The Straight and The Narrow: My Journey in Politics

A taut, insightful and sardonic look into the world of politics by one of Malaysia's most enduring political figures.

Shahrir Abdul Samad is one of the most enduring figures in modern and contemporary Malaysian politics. Popularly regarded as principled, proficient, obdurate and radical he has been an indelible presence in the modern Malaysian political landscape.

The Straight and The Narrow is a close, intimate, insider's observations of the evolution of the Malaysian nation and its politics during its most crucial periods, following the cataclysmic racial riots of 13 May 1969 to the defeat of the long-reigning UMNO led National Front coalition in 2018 and into the present day, including the loss of his long-held Johor Bharu constituency in 2018.

One of the ‘Rising Stars’ of the Second Generation of the Malaysian political class, and widely acknowledged as a particularly insightful, skilled and efficient representative of the new political elite, he was invited to join the ranks of the ‘Razak Technocrats’—a young generation of (mostly) Malay administrators— to implement the many social programmes introduced in the post-13 May age and the post-Independence phase of Malaysia’s nation building.

The Straight and The Narrow is a discerning, revealing look at the momentous watersheds in Malaysian public life. It offers deep insights into the workings of a serving government and sheds light into the enigmatic operations of politics—from the local to the national levels, culminating in the experience of Malaysia’s contemporary democratic transition