Wawasan 2020

Developmental logic in Malaysia from the 1990s to 2000s was shaped around the inescapable idea of Wawasan 2020. Launched in 1991 by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed, it set out nine challenges to make Malaysia a developed nation by the year 2020. Caught in the tide of its energetic thrust, dreams, community aspirations and corporate plans alike were voiced in the language of Wawasan 2020. Subsequent national visions have followed in the footsteps of Wawasan 2020: Badawi’s shortlived Misi 2057, Najib’s infamous TN50 and the Pakatan government’s Social Development Vision 2030. This body of material is an attempt not only to capture the expansiveness of Wawasan 2020’s cultural footprint, but also to trace its reverberating aftermath.