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August 31st Merdeka Day to Sept 16 Malaysia Day – “bumper harvest” of bad news for Malaysia

Never before in the nation’s history has the country been buffeted by such a “bumper harvest” of bad news in the 17 days between Merdeka Day on August 31 and Malaysia Day on September 16.

This plethora of bad news for Malaysia cannot be more detrimental to Malaysia’s ability to escape from her decades-long “middle-income trap” and the terrible fate of a bankrupt nation in 2019 by undertaking a national transformation to achieve an inclusive and sustainable high-income developed nation in 2020.

Today for instance, there are two such bad news.

First is today’s Malaysian Insider story “Investors shun Malaysia for neighbours” which reports:

“Malaysia is now the “least favoured market” in Asia Pacific for investors after nearly doubling its underweight rating from last month, according to a recent Bank of America Merrill Lynch report.

“The country slipped two spots — from 10th place to dead last — in the investment bank’s latest Fund Managers Survey, even as the Najib administration prepares to unveil ambitious economic reforms meant to boost investor confidence.
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Najib’s job as Prime Minister is not just to express sadness at rise of extremism but to provide leadership to stamp out racial bigotry and religious extremism especially when they come from UMNO and allied or outsourced groups

In his Malaysia Day message, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak expressed strong opposition at the rise of extremism which is a stumbling block in the nation’s progress.

He said he is “saddened” that despite living in an independent multi-cultural nation, there are still those who cannot tolerate, much less accept the benefits of a diverse society and reject the 1Malaysia concept and policy propounded by him since becoming Prime Minister in April last year.

Najib’s job as Prime Minister is not just to express sadness at the rise of extremism but to provide leadership to stamp out racial bigotry and religious extremism especially when they come from UMNO and allied or outsourced groups.

There can be no question that the rhetoric of race and religion had reached an unprecedented level in the past 17 months since he took over the helm of federal government, and what compounded the problem was that the racial bigotry and religious extremism were all coming from one direction – UMNO and its allied or outsourced groups, raising the fundamental question whether Najib has the political will and leadership to stand up and be counted to stamp out extremism coming from his own camps.
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Malaysia in the Era of Globalization #32

By M. Bakri Musa

Chapter 5: Understanding Globalization

There is no doubt that globalization is an idea whose time has come….[But] the fact that [it] has come…does not mean we should sit by and watch as the predators destroy us.
—Mahathir bin Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia

The one dominant force shaping the world today is globalization. That is, the increasing integration of markets, economies, infrastructures, and other institutions into one world standard. As a consequence, there is increasingly free movement of goods, capital, services, and ideas across borders.

Globalization, observes the World Bank, is not just an economic phenomenon. While the accounting of benefits and costs of globalization depends very much on one’s perspective, there is no question that it is a relentless and inevitable tidal wave. And like any tidal wave, one is more likely to survive and even thrive, if prepared. A non-swimmer will be swept away and drowned, but a skillful surfer will exhilaratingly ride the crest.
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