

Our universities must collaborate with prestigious institutions in other countries. Around 2003 or so, he and I went to Calcutta to hold talks with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur to persuade them to open a branch in Malaysia.

Unfortunately, there were legal impediments then to IIT operating overseas. So, the initiative was not successful.

Kamal constantly pursued linkages with universities and research institutes in the UK and US.

On economics and finance, he said the country needs to manage its finances well, stop the leakages, and come down hard on corruption. The tax base must be broadened and the national debt cut.

He held several seminars in Universiti Malaya to explain his ideas and economic models for growth and development. The government must be strong and must lead, but the engine of growth must be the private sector.

He said the government decision-making process was slow and bureaucratic. More decentralisation is needed. Government needs to build competence and capacity. There is too much politics and not enough economics in public administration.

That was the crux of his message.

Unfortunately, Kamal did not get the attention he deserved in the corridors of power. He could have contributed so much more to the country, had successive governments paid more attention to the words of the founding chairman of the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research.

Although he was in politics once, he was not cut out to be a politician. He was a born scholar and educator. That is how Kamal would have wanted us to remember him.

I Lourdesamy is a former deputy chief education officer of Penang and an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.