Prime Minister wants to see you

Sometime in July 2000, I received an email with the title, "Your prime minister wants to see you.". That's what the email said. "Can you come to his office next Tuesday?". I laughed uncontrollably and my best mate in Southampton thought I was losing it finally. I called him over to read the email in the middle of the party and he smirked - he said this must be a hoax. I had too many friends at that time that would do this sort of things. But was it really a hoax? The next day I made the long distance phone call to Putrajaya from Southampton using the number in the email and, yes you guessed it. It was the Prime Minister's office.

I had to explain I was at Southampton and had to reschedule the meeting after I returned, if ever that was possible. The personal secretary to the Prime Minister said that's fine. I completed my graduation ceremony in Southampton University and rushed back home. Of course I would meet the Prime Minister. Any budding young Malaysian with so much life would. I was told by the private secretary to come over one Saturday morning, and to come early as there would be a series of gates to go through for security checks. She also gave a strict instruction that the Prime Minister had only 15 minutes to spare as he had to leave for other engagements - as a Prime Minister would. I said, 'Of course, 15 minutes is more than enough.'. 

It was all about the proposal I handed over to the minister who was close to the Prime Minister at that time. I wrote a proposal based on a project I did as my PhD project. It was on the Hypersonic Transport Aircraft that would revolutionize air travel as we knew it. Very few countries in the world at that time had the resources to conduct the project - NASA was leading the way. My PhD professor and I wrote a proposal for the Malaysian government to see if they wanted to take it up. This was back in the year 2000 when Malaysia was keen to be a world leader in Aerospace.

When the day came for the meeting, I came early as instructed to Putrajaya, to the Prime Minister's office. I still remember there were at least 3 - 4 security gates I had to pass inside the building, complete with X-tray machines etc. For some reason, I was not nervous. In fact, I was excited to share this idea with the only Malaysian who could possibly understand my dreams and passion. I was 27 years old and he was 70+ at the time. It was going to be fantastic to talk 'Aerospace'.

I finally reached the majestic office and met the private secretary, who reminded me again that I had only 15 minutes of the Prime Minister's time. I nodded with certainty, that I promised to stick to the plan. Then came the time. The huge beautifully crafted, majestic, heavy wooden door was pulled open by a Navy officer to let me in. It was like the entrance to a castle! I never forget the feeling of awe as I stepped into the Prime Minister's office. Surprisingly, the office looked empty perhaps because of the sheer size of it. I turned to the right, and left and started to look around for 'him'. Yes, the room was that big! And finally, I saw him sitting with power behind a huge majestic office table. I had to blink once or twice to be sure. It was a little unreal for me to be there. All I could exclaimed to myself at that time, was 'Wow! Oh Wow!'. For a fraction of a second I had the chance to tell myself, 'I am finally here.'.

Now it would be awkward, isn't it, to stand in front of the Prime Minister staring at him. With a big smile on my face, I walked towards him and extended my hand and began introducing myself. 'Hello Dato' Seri, my name is Zairil. It is such an honor to finally meet you!'. He gently smiled and showed me to the chair which I carefully sat on. 

My first impression of the Prime Minister? He looked smaller than I thought. But such power! Very few Malays I knew at that time had the power to make a change - and right there in front of me was the most powerful man in the country, perhaps the region. I sat down and put my briefcase carefully on the floor. And then, there was silence. At 27 years old, silence for too long (10 seconds) was very uncomfortable - but I reminded myself to not take the lead this time. It was his meeting - he knew what to do, of course. A short moment later, he slowly opened a file in front of him.  And I thought - I'm dead! He got a file on me! I cleared my throat which was getting drier and drier every passing second.

And finally, the Prime Minister began by asking, 'This project is going to be expensive, isn't it Dr.?'. And I took a deep breath and began talking. I explained to the Prime Minister that yes it would but it would also be great for Malaysia and almost certainly put Malaysia in the Aerospace world's map. He liked that. He liked to make Malaysia visible to the world - as a developed high-tech nation. We talked and talked about everything hypersonic and aerospace. As a young man who spent 3 intense years studying hypersonic planes, I was surprised how much he knew about the plane already! I was caught once or twice making 'inconsistent' points during the conversation. He was sharp! Very very sharp. One would think that a 70+ year old man would be nothing like this when it came to matters of the mind but after few minutes talking to the Prime Minister I felt beautifully 'challenged'. It was as stimulating as an intellectual conversation could be. Every aspect of the hypersonic plane we went through, from the scramjet engine to the absence of materials to withstand heat, to flight dynamics problems. We also talked about manufacturing facilities as well as testing equipment for hypersonic planes. The number of experts in the country as well as overseas were discussed also. The impression I had at the time was he and I were dead serious about venturing Malaysia as one of the first nations to build a hypersonic transport aircraft. 

Half way through our deep discussion, the Navy officer came in. I suspected he was just checking if everything was ok. Of course everything was ok. The Prime Minister and I continued talking about hypersonic as well as other matters related to Aerospace and beyond. Truth be told, I loved talking to him. It's been 22 years (now year 2022) since the meeting took place and I can still remember clearly the details of that meeting. We were both friendly, professional, and dare I say it, intelligent. The quality of the questions and answers we put forth to each other were pure genius. I had utmost respect towards him. I still do. By this time, I wondered what the time was? In my distant memory, I promised someone that I would leave the meeting after 15 minutes only.

Everyone has had this experience - when you are engaged in an extremely intense and interesting conversation, time would stand still. By that time I had been with the Prime Minister for 1 and a half hours talking about hypersonic aircraft and aerospace industry for Malaysia. And looking at the mood of the conversation, I'd say we could go on for another 1 and a half hours more at least. By this time, the Navy officer had come into the office at least 3 times. The Prime Minister looked at his watch and said he should probably go for his 'other' meeting. I took that as my cue to start wrapping things up. He concluded the meeting by saying that he would discuss the idea with his advisors and would go from there. I leave it to you to decide if he liked the idea or not, from a scheduled 15 minute meeting, to a 1 and half hour discussion.

Before I left, I told the Prime Minister I had one request. He looked up and had a slight shock on his face. I asked him if I could request for a photo with him, as the meeting was truly a historic one for me. He probably taught what a relief - perhaps too many people would ask for something else more expensive than a photo from him. He smiled and said, 'Of course'. I took out a very cheap camera from my briefcase, with no shame of any sort. This was the year 2000 and there was no smartphone. Digital cameras were way too expensive for a lecturer's salary. I took out a cheap kodak camera which you had to use your thumb to wind the film! I was ready to do the traditional way of 'selfie' with the Prime Minister with no shame too, but as he saw me struggling to get the shot right, he pressed a small switch under his table and in came the Navy officer rushing through the door. He asked the officer if he would be so kind to take our picture together. That was probably the most treasured photo I have ever taken with a Prime Minister.

I left the Prime Minister office feeling exhilarated. I knew I had tried - and that was all that mattered. I drove home thinking, I would never ever meet Tony Blair or Trump or Lee Kwan Yew if I ever had the chance to work in their respective countries. But this is my country - and I had a shot at making a difference. I had just finished a 1 and a half hour personal meeting with my own Prime Minister, talking about what I loved to do. And he seemed to love it too.