Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has announced 29 September as Malaysia Professionals Day, aimed at recognising the contributions of professionals to the country’s development.
He said the initiative would bring together professionals from different fields, allowing them to share their expertise and strengthen collaboration across various disciplines.
Anwar Declares 29 September as Malaysia Professionals Day to strengthen governance
According to Harian Metro, Anwar said Malaysia needs a strong professional workforce to drive economic growth, boost productivity and strengthen the country’s governance.
He said one of the main challenges was ensuring that the country’s administration remained efficient while curbing abuse of power, disorder and corruption.
He also stressed the importance of closer cooperation between political leaders, civil servants and professionals, saying all three groups must work together to improve productivity and efficiency, while putting a stop to practices that cause the country to lose billions of ringgit.
“First, we need efficiency that can improve productivity, and second, we must prevent abuse of power, disorder and corruption.
“This involves policymakers and those responsible for implementing policies, whether they are political leaders, civil servants or professionals. We must all be on the same page,” he said.
Anwar also agreed with the proposal to designate 29 September as Malaysia Professionals Day, saying it would provide a platform for professionals from different fields to come together and strengthen collaboration nationwide.
He said the diversity of the professional community allows expertise from various disciplines to be brought together, while encouraging professionals to contribute their knowledge towards the country’s development and generate new ideas and solutions.
“I hope professionals will continue to contribute their expertise to the country’s development, as well as help come up with new ideas and solutions.”
He also said the government must put a stop to misguided practices and cultures that cause the country to lose billions of ringgit, adding that he had popularised the term “sakau” to refer to such practices.
“Professionals should look beyond their own fields”
Anwar stressed that while expertise in specialised fields such as AI, quantum computing and digital transformation is important, professionals should not become so focused on their own disciplines that they lose sight of the bigger picture.
Citing Spanish thinker José Ortega y Gasset, he said specialisation is essential for professional excellence, but should be balanced with knowledge and collaboration across other fields to avoid a lack of integration.
“When we talk about artificial intelligence (AI), it is also a specialised field, as are quantum computing and digital transformation. All of these require a high degree of specialisation. And that is why Ortega y Gasset spoke about this, reminding us of its importance. It is remarkable that his views remain highly relevant to this day.
“Ortega said specialisation is a necessity, but we should not turn it into the ‘barbarism of specialisation’. Why did he call it barbarism? Because when someone becomes too specialised, they know nothing beyond their field. There is no integration,” he said.
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