Posted on by Kit

Quo Vadis Malaysia?

by Dr. Chen Man Hin

At the last UMNO general assembly, it was put to the delegates to reject the objective of Bangsa Malaysia and opt for a Ketuanan Melayu Malaysia. The proposal was accepted by deputy prime minister.

So it came to pass that former prime minister, Dr Mahathir’s dream of a VISION 2020 where the people are one – Bangsa Malaysia- and the status of a developed nation was swept aside.

Since then there has been various moves to promote the concept of a Ketuanan Melayu, and announcements by the prime minister that the NEP would be extended indefinitely.

We in the DAP view with great concern the rejection of Bangsa Malaysia, as the very idea has caused deep uneasiness among the people, and shaken the bond of national unity and testing their tolerance.

The implementation of NEP while it has eradicated the association of race with economic function, as there is a sizeable Malay middle class – successful businessmen and professionals – has slowed economic progress since the implementation of NEP in 1971.

The fact is that the NEP was redistributing wealth but it could not create wealth fast enough. It could not increase the size of the national cake!

There was only a slight difference in the per capita GDP between Malaysia and Singapore in 1965, but it was followed by a slow ascent for Malaysia to US$5042 in 2005 in contrast to the steep ascent for Singapore which recorded a per capita GDP of US$26,836 in 2005.

How is it that Singapore without natural resources could perform better, and let its citizens take home a higher income of US$26,836 per year, while Malaysia could only give US$5042 to its citizens.

Malaysia has vast resources of petroleum, gas, palm oil, timber and rubber. The fault lies in not utilising its potential of human resources. Brain drain, racial policies, quotas have driven off a vast reservoir of human resources to other countries. Singapore makes full use of its human resources but Malaysia don’t because it is still insisting on carrying the old baggage of quotas, NEP and corruption.

There may be multiple causes of corruption, lack of transparency, not globally competitive and lack of economic freedom.

The launching of the NEP in 1971 is the main reason for the poor economic progress. It is quite obvious that the economy was being kept down from 1970 and onwards when the NEP was implemented, while Singapore was leaping upwards.

However, if UMNO insists on a policy of racial preferences and the NEP, Vision 2020 of a developed nation would vanish. That would be a sad day

45 Replies to “Quo Vadis Malaysia?”

  2. overall the NEP was a failure as it was misused to create more wealthy cronies and relative of UMNO rather than the overall Malay. It is no longer protect the Bumiputra which including the orang asli, Iban, Kadazan and etc which form the actual son=of-soil rather than just Malay. Hence NEP is seen as protector of Ketuanan Melayu.

    In fact the Malay have lost their actual identity. Some may claim they are associate with Indonesian root but the reality they treat their brothers no better than the Chinese, Indians and other bumiputras.

    In order for Malaysia to leap forward, the NEP have to be abolished. Then only the Malays will have better future for a better Malaysia. Then only we can say “Tak Melayu Hilang Di Dunia Ini”.

  3. “How is it that Singapore without natural resources could perform better, and let its citizens take home a higher income of US$26,836 per year, while Malaysia could only give US$5042 to its citizens?” – Dr Chen

    ___________________

    Very good question Dr. I wish every Malaysian loving citizen would ask this question more often.

    My personal view is simple. To me, the reason is simply due to the Corruption differences in the 2 countries.

    When there is corruption, mediocrity (as opposed to meritocracy) is the inevitable result. Corruption breeds and feeds politicians who wants to get ahead in life using Unfair Means. Since they will resort to Unfair Means (which is easier), Meritocracy dies as a natural result of corruption. And when there is no meritocracy, Mediocrity surfaces and becomes the norm. And when a country is Corrupt, Mediocre and does not promote Meritocracy, you have Brain Drain. And so on. So, without Integrity, Honesty and good moral character, all the intelligence and hard-working ethics of any society will just go down the drain … Like a cancer, Corruption, Mediocrity, Brain Drain spreads, and once it goes past a critical level, it will be too late for any surgeon to treat the Cancer. You see it in Indonesia and the Phillipines, and many other 3rd world countries around the world.

    We now lag Singapore by at least 5 times.

