Kuala Lumpur, 8 February 2021 – The Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) celebrates its 11th anniversary today. IDEAS was founded on the same day as the birthday of Malaysia’s Father of Independence, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al Haj, whose principles of liberty and justice continue to guide IDEAS’ work to this day.

“The celebration dates come at no coincidence. Tunku Abdul Rahman and his merdeka speech is the source of inspiration for many of our work,” says Tricia Yeoh, Chief Executive Officer of IDEAS.

“The year 2020 was a challenging time for everyone, and IDEAS was no exception. We pivoted into more digital outputs, webinars, and COVID related investigations, while maintaining the high quality of our research work. All this, amidst multiple crises and uncertainties,” she says.

In 2020, IDEAS published a White Paper on Rare Diseases in Malaysia. Following the publication, the Ministry of Health began a National Rare Diseases Framework.

“IDEAS embarked on an ambitious two-year project to promote the importance of inter-racial harmony, called for further transparency in the governance of GLCs and statutory bodies and held roundtables to generate recommendations for the planned legislation on public procurement. This list is far from exhaustive,” she says.

A more comprehensive list of achievements is published in IDEAS Annual Report 2020, available onideas.org.my/our-history/.

“We look forward to the next 11 years, as we continue to argue for bold and ambitious policies that recognise that economic recovery and institutional reform go hand in hand. During these trying times, it is more important than ever to uphold the principles of liberty, justice, rule of law, and competitive markets for every person that calls Malaysia home,” says Yeoh.

“As IDEAS works towards our next 11 years,” says Yeoh, “it’s vital to remember our Father of Independence’s core vision. Thatwe are all Malaysians. This bond is what unites us and unity is our fundamental strength. We look forward to working towards a better Malaysia.”

“IDEAS would like to thank our supporters and donors for all the support over the years. Their support is how we stay as a non-profit independent research institute.”

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IDEAS is an independent nonprofit research institute. Donations and grants are how we stay that way. Any amount of helps us work towards a better Malaysia.