IMPACT OF BN'S 'DEVIL' POLITICS: Malaysia most bankruptcies, Singapore world's richest!

About fifty years ago, the tiny island-state of Singapore was part and parcel of Malaysia, but has over the years emerged as a country with a per capita Gross Domestic Product of US$56,532 (RM175, 250) as of 2010, which measured by their purchasing power parity, has beaten Norway, the United States and Hong Kong to make Singaporeans the richest people on earth.

This “transformation” or “reformation” in Singapore from a squalid backwater compares in contrast with a 55-year mandate exclusively given to Barisan Nasional to develop Malaysia over a longer period with the nation nowhere being near to even be considered for developed status.

While BN backers might want to contend that it is easy to develop a tiny island compared to a larger nation than Malaysia, why not compare Singapore with an even larger nation like the United States?

This is where it is clearly evident that while graft-free Singapore has not only become the most prosperous in the world, but rates as having among the most successful and happiest people in the world, compared to across the Causeway in Malaysia, where it is riddled with massive corruption and cronyism.

Sharing the Singapore success story

Since this report first made its revelation in the Wall Street Journal, it has further been discovered that the number of centa-millionaires – people with more than US$100 mil (RM310 mil) – has grown 13% higher in Singapore than the global average which is at 6%.

The number of centa-millionaires is expected to grow by another 44% in Singapore by 2016, while in Malaysia, despite ambitious saber-rattling in the form of “Ketuanan Melayu” and slogan chanting of “Malaysia Boleh” and “Janji ditepati” by BN, the country is not even remotely within the range of Singapore’s economic growth and achievements.

Singapore’s richest people have a collective net worth of US$59.4 bil (RM184bil), up from US$54.4bil (RM168.8 bil) last year. It now has 16 billionaires compared to 13 the previous year.

In comparison, if Malaysian billionaires can be considered “paupers” to the Singaporean billionaires, how do you think the average, ordinary Malaysian compares?

Ten out of every 100,000 households on the island-state have now been classified as “ultra-high-net-worth” households, with each having more than US100 mil (RM310 mil) in private financial wealth.

In contrast, Malaysia has the unenviable and dubious distinction of having among the most number of bankruptcies and Non-Performing Loans in the region, with the number of credit card defaulters rising astronomically, and the number of cases of repossession of vehicles on the rise, as well as the number of home owners witnessing their properties going under the hammer or being auctioned off for failing to settle mortgages and loans increasing rapidly.

Why the big difference between Singapore and Malaysia?

Whatever happened? Both these countries were on par at one time and shared a common history before they parted ways. Both also almost share the same political history. While BN governed Malaysia exclusively, the People’s Action Party governed Singapore exclusively.

But look at the sharp, contrasting results all across the spectrum of life. Not just in terms of the financial figures, but just look how successful and relatively happy and well off Singaporeans have become and observe the resentment and unhappiness and discontent simmering in Malaysia.

The two peas in the pod, dispersed and separated, have sprouted conflicting results and it is really quite simple and easy to understand why, if Malaysians were to just care to take a good, hard look beyond all the facts and figures of BN to realize the hard, painful truth that this nation has been manipulated and plundered and looted by the powers-that-be for the personal consumption of BN politicians and their cronies.

By putting in place far-fetched policies like the New Economic Policy, instead of starting off on level ground by putting in place the practice of meritocracy and egalitarian values like Singapore did, Malaysia faltered badly and since then the country has suffered from rife corruption, abuse and misuse of power and authority.

Singapore’s judiciary is perhaps the benchmark for the rest of the legal fraternity across the world. While it has encountered its fair share of criticism, the judiciary in Singapore is far more professional and keeps to the norms of justice rather than what Malaysians witness in the antics of our courtrooms and the questionable judgments and decisions meted.

The basis of any sound society is as good as the enforcement of law and order in that country. This where Malaysia fails and becomes a basket case.

The law enforcement agencies at work in this country such as the judiciary, the Police Di Raja Malaysia and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency have all been coming under heavy criticism for their selective persecution of those who choose to beg to differ from the ways and means of BN’s governance.

Has BN overstayed its welcome?

Instead of admitting to grave flaws and weaknesses in BN’s system of governance, its leaders instead choose to retaliate against any criticism or acts of whistle-blowing against them in the hope that by silencing dissent and discord they will be able to carry on with their acts of abuses and misuse of power.

This has created a culture of fear and the oppression of the people in this country. In failing to become an open and transparent society, where those who endeavor and strive and engage with industry are duly rewarded for their efforts, a lop-sided and biased form of reward system has instead emerged to quell the practice of democracy and universal good values.

This is why the disparity exists between the nations of Singapore and Malaysia now. The two peas in the pod have fallen on different ground.

Ironically, it was the pea that fell on the Singapore ground that was fallow and the pea that fell on the Malaysian ground that was fertile.

But despite starting with a greater handicap and with absolutely no resources, Singaporeans were made to face up to the realities of their struggle for success by their first premier Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

The astute and shrewd Mr Lee worked up Singaporeans into a great frenzy and caused them to bend over backwards to ensure that they survive the ordeal of their estranged relationship with the mainland before propelling them forward and catapult them to the forefront.

Mr Goh Chok Tong and Mr Lee Hsien Loong followed through with the vision and mission of the elder statesman, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, to see through that Singaporeans don’t falter at this juncture but that they continue with the upward momentum of growth for their nation.

The ugly truth of BN leaders

This is where many Malaysians will now come to realize the ugly truth of BN leaders, that Malaysia faces a crisis of leadership. Leaders who are capable in this country, irrespective of race or religion, are side-stepped or overlooked in the political process of being chosen as leaders and the mantle seems to usually fall on those who are self-seeking and corrupt.

The pea that fell on the Malaysian ground though fertile has produced thorny, tacky issues for Malaysians to become terribly uncomfortable with despite having a far lesser handicap than the Singaporeans near fifty years ago.

Malaysians must from these lessons learn to choose leaders that are impartial, that are realistic and to endorse in the coming 13th GE from whatever leaders that are placed on offer those whom they believe that can really deliver the results that Malaysians dream of seeing in this country.

Only by playing and being true to the rules of the game of democracy can a country like Malaysia become as prosperous and well off as our neighbors. It is perhaps time to confess that Singaporeans have chosen a fairly good way to go about living their lives and Malaysians, if they are wise, will opt to emulate and follow in the footsteps of Singapore - not in every aspect but in many key areas including insisting on transparency, honesty, efficiency and meritocracy.

Malaysians should not wait till the last minute to change their way and system of governance. It is high time for change, and the winds of change have already begun to blow across the length and breadth of the nation.

Voters should choose wisely and choose well in the coming 13th GE as the future of not only Malaysians but the nation as well is at stake. Perhaps Malaysians should not just emulate Singapore but prove that they can do better than Singapore since the two nations share a common history.

But do they share a common destiny? It’s up to Malaysians now to prove themselves and be equal to the challenge thrown at them by Singapore.

Malaysia Chronicle