    To contrast, take a deeper look at Singapore’s history. One of Lee Kuan Yew’s chief priorities when they won the first independent election is to immediately work towards eliminating corruption. When corruption recedes, it encourages more people to get ahead in life using fairer means, promoting meritocracy and eliminating mediocrity. The good people prefers to live in Singapore than to return to Malaysia then.

    There is no doubt in my own mind that the huge, huge differences in the GDP/capita numbers between the 2 countries is thunderous and deafening! More than 5 times differences! This is not a statistical abberation! It is not “random fluctuation”! There is clearly an underlying cause, and only a completely blind and completely deaf person would try to deny that there is no difference!

    Yet, despite the deafening differences, how many out of 100 Rakyat today cares? Or at least cared enough to vote the corrupt BN out of power during the last election? What about the coming election?

    If you are young, perhaps you don’t believe our country is corrupt. After all, you don’t read it in the press. And you could be “innocent” back then when Mahathir was raping and pillaging the nation’s wealth with his “mega projects”, and so, you don’t know and voted BN. And why not? BN controls the press and BN controls the judiciary. From Mahathir’s point of view, what is there to be scared about?

    Ok, so, here’s a current issue. Tell me – what is happening to the Port Klang Free Zone $4.6 billion bailout? Why is the PM and Deputy PM not taking action yet? Have you heard of so-and-so been implicated as a result of this mega-project “mega-theft”?

    If nothing is being done and there is no remorse (but a lot of greed and happiness created within the BN-putras), how can the Rakyat be sure that such corruption won’t be repeated in future? In fact, how can Rakyat be sure that there won’t be a bigger level of corruption after the next GE? To me, the latter is not a probability, but certainty – as certain as death and taxes.

    You might think eliminating corruption is impossible, given its pervasiveness in this country, and a long history. Well, let me ask you a simple question – how does one prevent a thief from stealing again? Do you let the thief free to continue stealing? Do you let the thief runs the police and the judiciary? Or do you vote the hard-core thief out of the society and push him into prison or another place where he can no longer do harm to society?

    I know which party I will vote in the coming GE, and it won’t be the BN – that is a certainty. Insanity is when one keeps doing the same thing (vote BN) and expects a different result (corruption to cease). And I have no wish for my loved ones and those close around me to remain “insane” as a result of ignorance.

    Dr Chen’s question is a very good question. It’s the sort of question that every Malaysian should ask, and discuss openly. Only then, one can understand the root cause. And only then, one knows and can do the right thing. And the right thing is to vote the BN out of power. There is simply no other choice. Delay, and the patient will become terminally ill from this cancer.

    Old observer.

  4. “How is it that Singapore without natural resources could perform better, and let its citizens take home a higher income of US$26,836 per year, while Malaysia could only give US$5042 to its citizens.”

    The average Malaysian today takes home the equivalent of US$5,042??

    The office clerk, motor mechanic, the office boy, the teh tarik vendor, the newspaper delivery boys, the pig farmer (on second thoughts, forget the ‘pig farmer’ as he earns multiples of this sum), the nasi lemak vendor, the jaga kereta boys, the jaga pintu and tea ladies, the padi farmer and fisherman may have something to say.

  5. “The fact is that the NEP was redistributing wealth but it could not create wealth fast enough. It could not increase the size of the national cake!”

    The NEP seeks also to redistribute wealth. It is this aspect that tends to be overlooked in any discussion of this controversial program. The reasons for the race riots were many but among them, it was felt, was the failure of the government to address the economic imbalances then existing among the races.

    The destabiling factor inherent in a policy like the NEP is obvious. It is unfair and unjust to ignore the plight of the working class poor of all races and not just Malays. No right thinking Malaysia could hope to defend a policy like the NEP and still have their moral and their honesty remain intact. But it is an unjust and unfair policy borne out of unjust and unfair conditions.

    The premise of the NEP is the assumption of the expanding national economic pie so that you do not need to rob Paul to pay Peter and so on. Problems arise and resentment becomes acute when the national economic pie ceases to expand, its growth becomes stagnant even shrinking – and there is less to be shared, when you could only advance by robbing Paul to pay Peter.

