On the 98-Day Countdown to the 13th General Elections, Malaysians are reminded that the nation deserves better on all fronts of national life, whether political, economic, educational, social, cultural or environmental.
Malaysia definitely deserves higher ranking than No. 36 out of 80 nations in the “Best country to born in 2013” index by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) attempting to measure which country provides the best opportunities for a healthy, safe and prosperous life.
The 10 top-ranking nations in the EIU “Best country to be born in 2013” index are:
1. Switzerland
2. Australia
3. Norway
4. Sweden
5. Denmark
6. Singapore
7. New Zealand
8. Netherlands
9. Canada
10. Hong Kong
Malaysia is outranked by Taiwan (No. 14), United States (No. 16), UAE (No. 18), South Korea (No. 19), Kuwait (No. 22), Japan (No. 25) and Britain (No. 27).
Malaysia drew 6.62 out of a 10-point scorecard in the study of life-satisfaction survey, which seeks to quantify how happy people say they are based on a list of 11 economic and socio-political indicators such as a country’s income per capita, cost of living, human rights, life expectancy, literacy and education levels, crime, trust in public institutions and the health of family life.
Malaysia can do better than being ranked no. 36 in the EIU “Best country to be born in 2013” index as well as other global indices, whether on clean and incorrupt government, crime statistics, human rights, rule of law, independent judiciary, press freedom or green environment.
These are among the many issues to be decided in the impending 13th general elections.