By Ravi VS
In the span of just a few days, Malaysia was recently confronted by two unsettling reminders of our fragility.
First, a major electricity breakdown in Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya plunged homes and businesses into darkness, disrupting daily routines and exposing vulnerabilities in our increasingly digital and cashless economy.
Then, Johor experienced a series of rare earthquakes — a 4.1 tremor near Segamat, followed by a 2.8 near Kluang, and a 3.2 aftershock south of Segamat.
Individually, both events were manageable. Collectively, they are signals — weak today but potentially stronger tomorrow. They remind us that the ground beneath us, both literally and metaphorically, can shift without warning.
The question is: are we prepared, or are we simply hoping these shocks remain anomalies?
Signals in the Noise
From a strategic foresight perspective, the blackout and the earthquakes are not isolated incidents. They are stress tests of our assumptions about stability and continuity.
The Bandar Utama power failure underscored how a single disruption can ripple through our hyper-connected society, from financial transactions to healthcare access.
The Johor tremors revealed that seismic risks, once thought improbable in Malaysia, cannot be dismissed outright.
Both are signals that demand we look beyond the probable into the possible and plausible futures. Dismissing them as one-off anomalies is precisely how societies sleepwalk into crises.
Are We Equipped with the Right Skills?
Preparedness in the 21st century is not only about stronger infrastructure—it is about cultivating Signals in the Noise
From a strategic foresight perspective, the blackout and the earthquakes are not isolated incidents. They are stress tests of our assumptions about stability and continuity.
The Bandar Utama power failure underscored how a single disruption can ripple through our hyper-connected society, from financial transactions to healthcare access.
The Johor tremors revealed that seismic risks, once thought improbable in Malaysia, cannot be dismissed outright.
Both are signals that demand we look beyond the probable into the possible and plausible futures. Dismissing them as one-off anomalies is precisely how societies sleepwalk into crises.
Preparedness in the 21st century is not only about stronger infrastructure—it is about cultivating foresight skills:
Signal Literacy: Recognising that a blackout or tremor is not just an event but a harbinger of systemic vulnerabilities.
Scenario Building: Asking “what if” questions—what if the power outage had lasted more than 24 hours? What if Johor had experienced a 6.0 quake near industrial hubs?
Resilience Thinking: Moving beyond quick fixes to build capacity for disruptions that could compound—imagine an earthquake occurring during an extended blackout.
Interdisciplinary Preparedness: Treating these issues not just as technical failures, but as governance, social, and economic resilience challenges.
The Foresight Paradox
This dual shock illustrates the foresight paradox: if we over-prepare, we risk being accused of alarmism; if we under-prepare, we risk being blindsided.
Strategic foresight does not predict the future — it equips us with the discipline of imagination: the ability to see multiple futures, stress-test our systems, and act before disruption becomes disaster.
The blackout and the earthquakes are not ends in themselves — they are practice signals, giving us a chance to rehearse resilience before the stakes grow higher.
How to be Better Prepared?
The way forward is to help leaders, organisations, and governments build the skills and capacities of foresight, so that a blackout or a tremor becomes more than a surprise—it becomes an opportunity to adapt, anticipate, and act.
Building a Future-Ready Malaysia
Today, Malaysia is better at reacting than anticipating. The Bandar Utama blackout was fixed; the Johor tremors passed. But what happens when the next disruption is deeper, longer, or compounded by another crisis?
The real question is whether we are cultivating the skills and culture to be future-ready. Strategic foresight gives us the lens. What can be done? The responsibility lies with all of us — leaders, policymakers, businesses, and citizens — to recognise that resilience begins with foresight.
The ground has shaken, and the lights have gone out. Both were wake-up calls. The question is no longer whether these shocks will happen again, but whether Malaysia will be ready when they converge and test the very foundations of our systems.
Foresight is not a luxury — it is the discipline of preparedness in an age of uncertainty.
(The views expressed are entirely those of the writer)
WE