  6. Ketuanan Melayu exists only because non Melayu dont stand up for their rights…..blogging is a step ……..but sometimes you needs monks….and guts…..Broga is OK, Pig farmers OK…..but Machap not OK……so correct yourself first before whining……

  7. Malays are more suppressed in their own country by Umno than the suppression suffered by Chinese or Indians. For their pains they are offered the rotten carrots of Ketuanan Melayu and NEP.

    The suppression of malays is deep and internal while the suppression of Chinese and Indians is only surface in terms of benefits and material things. That is why some Chinese have the cheek to say that NEP benefits them as it makes them stronger.

    The suppression of malays is mental and spiritual enforced by KGB police type tactics. The suppression of malays may be an eternal and permanent one. Umno is a cancer to malay society.

  8. No doubt, Singapore’s economic progress is definitely attributed to its policies of active clampdown on corruption and its promotion of meritocratic policies. Most failed states are beleaguered by corruption and little meritocracy.

    Whilst there is, no doubt, a positive co-relation between low tolerance of corruption and human capital development/ meritocracy (generally), it is however (at least ostensibly) not all the time the case : if one looks at China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan, they have progressed economically though corruption is at high levels compared to Singapore. That again may be due to the common factor of positive work ethos and competition to produce yet better goods and services.

    So maybe the competitive ethos and its corollary meritocracy may intersect with corrupt culture to a large extent but not all the way.

    Some even believe that there’s a co-relation between higher IQs of the populace and economic performance but it is not certain whether higher IQs made them more competitive or the environment of more competition sharpen the IQs!

    Whatever it is NEP definitely has a negative correlation to economic progress and a positive co-relation with lack of competitive drive, no meritiocracy and higher tolerance with corruption arising from patronage norms.

    This is very difficult subject to evaluate because whether the state fails or succeeds is a function of a myriad and interplay of many factors of which it is difficult to single out one predominant factor.

    For example, if one singles out one factor, whether corruption or meritocracy, it may be asked why then not the other factors, as ‘first causes’ that also have a part to influence or cause higher tolerance towards corruption or resistance against comptition/meritocracy – factors such as ethnicity, culture and tradition (whether feudalistic or martial like Germans and Japanese or, if one believes in what Lee Kuan Yew said, eugenics, or in TDM’s case, cultural practice of inbreeding), homogeneity or diversity, unity or disunity of society, availability of natural resources (like oil that displaces immediate need for human resource to generate wealth), levels of economic base from which one starts development where lower base means more room for dramatic growth?

    Whilst there is a definite negative co-relation between official corruption and economic progress where long term the corrupt country is done for because it’s an anathema to foreign investors as well as local businessmen, not to mention adding to the cost of business, or the resources of the state being wasted on un-viable mega projects in which politicians skim off millions – even here depending on a country’s level of economic base, and how strong and the authoritarian the leader is, it is interesting to note that even amongst the club of corrupt regimes, some actually fare much better as compared to others as if arguing that corruption is (ironically) itself a catalyst for economic performance.

    For example, during Suharto’s administration in which corruption was rife, his regime saw Indonesian incomes quadruple to $ 1,000 per capita in the late 1980s and 1990s, graduating from a mere commodity producer to a big exporter of manufactures – to an extent a parallel may be drawn here with TDM’s administration – whereas Mobutu of Zaire Abacha of Nigeria Duvalier of Haiti all left their countries poorer and more desperate than ever.

    In a country mired with bureaucratic corruption, red tape and general incompetence of civil service, a strong albeit corrupt leader is also welcomed by some (definitely not all) investors and businessmen for the simple reason that they know that once they make a connection with this strong leader everything gets done because the leader has the authority and will to cut the golden knot, and they need only to bribe one and the correct person than all levels to get business done.

    What businessmen hate is uncertainty and after bribing nothing gets done. In this sense a corrupt regime with strong pro business leader who gets things done is infinitely better than a corrupt one in which the corrupt leader is weak and only interested in increasing his own and family’s wealth but who has no interest for or inkling of business whether in relation to himself or the country under his leadership!

