The slogan 1Malaysia was inaugurated in 2009 during Najib Razak’s debut Budget speech as Prime Minister. The slew of measures announced were designed to mark of his Administration from that of his predecessor. The speech started with the slogan “1Malaysia, People First, Performance Now” and ended with “1Malaysia, Together We Prosper”. In between there were references to 1Malaysia Clinic, 1Malaysia Sukuk, 1Malaysia Retirement Scheme and 1United, Innovative Malaysia. In that same speech Najib spoke about his trip to Saudi Arabia and the sovereign 1MDB which has come to taint the Administration despite protestations of innocence.

Chandra Muzaffar is best known as a public intellectual, founding the Aliran movement and magazine, and heading organisations such as JUST World Trust. He is a social scientist by training, and a long time observer of Malaysian politics.

Yayasan 1Malaysia was established a few months before the Budget 2010 speech and just celebrated its 7th anniversary.