Whatelse Can We Do?

Dear friends,

I'll be visiting Singapore next month, attending a meeting with officials from EDB. Freinds keep saying that, this is an opportunity to enquire what had EDB done to the Republic's econimic miracles which can be adopted by Malaysia.

Well, for me personally, there's no secret recipe for Singapore's development during the years. There is no "special program" that can transform a nation in a night. The issue of economic development is structural issues and not technicals in nature.

Singapore prospers because they adopted the right policy which is in tandem with the industry's needs. They develop their education system to reflect the need to respond to the market needs. The liberalise their immigration procedure, welcoming the best talent. They autonomize their universities to operate in line with the market needs. And they are lucky in a sense that they do not have to manage complicated historical "restraints" such as Hak Istimewa which has been agreed (I'm not saying that Malaysia should move away from Hak Istimewa Orang Melayu). In a nutshell, they are completely moving with the markets needs.

ANd it is worth also to mention that their government machinery is quite small (and thus flexible and nimble to allocate resources).

So what are their secret? There are no secrets! Its structural issues. Development issue relate not only with investments, but also with cultural issues, demographic issues, education sectors and etcetera. As such, to CHANGE these elements, it needs time and lots of resources and wisdom from the policy makers.

When I'm doing my MBA, one of my professor are talking about "Leapfrogging Concept" which is trying to go beyond the normal evolution process of economic development. Such strategy will depend a lot on creativity and innovation that can be offered by our companies and startups. But in the end, innovation will also depend on our talent pool in the job market and subsequently talent will eventually lead to the quality of our education sector.

The PBS and PPPM seems to be directing us in the right direction. But surely we will need time to grow our talent. Lets just hope that this policy is here to stay.