    That being said, there can exist little apology for corrupt leadership in longer term as the events of 1997 Asian Currency Crisis vindicate. When hedge funds predators look for currencies to whack down, which regimes did they target?

  9. it is unfair and incorrect to compare ourselves with spore based on just the economic factor without looking at all the underlying contributory attributes. demography is one such significant contributor, coupled with our physical makeup, history, driving force etc etc….of course govt policies come into play which is where leadership makes a big difference. a leadership that is geared towards patronising and manipulating as opposed to a leadership that is a “go getter” of course produces differing results…very significant differences at that! the people are the ones who need to send the signal…but with the majority of the population obsessed with ” get rich quick” schemes in all their varying manifestations (including the nep) and the “get to heaven quick” schemes which pits muslim against non muslims with the most absurd of stupidities makes the problem even more complex….the fact that getting rich quick or getting to heaven through the shortest route regardless of morals without the commesurate effort appels to a large majority makes it even more complicated. a dignified rakyat would make it very clear to the leadership that handouts and patronisation are NOT REQUIRED THANK YOU VERY MUCH and then see where we will head….truly towering and glocal!!!

  11. This piece is outdated if you ask me. If you hear what Badawi said at the Gerakan AGM, you realized that his policy is the same as it was 4 years ago, with new words but the same. He is really our very own George Bush with lots of vision but not much on how to get there. Sentences like ‘taking things for granted’, ‘minority with extreme rhetorics, the other sides also pander..’ clearly betrays his biases and tendencies to stick to the status quo and no leadership in changes. His policies is to just let things work itself out.

    And its about getting there that is the issue. He is so-George Bush that he thinks all he has to do is stay on the existing course and matter and things will work out. He may not be all wrong because like George Bush, he does have the resources to waste to get there. The cost is hidden – in terms of divide between Malaysian along race, religion and income. The cost is migration of the best and brightest and our financial strength for the future (i.e., read that as future taxes).

    A policy of denial is what Badawi is all about, not real changes at least not leading it. He implicitly believes and have faith things will work out and does not really care for the injustices and wrong along the way, believing, like Mahathir did, that things will work out because it has always been so. In other words, a policy of mediocrity and apathy..

  12. There is no denial that UMNO and Ketuanan Melayu are both racist and discriminating against other non malay. This can only happen in the 21st century in malaysia. If melayu continues to have such archaic mindset, no amount of doa can save malaysia. Malaysia will go the chute to the abyss.

  14. At the last UMNO general assembly, it was put to the delegates to reject the objective of Bangsa Malaysia and opt for a Ketuanan Melayu Malaysia.

    ———————————
    UMNO stop talking crap and bluffing yourself and others.

    Looks like the Ketuanan Melayu thingy ONLY apply to those who join UMNO.

    How about the Malays in Keadilian, Pas, DAP and those do not join any political parties?

    Who are they? Less Ketuanan Melayu that UMNOputra/raja?????

  16. The main cause is their thinking that they own the land, we are just outcomers, what we earn belong to them, that is the main cause, talking is not enough to change, as they only live in their own (mind) world and won’t accept any comment from us, the outcomers, they surely will never progress, so don’t waste time comparing to other nations. ACTION is the next step!

  17. The real bumis are the Iban, dayak, kadazan etc. Melayu are NOT the bumis but melayu has hijacked the bumi status/term to enrich/benefit themselves. So NEP should rightly be applied to the real natives and not the malays who like the non malays are the pendatangs.

  19. You cannot compare Singapore with malaysia. You know why? Singapore is very forward thinking and has an IQ of 200 whilst malaysia has an IQ of about 50. Corruption is only a problem but not the root cause. the root cause of all malaysia’s problem is the thinking or mindset or the lack of political leaders with the IQ. How does one expect malaysia to move forward when the political leaders are of such low IQ continuously living and suffering from denial syndrome and always playing balls with each other? there is no political will or IQ to want to change for the better. Do you really think they really bother to use Singapore as a benchmark? UMNo/melayu here are really thick and shameless. yes this article is not new and a waste of time. Come GE, the melayu will continue to vote BN albeit with less seats and lower % as non malays would vote in greater numbers for the opposition compared to last GE. As TDM said the melayu are stupid to continue to vote for BN along racial lines even though the country is going to the dogs.

