tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014075006969917149.post4401164421890707015..comments2024-03-17T05:58:44.116+08:00Comments on Economic Policy: How Does Malaysia Get Trapped In The Middle-IncomeUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014075006969917149.post-37957480830386228642009-11-20T18:50:39.096+08:002009-11-20T18:50:39.096+08:00Progress is a moving target.
Given fish, rod is ...Progress is a moving target. <br /><br />Given fish, rod is next needed. Given rod, hook is next needed. Given hook, instinct where shoals swim is next needed. Given instinct, building boat to go further is next needed. Given boat, trawler is next needed. Given trawler, net is next needed. Then motor for trawler, petrol refining for motor, satnav for safety, local wholesaling, export marketing of surplus, treasury management of earnings, and luck for M3 (money make money).<br /><br />We stopped at giving fish. Because those who gave and redistributed wealth were all farmers.<br /><br />The problem was tribalism. Since the solution was tribal, the result retained the problem.<br /><br />Our middle-income trap remains rent collection. We are a nation of rent collectors. The mee seller employs the foreign worker to do his work. He differentiates to selling chicken rice instead while collecting a portion of the mee stall earnings. By the time he finishes his cycle of life, he accumulates two assets - a house and a car. Those are the only things he can pass on. They don't have skills-building capabilities in them. Preparing mee and rice dishes are low on the global food chain.<br /><br />The reason why this was not seen almost forty years ago must be because it was a rush job then. Redistribute wealth to stabilize society. Yes, but when the society was stabilized, the temporary measure should have been weaned off. Instead, it became a permanent fixture made central as the only political platform to win votes.<br /><br />Even before the WB, the MNCs were already asking - what are we doing for our human capital? <br /><br />They knew it's a 3x3 matrix everywhere. One axis in gradation: resource->investment->knowledge. The other axis in gradation: technology development->venture capital->clustering<br /><br />We kept mostly at resource economy, leaving foreigners to park their investments on their own agenda and compounded by a wrong language policy which provided no progress to the entire country on knowledge while assuaging ourselves that we were doing all the right things by plumping in overinflated prices for supporting infrastructure, mostly buildings and roads.<br /><br />A 3x3 matrix cannot form a nine-cell table if one axis is cut at half-line.<br /><br />The best of infrastructure are useless if their users are not seen as relevant for activities which those infrastructure is to support.<br /><br />So, we are stumped.<br /><br />How does one then upgrade skills and knowledge in the next thirty days?<br /><br />Just ignore the question, open all the doors, and let the world push us to change our paradigms. <br /><br />Because if we have not done so for the last forty years, we won't be able to do so in the next forty. <br /><br />What exactly can we say we have at the moment which can stir inspiration to be high-income and advanced state?<br /><br />We have to change our education system and language policy immediately. We need to open our cultures to interact and assimilate other cultures. We need to make every square inch of this land more attractive for anyone to park money to grow money. We need to send our politicians and leaders to boot camp to change the way they think and see the world and interpret things and how to gain courage to do the right things. And we need to straighten out the governance factor. It's standing on just spin at the moment. There is obvious loss of integrity. The world can see that. It won't come a-calling. Unless to just take the starry-eyed for another ride.<br /><br />Places like HK, Sg, IL, Ch, Fi and Jp had their backs against the wall. They turned their adversity into ripe pomegranates. We should really get serious and aim all the way. Knowing our past performance, that should at least achieve fifty percent more than what we are doing against reality. Which is zero.wallahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17580252352785040456noreply@blogger.com