Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdul Mua'ti@Zamri bin Ahmad

Perdana Leadership Foundation’s Research Award was introduced in 2005 with the aim of stimulating research on the leadership of Malaysia’s past Prime Ministers. The Foundation offers short-term and long-term grants to qualified scholars with academic administration provided by the Institute of Research, Development and Commercialisation (IRDC), Universiti Teknologi MARA. The objectives of the Research Fellowships are: to encourage the study of this country’s history beyond facts and figures; to yield valuable insights for future Malaysian leaders via in-depth study of the nation’s past leaders and how their leadership as well as policies affected national development; to increase awareness of, and boost interest in, Malaysia’s rich intellectual heritage. The first fellows of the Research Awards are Dato’ Prof. Dr. Mohd Yusof Hasan, Dr. Suhaimi bin Shahnon, Prof Madya Kamarudin bin Ngah, Assoc Prof Azhari Karim, Assoc Prof Sue Valquis Md. Mashhor and R. Sivaperegasam P Rajanthiran.

Assoc. Professor Dr. Abdul Mua’ti@Zamri bin Ahmad is one of the Perdana Leadership Foundation’s research scholars. He is the Deputy Dean, Academic and Student Affairs, Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, Universiti Putra Malaysia and has been lecturing for 20 years in courses such as Public Oration,  Psychology of Communication,  Rhetorical Criticism,  Argumentation and Debate,  Political Communication,  Persuasive Communication,  Public Speaking for Professionals and  Communication Research Method. He is also the Vice President of the Pacific and Asian Communication Association (PACA), Malaysian Chapter. He has conducted research on Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and one of them was his Ph.D thesis entitled “Speech Analyses of UMNO President, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, 1982-2003, A Research on Speech Communication”.

Research Focus: Malay-Centric Questions in the Speeches of Malaysian Prime Ministers

For his PLF research, Dr. Mua’ti is currently pursuing a study entitled “Malay-Centric Questions in the Speeches of Malaysian Prime Ministers” (Persoalan Melayu Dalam Ucapan Perdana Menteri-Perdana Menteri Malaysia). The research aims to identify the Malay issues put forward in the speeches of Malaysian Prime Ministers from 1957 until 2006 and analyse the rhetorical structures that were employed by the speakers using Aristotelian classic rhetorical principles.

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Dr. Mua'ti is the Deputy Dean (Academic and Student Affairs) at the Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, Universiti Putra Malaysia

Dr. Mua’ti, can you tell us more about your decision to focus on Malay issues in our past leaders’ speeches?

My area of specialisation is political speeches. For my Ph.D, I studied the UMNO General Assembly speeches of Tun Dr. Mahathir during his 22 years as UMNO President. While I was doing the research, I became fascinated with issues concerning the Malays, how they were perceived, their problems, and their cultural inclinations. I wanted to study this in further detail, so when I found out about PLF’s research grant, I decided to make Malay issues my focus, specifically how these issues are presented in all of our Prime Ministers’ speeches at the General Assemblies of UMNO.

The speeches from the time of Tunku Abdul Rahman up until our current Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) allow me to observe and comprehend perceptions of the time towards our Malay race. It’s also possible to determine the policies that were developed from these speeches, as I truly believe that the speeches sow the seeds for action. With our leaders, especially, issues that are raised in their annual speeches at the UMNO General Assembly become the focus of policy-makers.

In the analysis of rhetoric, experts believe that whosoever stands up and delivers a speech becomes the owner of the ideas contained within the speech.

What do you hope to gain from analysing the speeches of our former Prime Ministers?

As an expert on rhetoric, I analyse speeches to extrapolate the development of policies that are relevant to Malays. For example, in the speeches of our first Prime Minister (Tunku Abdul Rahman), there was a great deal said about the need for Malays to “sacrifice” for the country by allowing immigrants to have citizenship, with the right to vote and conduct business. Tunku Abdul Rahman emphasised sacrifice repeatedly, but also stressed that Malays need to retain some privileges, for example, making their religion and language the official one. Most of his speeches were about the willingness to give; when you give something, you are entitled to get something. Additionally, Tunku did not allow anyone else to question the sacrifices and privileges of the Malays.