  20. “What businessmen hate is uncertainty and after bribing nothing gets done. In this sense a corrupt regime with strong pro business leader who gets things done is infinitely better than a corrupt one in which the corrupt leader is weak and only interested in increasing his own and family’s wealth but who has no interest for or inkling of business whether in relation to himself or the country under his leadership!”

    Which is precisely the situation Malaysia is in right now.

    A lot of businessmen (from within Malaysia and without) are angry and upset with the Malaysian government that things are not going their way DESPITE paying the “extras”.

  21. Izrafeil, thanks for the kind words. We all learn from the experiences of others and share ours with them here or elsewhere. Yes, consciously or otherwise we’re all pursuing our own PhDs – but its not in just political science – it is the Life science & Art as well from the University of Life from which we graduate when we die. If what we learn and share can make the world, and this country of ours in particular a better place, so much for the better. For if there were any hope for true democracy at all to take root in a country like ours, certain section of the citizenry must first learn through mutual sharing of thoughts and experiences how to differentiate between fallacies and truth, hypocrisies from sincerities, emotional from rational thinking before it can broaden down to the wider citizenry – how else can citizens otherwise exercise their right to vote meaningfully? – and this is where blogs like this one will offer the discourse space for such creative and interactive engagements to take place for the better of all. That’s all I can say for the moment. :)

  23. Wake Up Malay!! We non-bumi are NO YOUR ENEMY…while other country are focus on developing…our country UMNO boy each day think how to take advantage of their non-bumi brother/sister.. If those UMNO boy can realize it one day..Malaysia will be First World rather than now Third World..ask ur indonesia frd to get PR here…get more vote..later when Malaysia just now another part of Indonesia by them ..

  24. “You cannot compare Singapore with malaysia. You know why? Singapore is very forward thinking and has an IQ of 200 whilst malaysia has an IQ of about 50. Corruption is only a problem but not the root cause. the root cause of all malaysia’s problem is the thinking or mindset or the lack of political leaders with the IQ. How does one expect malaysia to move forward when the political leaders are of such low IQ continuously living and suffering from denial syndrome and always playing balls with each other? there is no political will or IQ to want to change for the better. Do you really think they really bother to use Singapore as a benchmark? UMNo/melayu here are really thick and shameless. yes this article is not new and a waste of time. Come GE, the melayu will continue to vote BN albeit with less seats and lower % as non malays would vote in greater numbers for the opposition compared to last GE. As TDM said the melayu are stupid to continue to vote for BN along racial lines even though the country is going to the dogs.” – Bystander.

    Bystander,

    1. Sorry, but I don’t understand why we cannot compare Singapore with Malaysia. Didn’t Singapore and Malaysia started about the same level just after Merdeka? So, why such a huge deviation today?

    2. Surely noone can deny the huge differences between Singapore and Malaysia today?

    3. Joking aside, I believe in 1965, the level of IQ in Singapore is about the same as Malaysia. The growing differences since 1965 is systemic, rather than a statistical abberation.

    4. It is obvious to all that it is to BN’s interest to NOT compare Malaysia with Singapore. So, we the Rakyat must keep on comparing Malaysia with Singapore, in order to remind the government that our country’s rich resources are not intended for a select few to corrupt, but for all Rakyat to share. If we don’t remind the government to compare, and if we ourselves don’t compare, then, whose fault it is if Malaysia keeps falling behind Singapore in an overall economic sense?

    5. Yes, the odds are still good that BN will win this coming election. So, what are you doing about it? Have you given up on Malaysia? If not, what are you doing about it?

    Old observer.

  25. Jeffrey,

    Since you’ve written a few lengthy views here, I like to pick your brain.

    1. I am deeply saddened by the state of Corruption in this country (e.g. Port Klang Free Zone $4.6 billion scandal, etc.).

    2. I am deeply saddened by the state of the Judiciary in this country (e.g. Lingam Tape, Altantuya Murder Case, etc.)

    3. I am conscious there are a million other problems in this country with many root causes and an extremely complex interactions, but I am a believer in attacking 1 Big thing at a time in order to make progress, or at most 2, so, right now, I’m thinking of focussing on Corruption and Judiciary, as those 2 appears to be the 2 biggest problem faced in this country.

