TAN Sri Ramon Navaratnam is 80 but shows no sign of slowing down. The Harvard-trained economist and Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute’s (Asli) Centre for Public Policy Studies chairman says he practises “moderation in everything, excess in none”.
Navaratnam joined the civil service in 1959 and helped draft the New Economic Policy (NEP) following the 1969 riots. He remained in the civil service for 30 years and was promoted to Transport Ministry secretary-general in 1986. Prior to retiring from the Government in 1989, he also served as the World Bank’s alternate executive director. An avid reader, he continues to speak out when “there’s something I need to get out of my system” and eagerly engages in nation-building debates. He shares his views on racial polarisation and the NEP with Sunday Star.