AT this time of crisis, the people are most concerned about the just and effective implementation of the RM250bil Prihatin Economic Stimulus Package (PESP). While Malaysia as a whole has done better than many other societies in Asia, Africa and Latin America in ensuring that development reaches the targeted groups, we have also had our share of deviations and distortions.
If we had performed better than others especially in the first 19 years of independence, it was partly because we had as our deputy prime minister and later prime minister an extraordinary visionary administrator who was totally committed to the effective implementation of people-oriented policies and programmes.