Malaysia: Roadmap for Achieving Vision 2020, by Koon Yew Yin, Petaling Jaya: Strategic Information and Research Development Centre (SIRD), 2012, 400 pp.

Very rarely would one find a layman (read: non-politician, journalist or academic) who has the time, resources, interest and intellectual capacity to play the role of a check and balance on the government, to provide regular social and political commentary on the major issues of the day and to compile all of this, in a systematic fashion, into a book. Kim Quek (2005) is a notable exception. Raja Petra Kamaruddin (2009) would be another though some may quibble on whether he qualifies to be a layman. Koon Yew Yin is the latest addition to this very august group through the publication of Malaysia: Road Map for Achieving Vision 2020.