Dear Incoming Prime Minister of Malaysia,

We at the Malaysia Think Tank look forward to your upcoming appointment. We apologise for not being able to address you by name yet, as that would transgress the prerogative of His Majesty the Yang Di Pertuan Agong.

Your judgment and wisdom will affect the fate of our democracy and the future of 27 million Malaysians.

We urge and beseech you to lead Malaysia to greater heights in your new office by pursuing the ideals espoused by our Proclamation of Independence and other founding documents, and by continuing the narrative towards freedom and prosperity that our various histories have woven to get to where we are today.

We implore you to act upon the following:

1. Defend the rule of law.

Observe, protect and advance the Rule of Law, by: respecting the independence of the judiciary; restoring dignity to our courts and upholding the Supremacy of the Constitution so that Malaysians from every background may understand and uphold it too.

2. Liberate the people.

Free the people from the despair of poverty and the crutches of dependency by encouraging entrepreneurship, cutting bureaucracy and ensuring that the tax regime does not stifle growth and innovation.

Allow individuals to mature and develop, to make mistakes and learn from them, to be able to work and play in an environment that suits them best and allow Malaysians to Believe in God and to be Loyal to King and Country in their own manner.

3. Limit the role of government.

Reinforce our federal structure by acknowledging that the central government does not have the answers to everything; restore the rightful powers of the state government as the further decentralising of power will result in greater competition and the efficient delivery of services besides gaining the cooperation of states run by different political parties

4. Free the market.

Uphold our inclination towards free markets; let the rakyat access the goods and services they prefer without the protectionism that cripples competition. And recognise that the welfare of the people can be advanced with the help of civil society collaborating with the private sector.

We believe passionately and resolutely that effective leadership and urgent action on your part on these four principles will unite the people and ensure continued peace and prosperity and enable Malaysia to become the envy of the world so that every Malaysian citizen can confidently say, as Tunku Abdul Rahman so proclaimed upon the ancient fields of Malacca, that we are a nation ‘founded upon the principles of liberty and justice’.

This letter is also signed by Tunku ‘Abidin Muhriz and Wan Mohd Firdaus Wan Mohd Fuaad.