Singapore distresses the Malaysian in me

 

Our tiny neighbour down south will get a new prime minister next month. Lawrence Wong was already anointed as the successor to Lee Hsien Loong a couple of years ago. It will definitely be a seamless transition. In Singapore, Wong is a fourth-generation leader.

They seem to have everything under control and properly planned out. Since tearfully leaving Malaysia in 1965, Singapore has gone on to develop from a swampy mud-flat to a sparkling example for the world on what happens when there is visionary leadership, and proper governance.

There is no likelihood whatsoever of statutory declarations being bandied about. Or, no trips for members of parliament to their Istana – the residence of the Singaporean president – to verify numbers by getting a head count on which MP supports which candidate. That kind of nonsense is our specialty.

Incidentally, Lawrence Wong’s father is “Ipoh-mali.” Wong senior went to Singapore to work in sales for Sime Darby, and perhaps thought it was better if he domiciled there. There is no doubt that his son could have never been in contention for the prime minister-ship in Malaysia.

Wong will be Singapore’s fourth prime minister. It took only three prime ministers for their transformation from a third world country to a first world nation.

When I was a kid, the value of their dollar and our dollar (this is what we used to call our money, too) was the same. There’s no chance of this anymore! Now, our currency aptly has a moniker – “shringgit.”

In 1970, when we launched our infamous New Economic Policy (NEP), our GDP per capita was about the same as theirs. Today, Singapore has a GDP per capita of US$88,447 as compared to Malaysia’s US$13,315.

I regularly have to go to Singapore for work. Each visit unsettles me. Every darn thing there works efficiently. From the ease of transportation; simplicity of opening and conducting business; their ability to keep the nation free from radical religiosity; proper pedestrian walkways; the frequency of international musicians and bands who tour there instead of here; to the glamour of their Formula One circuit, it all makes me envious.

Singapore’s successes distress me. You see, for the longest time, I was rather jingoistic and prone to fall for our perpetual national propaganda about Malaysia being “truly Asia”. Like many of my fellow Malaysians, I had a proclivity for proudly declaring “…there’s no place like Malaysia.” So, when I see that Singapore is doing so much better, it just irks me.

In Malaysia, we like to wax lyrical about our “soulfulness” when we compare ourselves to our southern cousin. We have more freedoms, some say. Our system is less rigid and regimented, others claim. And, of course, our food is actually way better.

But at the end of the day, “semua-breakdown” in our country, including proper governance, infrastructure, our airports, transportation systems, race relations, and even the notion of multiculturalism is lost.

In essence, we are the same people, we have similar backgrounds, tastes and socio-cultural beliefs. But they have had decades of better leadership and national governance. Ultimately, they have had a better grasp of what was, and is, important for their country.

For example, at Singapore’s inception, they realised that the country was one of the world’s most water-stressed. Instead of just developing the island willy-nilly, they focused their attention on water management. Strategically, they created water plants, made reservoirs, imported water and started desalinating facilities. Today, they have 19 freshwater reservoirs, nine water treatment plants, and 17 reservoirs for purified water. And, most ironically, Singapore is selling treated water to us in Malaysia.

As painful as it is for Malaysians to admit, our neighbour has surpassed us in so many fields. From technological and educational advancements to monetary policies, and socio-cultural experiments in a plural society, Singapore is arguably leaps and bounds ahead of us.

On the other hand, our country has gone down the path of bad governance, corruption, unfair practices, the use of special privileges to enrich the elites, the brain drain – most of our best people are in Singapore, the exclusive state-sponsored policies for the majority community in Malaysia, and incessantly making religion a political tool.

Conversely, in Singapore, their incoming prime minister, in 2021, acknowledged at a public forum on race and racism that in a multi-racial society, it is harder to be a minority, than to be the majority. How refreshing is this?

Lawrence Wong asked Singaporeans to do more, and take the extra step to make their minority friends, neighbours, and co-workers feel comfortable. He then invited his countrymen and women to treat others in the same way they would like to be treated, and by their actions, educate their children to do the same.

Let’s all get our crystal balls out now. Who can predict when we will see this type of visionary leadership in Malaysia? Of course, now, some of my irate Malaysian “brethren” may ask me to move to Singapore. But that’s not the point, is it? - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.