The Global Economy in Turbulent Times

CHAPTER 106 Najib’s New Way Forward¹

On Wednesday, August 12, 2009, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) celebrated its 40th convocation, capping what was by any measure an extraordinary year. Indeed, the class of 2009 was historic. From the time most of these students first entered the USM campus, their years there have been momentous beyond imagining. In the past year alone, theirs was one of great political fluidity—of dramatic changes in State administrations and the retirement of the once-most-popular prime minister; the year of new Prime Minister Najib Razak—not to mention the high expectations even here of the year of President Barack Obama; the year of financial failures and turmoil unseen since the Great Depression; the year of recession at home, something not seen since 1997; the year of imminent pandemic; the year the world became something very different from anything ever expected. Yet, it was also the year of triumph for USM when it was named by the government as the only Apex university in September 2008.

The Newly Minted Graduates

Unfortunately, this unexpected past has led to a more uncertain future—for everyone, and quite immediately for the newly minted graduates (NMGs). Last year, as I spoke to the class of 2008 as its pro-chancellor, I thought the timing of their graduation was not the most convenient. Not knowing, of course, that this time around, 2009 is turning out to be even more inconvenient. Jobs have not been easy to come by; and where available, they ...