Now, many of the people who lived during the time of Independence have passed away. It becomes even more important, in my view, to revisit the speeches of our past leaders, to better understand and appreciate the environment of their times and the impetus for their policy decisions.

For your Ph.D thesis, you focused on “Speech Analyses of UMNO President, Tun Dr.  Mahathir  Mohamad, 1982-2003, A Research on Speech Communication”. Why?

Tun Dr. Mahathir’s speeches are very interesting. He lead the country for 22 years which was quite a long period for a Prime Minister. During Tunku Abdul Rahman’s time, we had just gained Independence, and established a nation. His focus was to unite people. Tun Razak’s leadership was very short; he passed away during his tenure. However, we could see the start of our country’s development during his time, especially as Tun Hussein continued Tun Razak’s policies.  When it came to Tun Dr. Mahathir, the world was abuzz with industrialisation and modernisation. Tun Dr. Mahathir has had enough time to drive our country into industrialisation, modernisation, and later globalisation. To me, Malaysia’s biggest paradigm shift happened during Tun Dr. Mahathir’s era. That was the reason why I focused my research on his speeches. Our country gained the biggest momentum during his tenure, in the 80s, the 90s and the new millennium.

What are the main link/strongest connections that you have found among our Prime Ministers? Is there a conclusion that can be drawn from your study regarding national leadership in Malaysia?

I would say Malay issues. Generally, all of them talked about how Malays should be competitive, especially in the era of globalisation, while safeguarding the sovereignty of our country. There are also reminders of the non-violent nature of our fight for Independence as well as calls to look at religion from a wider perspective. Most of these issues can be found in their speeches.

How do you think your research will benefit Malaysians?

As I said earlier, by studying these speeches, we will be able to understand how our leaders perceived the Malays, the policies that were subsequently developed to help the Malays, and eventually, we will understand the grounds on which these policies are made. For example, not many people understand the origins of the New Economic Policy (NEP) that was introduced by Tun Abdul Razak in 1970, why the government created the NEP, and why there must be 30% equity for Bumiputera. It’s not the figure that matters, in my view; the distribution of wealth was what Tun Abdul Razak implied in the NEP.

On an unrelated matter, Dr, as an academic, what is your view of this country’s decision to “massify” higher education, that is, to lower entrance standards to educational establishments and educate as many Malaysians as possible?

There many perspectives from which to look at this issue. However, I believe in quality over quantity. Quoting from Prof. Ungku Aziz, “we must not only focus on the quantity (of students), the quality must be there too.” The concept of “university for the people” must be embraced thoroughly so that we can make sure the students that we produce not only have the knowledge but must be able to adapt at work with the knowledge that they have.

Do you believe this “massification” plays a factor in the decline of the quality of our public institutions, causing Malaysian universities to be excluded for the first time, in the T.H.E.S. (The Times Higher Education Supplement) rankings top 200?

I think we need to redefine the meaning of scholarship. There are a lot of criteria to consider for T.H.E.S judgement; journals that the universities produce; research and development; quality of students and the teaching force. Therefore, universities must be able to balance between R&D and the quality of teaching and students.

What are your last words for this interview, Dr?

Firstly, I would like to give credit to Pak Lah for introducing ‘Islam Hadhari’. What ‘Islam Hadhari’ means is having a Malaysian society that is civilised and knowledgeable. To have a civilisation, there must be knowledge.  Therefore, we must double our efforts in R&D so that we can have more knowledge. ‘Islam Hadhari’ will generate knowledge in all aspects and will encourage Malaysians to write and do research that can benefit all Malaysians.

Lastly, I would like to thank the Perdana Leadership Foundation. The Foundation has encouraged Malaysians to do research and write their findings for the benefit of future generations.  To an academic, PLF’s efforts at providing research funds and producing publications are commendable. Hopefully, these publications will become part of the national heritage that will document our journey as a nation.