    4. I am deeply saddened by the fact that the recent Lawyer’s March has no impact at all on the BN-putras, enough to halt these corrupt practices permanently, nor reverses the country’s declining meritocracy standards nor halt the country’s increasing mediocrity standards.

    5. I am deeply saddened by the fact that ways to improve accountability, system, etc. have yield nothing substantial. Corrupt practices continue and I believe will get worse, and the state of judiciary is still deteriorating, and I believe will not improve.

    6. I am deeply saddened by the fact that the recent proposed online petition is still struggling to obtain a small number of 5,000 names. I myself have done my bit in encouraging everyone I know to sign it, but that seems to have little impact.

    7. I am a 4th generation Malaysian Chinese, and I love my country very much. I have no wish to migrate overseas (Malaysia is my only home), and even if I can, it would mean leaving my large number of relatives and friends behind to suffer, which I cannot do.

    So, my question to you is very simple – HOW can we, the Rakyat – 26 million of them – improve the situation in Malaysia?

    If it’s not in the coming GE, then, how else?

    Old observer.

  26. S’pore must distinguish itself by having better governance: MM Lee
    Visit: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/303871/1/.html

    The wisdom of LKY and his team:
    – build up a clean, corruption-free, secure and safe system, and a government which was effective and efficient, and one which welcomed investors and business.

    “We had to get the big pieces right – national solidarity, not racial, religion or language strife. Hence the emphasis on racial and religious harmony, the mixing of all the races as we rebuild the city, with everybody sharing the same HDB blocks,” said Mr Lee.

    “We avoided clashes over languages. We would have brought troubles if we had chosen Chinese as our working language and thus disadvantaged the other races. We chose English – a neutral language with no special advantage to any race – as the working language, but we keep our mother tongues,” he added.

  27. Jeffrey,

    You raised a few interesting points:

    1. ” if one looks at China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan, they have progressed economically though corruption is at high levels compared to Singapore. That again may be due to the common factor of positive work ethos and competition to produce yet better goods and services.”

    Wikipedia has a list of GDP/capita by countries – see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)_per_capita

    Japan = No 19 ($ 34,188)
    Singapore = No 24 ($29,917)
    South Korea = No 34 ($18,392)
    Taiwan = No 35 ($15,482)
    China = No 107 ($2,001)

    Only Japan ranks ahead of Singapore in Wikipedia’s list. Don’t you think Singapore is pretty successful, given the head start that Japan has since 1965, and given that they started at roughly the same level as Malaysia back in 1965?

    Given that we share a common starting point at one point in history (and it’s not very long ago relatively), I think Singapore is very, very relevant to Malaysians, although it is also important to look elsewhere. But my concern is not enough of the Rakyat is comparing against Singapore. If I have to prioritize, I’d say make sure to compare/study Singapore first, and other countries later (and make sure not to omit them).

    2. You mentioned “during Suharto’s administration in which corruption was rife, his regime saw Indonesian incomes quadruple to $ 1,000 per capita in the late 1980s and 1990s, ”

    Indonesia is No 114 ($1,640), based on 2005 numbers. I guess not much of an improvement between 1990-2005 since then huh?

    I don’t know about you, but I prefer to benchmark to Singapore, which in my opinion, is a much better role model for Malaysians than Indonesia. Why bother to compare against a much lower ranked country, when we’re seeking improvement?

    Old Observer.

  29. According to same Wikipedia site above, Malaysia is ranked No 62, whereas Singapore is ranked No 24, both based on 2005 numbers.

    I wonder if anyone knows where Malaysia ranked (by global rankings) back in 1965 when Singapore was first “expelled” from Malaysia.

    I find it interesting that a South Africa country called “Botswana” is now ranked 56, or 6 places higher than Malaysia … Do you think we will soon see Malaysia climbing up the ranking list under current BN leadership?

    Old Observer.

