The Malaysia That Could Be by Kalimullah Hassan

"The Malaysia That Could Be" is a compilation of former New Straits Times Press (NSTP) Sdn Bhd deputy chairman Datuk Seri Kalimullah Hassan's columns written from 2004 to 2008 published for Sunday Times.

Kalimullah Hassan is an old boy of Pykett Methodist School and the Methodist Boys School in Penang. After completing his Higher School Certificate (HSC), or the equivalent of A Levels, he worked as a market inspector in the Penang Municipal Council and shortly after, in 1979, began a career in journalism — his first love. During his career, he reported for various local and international media, including Time Magazine, Reuters and Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) before going into business in 1995. He has served on various boards of public-listed companies and Government agencies, including a stint as chairman of the national news agency, Bernama, in 2002. He left Bernama 16 months later to take up an appointment as Editor-in-Chief of the then largest newspaper group in Malaysia, the New Straits Times Press Berhad, for a two-year term. He left in December 2005 after completing his term and remained as deputy chairman of the Group until he retired in December 2008. Kalimullah also served as a member of the National Unity Panel for four years from January 2005, a high-powered agency whose objective was to promote unity amongst Malaysians and resolve thorny issues behind closed doors. Unfortunately. it was his stint here which showed him how deep-rooted and severe the suspicions between Muslims and non-Muslims and between the different ethnic groups that make up Malaysia were, hence, the subject of his book. Kalimullah retired from active business in 2009, focusing on charity work undertaken by the ECM Libra Foundation which was set up by his two partners, Lim Kian Onn and Dato David Chua, and him, in 2004. Kalimullah is also one of the original investors with his friend, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, in the long-haul budget airline AirAsia X, the budget Tune Hotels Group, the regional online financial services company Tune Money, in all of which he is a founding board member, and Tune Talk, a mobile virtual network operator. He remains chairman of the ECM Libra Financial Group Berhad and a director of UPP Limited, a Singapore-listed company with business interests in Singapore, Malaysia and Myanmar. He is also a member of the Board of Governors of his alma mater, Methodist Boys School, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the ECM Libra Foundation which, since its inception. has helped thousands of disadvantaged Malaysians achieve an education. The foundation provides interest-free loans for poor students in Malaysia and in partnership with the London School of Economics (LSE), provides scholarships for qualified but disadvantaged Malaysians. Since its inception, the foundation has twice been awarded the Prime Minister's Corporate Social Responsibility Award for Excellence in Education, in 2007 and in 2012