Tag: Malaysia

Categories
ASEAN History & heritage Society

[1394] Of rasa sayang eh, rasa sayang sayang eh!

Indonesia has so many problems on its back but yet, the one it wishes to pursue is a meaningless allegation that Malaysia has stolen the folk song of Rasa Sayang from Indonesia, if that is possible at all. It would be like the Brits accusing the US of stealing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star from the people of Great Britain!

It is unfortunate how some people fail to recognize that the history of this region did not develop separately before the signing of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 and subsequent inorganic political demarcations that made possible the formation of modern states such as Malaysia and Indonesia, among others, in the 20th century. This historical development means that there are shared cultures between various countries in Southeast Asia, especially between Malaysia and Indonesia.

Are Indonesian nationalists too blind to see that?

Categories
Economics

[1366] Of Stiglitz is a fan of Malaysia

I seriously think Stiglitz is a big fan of Malaysia. His latest column at the Guardian has nothing less than high praises for the country (hat tip to the Economist’s View):

August 31 marked the 50th anniversary of Malaysia’s Merdeka: independence after more than 400 years of colonialism. Malaysia’s peaceful, non-violent struggle may not have received the attention that Mahatma Gandhi’s did in India, but what Malaysia has accomplished since then is impressive – and has much to teach the world, both about economics, and about how to construct a vibrant multiracial, multi-ethnic, multicultural society.

The numbers themselves say a lot. At independence, Malaysia was one of the poorest countries in the world. Though reliable data are hard to come by, its GDP (in purchasing power parity terms) was comparable to that of Haiti, Honduras, and Egypt, and some 5% below that of Ghana. Today, Malaysia’s income is 7.8 times that of Ghana, more than five times that of Honduras, and more than 2.5 times that of Egypt. In the global growth league tables, Malaysia is in the top tier, along with China, Taiwan, South Korea, and Thailand.

Moreover, the benefits of the growth have been shared. Hard-core poverty is set to be eliminated by 2010, with the overall poverty rate falling to 2.8%. Malaysia has succeeded in markedly reducing the income divides that separated various ethnic groups, not by bringing the top down, but by bringing the bottom up.

Part of the country’s success in reducing poverty reflects strong job creation (pdf). While unemployment is a problem in most of the world, Malaysia has been importing labour. In the 50 years since independence, 7.24 million jobs have been created, an increase of 261%, which would be equivalent to the creation of 105 million jobs in the United States. [The Malaysian miracle. Joseph Stiglitz. September 13 2007]

This is not the first time he sings for Malaysia. He has mentioned Malaysia several times in his books too. If I am not mistaken, two of those books are The Roaring Nineties and Globalization and Its Discontent. There is possibly one big reason why he loves Malaysia: country’s audacity to say no to IMF during the Asian Financial Crisis in the late 1990s and then came out well and alive.

There might be some background to this article too: he was in Malaysia recently for a public lecture organized by Khazanah Nasional Berhad, the government of Malaysia’s investment arm. That might have sincerely encouraged him to write something about Malaysia.

Nevertheless, while Malaysia may have achieved what many others failed, there are others that are more successful than Malaysia. I fear Stiglitz’s praises for Malaysia may come a little too early. The future beacons and Malaysia must adapt to the brave new world, or risk being overtaken and left behind by other countries.

Categories
Economics

[1358] Mengenai Bajet 2008

Saya amat membenci perkataan bajet dan lebih mengemari akan perkataan belanjawan. Itu bagaimanapun adalah satu perkara yang remeh dan mungkin hanya mengambarkan keadaan terkini dunia bahasa Melayu. Tiada apa yang perlu digusarkan.

Bacaan pertama belanjawan negara untuk tahun 2008 akan dibentangkan di Dewan Rakyat Jumaat ini. Saya ingin bertanya, apa pendapat anda akan belanjawan kali ini?

Saya pasti ia akan berputar kepada satu paksi: pilihanraya. Oleh itu, investment horizon kerajaan pimpinan Abdullah Ahmad Badawi berkemungkinan akan berjangka pendek bertujuan untuk mempergunakan satu kelemahan kebanyakan manusia: tidak ramai mempunyai kebolehan untuk melihat disebalik bukit, walau serendah mana bukit itu.

Defisit perbelanjaan mungkin akan bertambah melalui perbelanjaan kerajaan dalam usaha untuk mengatasi kelemahan komponen eksport bersih yang disebabkan oleh tahap kecerdasan ekonomi Amerika Syarikat yang menurun serta penambahan nilai ringgit Malaysia berbanding dolar Amerika. Cukai pula mungkin akan dipotong, sekaligus memperkuatkan lagi kemungkinan pertambahan defisit perbelanjaan. Saya rasa, Keynes akan tersenyum seketika, jika ini benar.

Tetapi, kebolehan mendengar mungkin satu kebolehan yang semua individu yang rasional perlu ada. Mari kita berlaku adil dan dengar apa yang Perdana Menteri mahu dilakukan untuk tahun 2008.

