Development Plans
International Level
We started the session with an introduction to the ideas of development plans. A development plan is a vital part of any form of government. We could observe development plans at all levels. There are the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) (2000 - 2015) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (2015 - 2030) at an international level. These goals are set regardless of the status of the country, giving every country a standard they could choose to follow.
National Level
For Malaysia, at our national level, we have our Dasar Ekonomi Baru (1971 - 1990) that was initiated after 13 Mei 1969 to solve the widespread poverty. After that, we have the Wawasan 2020 (1991 - 2020) to pave our way towards a developed country. This plan appeared in a lot of our lives through essay topics and art assignments. And now as we approach 2020, the Wawasan 2020 plan will expire so the ruling government is now developing Transformasi Nasional 2050, which is the first time the government is getting input from the people to shape the plan (Kudos for that).Within a long term plan itself, other plans will also be devised to support the plan. Take Wawasan 2020 as an example, throughout the 20 years period, other projects were introduced for different objectives:
2. Government Transformation Program (GTP) (January 2010) - Effective delivery of government services
3. Economic Transformation Program (ETP) (March 2010) - New Economic Model - A high income, inclusive and sustainable nation
4. 10th Malaysia Plan (June 2010) - Smooth implementation of government's development programs
And now we are already in the 11th Malaysia Plan (2016 - 2020). The 5-years plan (all the Malaysia Plans) will be used to allocate the national budget. A worthy point to take note is that the national goal is not directly connected to the SDGs or MDGs (since every country has their own sovereignty to decide on how they want to run itself).
State Level
State governments will also have their own legacy, annual plan, and budget. Selangor, for example, has the #Smart Selangor Plan. Different states will have different priorities and thus devise different plan and goals. On the state level, the State Structure Plan will be the more important document. T.his is especially significant in terms of land use (since land use is designated under the State List). The land University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus was built was previously an agriculture land. It needs to be converted for public use, commercial and housing before the university could be built.
