Malaysia needs to overtake Gabon to achieve First World status

KUALA LUMPUR, May 4 - Malaysia will have to fundamentally rework its economy to become more productive and R&D based if it is serious about making the quantum leap to become a high income economy and move out of the income bracket currently occupied by countries such as Gabon and Botswana. [The Malaysian Insider]

"Gabon? Where in the world is that?" It is an honest question many Malaysians would ask (with all due respect to the Gabonese people, of course) when they hear that their country is lagging behind the west central African nation.

Latest figures from the World Bank revealed that Malaysia has now fallen behind Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore in terms of gross national income (GNI) per capita and is now trying to play catch up - much to our embarrassment.

In 2007, Malaysia had a GNI per capita of US$6,420, far behind countries such as Singapore (US$32,340), South Korea (US$19,730), Japan (US$37,790), Hong Kong (US$31,560), Australia (US$35,760), Finland (US$44,300), and Switzerland (US$60,820) and Norway (US$77,370).

Gabon has a GNI of US$7,020.

Many Malaysians would be shocked to learn that despite Gabon having a population of just 1.5 million, they are still able to generate such wealth, compared to Malaysia's 27 million.

It is indeed heartbreaking for Malaysians to see their country fall behind nations like Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore - countries which were once economically on par with Malaysia just three decades ago.

What had shoved Malaysia into such a demise is anyone's guess but it is definitely not a surprise to find ourselves so low in the world rankings. If we have an MP who had once the courage (I'd say shamelessness) to celebrate Malaysia's achievements, saying Malaysia is 10 times more developed than Ghana, then it is no wonder that the real-world figures would eventually come come forth to prove our lack of ambition. If beating Ghana, which became independent in the same year as Malaysia, is a cause to celebrate, would it then be suicidal to know that Gabon has overtaken us, given the west central African nation achieve independence later than Malaysia?

From left: Libreville, the capital of Gabon and Kuala Lumpur.

And recently Lee Saw Hoon, a senior director of the Malaysia Productivity Cor­­poration said Malaysia had done well to maintain its 21st position in the World Economic Forum’s la­­test global competitiveness report [source]. According to the report Malaysia was the sixth most competitive Asian country after Singapore, Ja­­pan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan.

I don't know about Lee but I can't take that lying down. We should be up there with Singapore, for goodness' sake! Mind you, we were the ones who kick them out of the Federation and left them in the dark without having any natural resources of their own. Today, they are one of the financial powerhouses of the world.

And when international performance is concerned, Malaysia's dismal FIFA World Ranking never seems to escape the public's attention. Malaysia is currently ranked 161st in the world and yes, you've guessed it - countries like Eritrea, Myanmar and Turkmenistan are above us. Gabon, on the other hand, is ranked 48th.

However, the lack of ambition is not the only cause for our shortfall. It is because we have misplaced our priorities over the decades; further condemning ourselves to remain as a Third World country even after half a century of independence. It is high time for certain sectors of the government to take heed and stop the racial bickering, policies and propaganda. It is imperative that we devote precious time and resources to put Malaysia back onto the world map before we find ourselves overtaken by Cambodia.