Categories
Liberty Personal

[1355] Of one-night stand for you, eternity for me

It is finally the week after. Once the crowd was over with the euphoria of superficial freedom, a kind of liberty that one shouts out loud but have none of it, life returns to its dull elements.

We wake up in the morning, trying to beat others in the traffic, cursing while we are at it. Some are still in bed, still unemployed. But the sun rises, faithfully than most of us could ever be, as it has always been since time first began, whenever that was.

Some flags still fly. Some other are on the ground, stepped upon by unsuspecting strangers. The patriotism and the cry for liberty that many made on August 31 was an one night stand. One is only so enamored with the other only before the climax. Once satisfied, life goes on as if nothing happened. We go on our separate ways after talking so much about how we loved each other. How fake.

The sky was so blue that day. I half suspected it to rain like it had the days previously. Just like how it is raining drizzly today. I woke up late after going to bed at 4AM, doing things that I used to do in college, trying to relive life that I had. It was a fool’s errand but I did what I needed to do. But the morning was so blue that I woke up and stayed on my bed, staring outside, smiling at the cloudless sky. I thought I saw the color of liberty smiled back at me.

Liberty is a foul word these days, despite how many simpletons are shouting, we are free. They celebrate freedom but scorn others that cheer for larger freedom. Their freedom needed to be defined by fascists and they celebrate blindly in their cage. True freedom reaches for the sky, a concept a meek mind incapable of even imagining. Perhaps, the sky is too high and daunting to them. Socrates was right; prisoners chained since childhood in a cave are scared of the sun. The comfort of the cave spoils them. The darkness that imprisons them are their protector.

When the Prime Minister held up his hand while shouting senseless, I could not help but recall a certain German standing on a podium, addressing a sea of smartly dressed individuals in gray at the Nuremberg Rally. Maybe I am extrapolating too much. Silly me.

The birds sang, trying to convince to me to get out of bed, to grab the moment, to live the moment. Yet, sigh, it felt so good to just lie down without worry. I told the birds, shoo, go away and let me savor this peace of mine. The mind felt so empty, as if the world is alright. Let me have my peace, just this morning.

But time conspired against me. The sun rose too fast, the clock was running on steroid. The next thing I knew, the day ended. Yet, I felt so tired. For this one day, I told myself, let me stay in bed, please. I do not wish to hear to any more lie about on how free we are. For once, leave me be. Be damned with your sanctimonious speeches. I am tired of all of it and I want no part of it. I just want to be free.

Here comes another day, another to sweep your lies aside, another day to anger you for being different, for refusing to be part of your drone, for dismantling your narrow worldview. It is another day for liberty, another day for eternity.

Categories
ASEAN

[1354] Of a first world oasis in a third world region

Did you miss that interview IHT had with Lee Kuan Yew?

IHT: This system, machinery of government here in Singapore is looked on as a model all over the world. Are you confident that it can survive indefinitely or does it face problems that some companies face? For example, when they try to expand, they start to lose their edge. They start to lose their competitiveness.

Lee Kuan Yew: Well, I cannot say that we will not lose it. If we lose it, then we’re done in. We go back to where we started, right?

We knew that if we were just like our neighbors, we would die. Because we’ve got nothing to offer against what they have to offer. So we had to produce something which is different and better than what they have. It’s incorrupt. It’s efficient. It’s meritocratic. It works.

The system works regardless of your race, language or religion because otherwise we’d have divisions. We are pragmatists. We don’t stick to any ideology. Does it work? Let’s try it and if it does work, fine, let’s continue it. If it doesn’t work, toss it out, try another one. We are not enamored with any ideology.

Let the historians and the Ph.D. students work out their doctrines. I’m not interested in theories per se.

IHT: But a lot of these reflect your personality – the force of your personality.

Lee Kuan Yew: No, no. A lot of it is the result of the problems we face and a team of us – I wasn’t a loner. I had some very powerful minds working with me. And we sat down and thought through our options. Take this matter of getting MNCs [multinational corporations] to come here when the developing world expert economists said, “No, MNCs are exploiters.”

I went to America. This was a happenstance . . . What were the Americans doing? They were exporting their manufacturing capabilities . . . That’s what I wanted. That’s how it started.

I said O.K., let’s make this a first world oasis in a third world region. So not only will they come here to set up plants and manufacture, they will also come here and from here explore the region.

What do we need to attract them? First class infrastructure. Where do we get it from? We had the savings from our Central Provident Fund. We had some loans from the World Bank.

We built up the infrastructure. The difficult part was getting the people to change their habits so that they behaved more like first world citizens, not like third world citizens spitting and littering all over the place.

That was the difficult part. So, we had campaigns to do this, campaigns to do that. We said, “Look, if you don’t do this, you won’t get the jobs. You must make this place like the countries they came from. Then, they are comfortable. Then they’ll do business here. Then, you’ll have a job. Then, you’ll have homes, schools, hospitals, etc.” That’s a long process. [Excerpts from an interview with Lee Kuan Yew. International Herald Tribune. August 29 2007]

I would love to hear what the touchy nationalists would have to say.

As for me, the hot hot hot aftertaste still lingers and so, my brain is not working.