  30. Best seller by RPK coming to the book stores
    http://malaysia-today.net/blog2006/guests.php?itemid=8872
    Raja Petra Kamarudin yang dituduh dengan pelbagai gelaran oleh kalangan pengampu dan penjilat pemimpin “jongos”, goblok serta “musang berbulu ayam” telahpun menerbitkan buku berhubung pendedahan skandal “makanan untuk minyak” atau “oil for food” yang pastinya bakal membongkar percaturan keji untuk diketahui oleh rakyat. Harganya tidaklah begitu mahal sekadar RM 15.00 sahaja…

  32. The apparent suggestion here that a country’s Per Capita Income is a good single indicator of anything is preposterous! Clearly, if 90% of the country’s Gross National Income is shared by 2 % of its total population, it makes for an unstable political system – which is what politicians should be worried about. Whilst the study of economics concerns itself with economic output, politics determine how this output is distributed.

  33. Dear Old Observer,
    It was said tongue in cheek. Although you and I would like to compare, but what is more important is whether the gomen is prepared to compare with and use Singapore as a benchmark. And we know the answer is no. You are not the only one saddened by your points 1 to 7. All right thinking malaysians would esp nonmalays. Your line of questioning if you dont mind me saying sounded a bit naive and optimistic. Although there is 26 million rakyat, but this is not going to change or improve the situation. The reason for not able to change lies in my last 2 sentences in my earlier comments. And this is confirmed by TDM. Lastly, you sounded as if you just came back from overseas and not fully aware of the going ons in malaysia for the last 20 years.
    Old Bystander.

  34. Sorry to say old observer there is nothing much I can do about it except that my vote and all my family votes plus all my friends vote would go to DAP. I will continue to persuade all my non malay friends to vote DAP.

  35. Old.observer,

    In a system of one-man one vote, demographics in terms of majority define political culture. The demographics of Singapore are different from Malaysia’s. The majority voters in Singapore are different from that of Malaysia in terms of race, culture including political culture, religion and ethos. One or two consequences of this difference : English, as an international language, is easier accepted in Singapore as medium of communication in governments, private sector, courts but can the same be said here? We in turn have a feudalistic baggage as you would recall folk hero Hang Tuah is admired because he gave unquestioning and unstinting loyalty to the ruler above all in exchange for patronage and protection. In Singapore, it is a secular system established right at the time of separation with no constitutionally prescribed religion as the official one nor enshrined privileges in favour of any group ; and even today, Singapore, for all the talk of Confucian values, identifies with the West in terms of their concepts of corporate governance, business and banking practices, zero tolerance for corruption etc (except freedom of expression) but is the same true here where Islam defines cultural identity of the Majority?

    I don’t know about “common starting point at one point in history” of both countries but in terms of demographics – in terms of majority – as influenced by factors of race, religion and culture, the starting points are very different. The other factor is that Singapore has a relatively small population confined within a small area and hence is easy to micro-manage, top down, by a strong leadership with very favourable effects, if top down policies are rational, prudent and long-sighted policies.

    For these reasons, the benchmarking of Malaysia to Singapore from standpoint of role modeling is difficult because of the almost diametrically different circumstances and situation of our two countries so that we’re not really comparing meaningfully like and alike, orange with orange, if you know what I mean.

    Neither do I mean should we When I mentioned Suharto’s administration, which saw Indonesian incomes quadruple to $ 1,000 per capita in the late 1980s and 1990s, I did not intend to compare/benchmark Malaysia against a lesser model like Indonesia but was merely comparing a corrupt Suharto administration against the predecessor (General Sukarno’s administration ended 1966) and how notwithstanding widespread allegations of corruption and absue of power before and after Suharto, yet under Suharto’s time Indonesia fared better with his strong leadership, central government, courtship of foreign investment and rapid industrialisation (not unlike TDM’s administration – until of course the hedge funds attack in 1997, economic downturn and mass demionstrations, which underscored my point that in the longer run corruption is still something that brings a country down in spite of its aggressive development and pro foreign investment policies.

