Malaysian opposition party law maker, Teresa Kok said in a statement today that Malaysians were
not surprised by the observations of the Malaysian International Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (ICC Malaysia) which said yesterday that Malaysia, once
known as one of Asia's "tiger economies", was lagging at least 19
years behind South Korea.She said the opposition had always highlighted Putrajaya's economic incompetency.
ICC Malaysia executive director Stewart Forbes said Malaysia's historic productivity growth was unimpressive although at one time, Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan all started out on the same level playing field.
He had said that Putrajaya, instead of pointing out that Malaysia was better than Thailand, Vietnam or Indonesia should set the bar higher and compare our achievements with those of Taiwan, Singapore or South Korea.
"It is not surprising to hear Forbes naming graft, complacency and archaic labour laws as major roadblocks, given that Putrajaya lacks the political will to turn things around," Kok said.
"Forbes was spot-on when he said that Putrajaya was always quick to choose the worst to make comparisons.
- "The irony is that Putrajaya cannot explain why Malaysia has been left so far behind the three countries," she added.
- She said Democratic Aaction Party adviser Lim Kit Siang had last year pointed out that 1980 was the last year when Malaysia had a higher GDP per capita than South Korea.
- Since then, South Korea has progressed in leaps and bounds, achieving developed nation status and exporting Samsung smart phones to all corners of the globe.
- Kok said that the GDP per capita in 2012 was US$10,678 (about RM35,000) for Malaysia and US$23,021 for South Korea, a massive turnaround from US$1,769 and US$1,689, respectively, in 1980.
"It is clear to everyone that Malaysia has a lot of
catching up to do, with the first item on Putrajaya's list being the political
will to combat corruption and leakages.
"Sadly, Barisan Nasional does not appear to have the
will to address the serious issues of corruption and leakages if the Budget
2015 is used as the barometer."
Instead of being committed to political reforms, Kok said,
Putrajaya was more intent on mounting its sedition blitz against dissenters and
opposition lawmakers.
"Some netizens have joked that if Malaysia continues to
regress under Barisan Nasional's leadership, the country might one day be
compared with underdeveloped African nations instead."
Source: The malaysian Insider
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