Moving Forward Malays for the 21st Century

A new edition of Moving Forward, which was first published a decade ago, in which Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad had presented a discourse on Malays in Malaysia and argued that the Malays had to move forward to survive and succeed in facing the new challenges of the 21st century. At the time, Nik Nazmi was (and still is) pushing for a more progressive paradigm where Malaysians are at ease with its diversity. The message of Moving Forward, then and now, remains: the Malays need to embrace democracy, progressive politics and diversity. This is the right thing to do as well as the only way to ensure the survival of the race, religion and country. In light of the recent political developments in Malaysia, Moving Forward is just as relevant today as it was in 2009. The text is largely the same as it was when first published. This new edition includes a new Introduction and a new Postscript to reflect on the book in light of the progress that Malaysians have achieved and the new challenges that they face today.

Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad is presently the Member of Parliament for Setiawangsa, elected Member of the KEADILAN Central Leadership Council and Chief Organising Secretary of the party. Nik Nazmi read law at King’s College London on a PNB Scholarship and worked at PNB before becoming private secretary to Anwar Ibrahim from 2006 to 2008. Nik Nazmi was the youngest elected representative in the 2008 general election when he won the Seri Setia state seat in Selangor. He was political secretary to Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim until 2010 when he was appointed as KEADILAN’s Communication Director. From 2013 to 2014 he was the Deputy Speaker of the Selangor State Assembly. He was elected as KEADILAN Youth Leader in 2014 and the first Pakatan Harapan Youth Leader in 2017. In 2014 he was appointed as the Selangor State Executive Councillor for Education, Human Capital Development, Science, Technology and Innovation. Nik Nazmi has written books in Malay and English. His first two books, Moving Forward (2009) and Coming of Age (2011) were shortlisted for the Star Popular Reader Choice Awards, while 9 May 2018 was a MPH bestseller. His columns appear in the Edge, Sinar Harian, Malaysiakini and Sin Chew Daily.