    On the point about economic performance, I have no dispute at all that Singapore is very successful economically with or without reference to her GDP/per capita though I am inclined to think that GDP/per capita (nominal) is only but one of the quantitative indicators of economic success/prosperity that must be viewed, and balanced against other indices like its population size, equitability of distribution of wealth as Undergard2 said, export strength and potential, present and future, employment (whether full or otherwise) and level of labor skills and intellectual capital in terms of positioning up the technological ladder, arts and sciences, international competitiveness, standard of living as against cost and quality of life as well.

    On your last question – “HOW can we, the Rakyat – 26 million of them – improve the situation in Malaysia?” – there is really no quick fix, it is a mindset and culture thing that all Malaysians, especially Malays since they are the majority in terms of votes and political dominance, have to change.

    We have to learn about the importance of respecting each others’ differences and rights, not to put parochial divisive considerations of race and religion above the importance of a united nation believing in the rule of law, the principle of fairness and an outrage against the arrogance and corruption of power.

    The day we (especially the elites of all races) bargain for petty gains, positions, unfair advantage, honorific titles, abandon principles of right and wrong in exchange for loyalty and subservience to power, even unjust power, then we are all slaves and we have progressively been such since independence. We will then tolerate substandard leaders, as we have done, and keep on returning them to power.

    To be sure it is a long journey that may take generations but judging from the active mushrooming of various civil societies, proliferation of blogs and vociferous protests by people of all races both in the Internet and outside it against various abuses of power, there’s still a ray of hope for the optimists amongst those of us who have no other country to call our own.

    That’s all I can say for now, I leave it to others who may have feedbacks in response to your queries. Cheers.

  36. Why just single out corruption as the cause of our miserable life. What about all the incompetent people at the helm of ministries, universities, departments, judiciary and GLCs? Sometimes I wonder why they still need NEP when so many of them are already “good” enough to head these agencies. Or is this really an oxymoron issue?
    And one more thing, when Malaysia and Singapore split their currencies interchangeability in the early 1970s, the value of these two currencies were at almost at par. In fact, the Malaysia ringgit was initially even stronger than Singapore dollars. Today, Singapore dollar is almost two and half times Malaysian ringgit. Have you even felt so poor and pauper each time we are overseas? Let’s face it, this country is really run and managed by self assured morons. I think we have reached the point of no return. There is no more hope. I have one more pointer for all of you. Please look at composition of board of directors of Synergy Drive. May I know who built these companies, and whose money was used to buy these companies? Today who is enjoying the cushy appointments of these companies?

  39. Ketuanan Melayu = Gross insecurity and lack of confidence to face the globalised and competitive world.

    If this is the general mentality, after decades of education and assistance, NEP had failed badly.

  40. Pak Lah had swept aside Vision 2020 and had put in place his Mission 2057.
    It was obvious from his speech during the National Day celebration. The deadline year 2020 had been extended by 37 years to year 2057.

  41. Like I have said before, all GLCs are headed by malays but funded by taxpayers money. Why do they behave as if the GLCs belong to malays and are not accountable to the taxpayers? Like I said earlier, we have a gomen and some GLCs heads with very low IQ. Thats why the nation is going down the chute. Our PM is the malaysian equivalent of Bush and the president of Sudan (say 1 thing but do another).

  42. Let us leave out this comparison in GDP and currency, etc. Let us take one shininy example, SIA which was lead by my former statistic lecturer in UM, Dr. C.K. Cheong, CEO. I assume he was a Malaysian. When Malaysia Air System broke up into MAS and SIA, SIA went on to become one of the most successful arilines in the world. What happened to MAS? It had to be bailed out by the government to survive. It had to sell its aircrafts to the government and lease them back to show a paper profit.

    Does the BNputras ever care at the loss of a great talent? I doubt it. They care more for themselves than for the country.

  43. I think GLCs sometimes perform badly not because they are helmed by idiots but people who are put there by politicians who then expect favors from them.
    So heads of GLCs have their hands tied and sometimes make decisions contrary to good governance and profits. There are so many examples of such going-ons. I am not surprised FDIs are no longer coming in. Why should they if there are so many better countries to send their money.

  44. It is a big shame just by looking at the foreign exchange rates. Just why is it that when Singaporeans bring in S$1 into Johor Baru, they get to spend >RM2 but when we Malaysians walk across the Johor Causeway, our RM has shrunk to less than S$0.50?

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