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MALAYSIA’S DETERIORATING COMPTITIVENESS IS BAD NEWS. This bad news sent shockwave in the corridor of power in Putra Jaya. This may be shocking news to Anwar and federal leaders but IT has been common knowledge in the private sector, especially bankers and among pragmatic academicians for a long time. 

All the “gung-ho” political speeches over the years have gone flat and empty suddenly. Reality is here. Malaysia’s competitiveness is at its historical worst and the trend is likely to worsen further unless Anwar can pull the country to work hard together. 

Unfortunately for Malaysia, many Malaysians and leaders will continue to live in their dream world of “preferential rights” across all sectors of the economy, “racial politics” agenda, oblivious to the likelihood that Malaysia would fall back into 3rd world. The chances of making it into the world of “High Income” status is diming fast. 

Must give credit to Anwar for trying to take the bull by its horn.

Previous PMs and even among many present-day Malayan political leaders are defensive with all sorts of excuses for the historical worst competitiveness ranking. Like the fairy tale of the naked king on horseback, believing he had the finest costume on! 

I sympathise with Anwar. Anwar has confronted the loss of competitiveness head on, vowed to tackle the causes. He is facing an uphill momentous task. His chance of success is slim as the Malaysian economy is excessively burdened by overwhelming number of Malaysians who, spoilt by years and years of handouts, subsidies and preferential rights, would not or are unwilling to embrace competitiveness in the fast-evolving high tech global economy. They live a charm life in a different world.

HOW BAD ISTHE LOSS OF COMPETITIVENESS?

Bad enough. In fact, it is a very bad cancer. I quote from the press which is self-explanatory. 

“MALAYSIA'S competitiveness ranking dropped by seven notches to 34 in 2024, from 27 in 2023. It was the worst ranking on record as the lowest score was 32 in 2022 based on the available data since 1997”. 

Malaysia has self-dug into an uncompetitiveness black hole. Malaysia was one of the 4 ASIAN TIGERS, on par or better than Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore. 

They have achieved 1st world ranking years ago. Malaysia is still eating dust behind. Malaysia is in real danger of falling back into the abyss of 3rd world.

The politicians in KL have been fooling Malaysians with a fairly-tale that Malaysia is doing ok. No, we aren’t doing well. Don’t let these Malayan leaders pull wool over our eyes.

Malaysia would have gone bankrupt if not for the oil and gas from Sabah and Sarawak to keep it going.

KL LEADERS LACKING POLITICAL COURAGE TO SOLVE WORSENING ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE.

It doesn’t need an economics professor to recognise the phalanx of symptoms. Here are some of them.

[a] Loss of Asian Tiger Economy status which I have mentioned earlier. The Taiwanese, South Koreans, Singaporeans and now the Chinese, have all embraced competitiveness. They have done far better.

[b] Outstanding to 3rd world education system.

From primary one to universities, Malaysia has produced insufficient competitive graduates. 

Malaysia has produced too many unemployable graduates who have swelled the unemployed numbers. There is a very serious mismatch between demand and supply of labour in the economy. Brain drain is massive. 

Malaysia’s education is incapable of producing sufficient winners. But very good at producing PHDs by the hundreds by a university.

[c] Reliance on imported cheap labour, serious lack of innovation.

For years, Malaysia has imported cheap labour, failed to up-grade skills of the Malaysian work force. No serious attempt to undertake innovation. Lack of government incentives for innovation. No home-grown technology.

The Malaysian preferential system in the 1.7 million civil service, the education system, extremely poor management in GLCs, poor implementation in federal policies are causes of the lack of competitiveness.

[d] Federal Government is seriously lacking in economic leadership.

The Malayan political leadership can’t do without racial bigotry, lacks courage to introduce meritocracy. 

No country can do well if the majority of the population are being indoctrinated by political leaders that they are special by birth, they would be protected and need not compete. 

Life, for them, is a bed of roses without thorns! How nice. 

No Malayan leader dares to say outright that there is no free lunch in this world! Too much of giving freebies to garner political support. Little clue on inflation contentment. 

No clue on increasing real income for the rakyat.

Result? The real income of average and poor Malaysians is falling fast.

[e] Lack of federal competent leadership in economic/financial management.

Good example are the federal GLCs and institutions that have lost billions and billions of RM because of corruption and mismanagement like Mara, Tabung Haji, FELDA, MARA etc. No body bothers with the Auditor General’s report of the many missing billions. 

The persistent fall of RM is shocking.

[f] Very poor distribution of wealth.

The rich are filthy rich, the poor are dirt poor.

Too many rich Malaysians are wealthy, not by hard work or astute entrepreneurship, but by connection and unsavoury/monopoly means. They are sucking wealth, not producing additional wealth.

SABAH MUST HAVE OUR ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT MODEL.

Three comments.

Sabah is also very poor in competitiveness.

No. 1. For Sabahans to receive maximum benefits from Hajiji’s on-going economic restructuring, our delivery system needs to undergo some massive surgical revamp.

There is real possibility that Hajiji’s struggle to revamp Sabah’s economy will not filter down to ordinary Sabahans. 

No. 2. True that Sabah needs to work with the federal leaders. No choice here because we are in a federation set up. 

But it does not mean we must follow them blindly. Sabah must chart our own direction to enhance competitiveness and progress.

No. 3. The politicians in Malaya are not superior. They aren’t that good. 

The views expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of the Daily Express.

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