The "Malaysian Way" Behind Nation's Achievements, Says Pak Lah

Malaysia's transformation into a confident and prosperous nation is the result of a deliberate approach to development the "Malaysian Way", Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said today, Bernama reports.

The Malaysian way, according to the prime minister, comprises four principles -- political stability, pragmatic policy-making, focus on capacity building and coordinated execution which have steered the country through storms and troubles since 1957. He said that compared to other developing nations that are still grappling with basic issues of poverty and public health as well as war and conflict, Malaysia continued to look forward to greater achievements.

"Firstly, the Malaysian experience would have been impossible without the bedrock of political stability. From the early days of Alliance, to the Barisan Nasional of today, the political stability of Malaysia has been built on the foundation of genuine power-sharing, compromise and tolerance," he said.

Secondly, the prime minister said, the nation had never been ideological on development but had always been guided by pragmatic policy-making, thus implementing various strategies to fit the needs of the times.

"For example, in the first and second Malaya plans as well as the first Malaysia Plan, the primary concern was to push for development in the face of fluctuating global prices of rubber and tin. While the first Malaysia Plan already identified uneven income distribution as an issue, the war against poverty and inequality was only taken up under the second Malaysia Plan," he said, adding that throughout the 1970s the commitment was towards economic diversification and export orientation.

Abdullah said that in the 1980s, the fourth and fifth Malaysia Plan focused on greater industrialisation as well as attracting foreign investments. The approach culminated in liberation and deregulation in the late 1980s and made the country well-placed to benefit from the rise in global foreign direct investment in the mid 1990s.

"The onset of the financial crisis in 1997 demonstrated our courage under fire, as policy makers imposed capital controls in defiance of IMF (International Monetary Fund) prescriptions and against global opinion. "By the turn of the century, mainstream economists changed their tune and acknowledged Malaysia's success in responding to the crisis," he said.

On capacity building, Abdullah said the government had invested in a comprehensive network of first-class infrastructures with the expenditure on education consistently exceeding 20 per cent of the annual national budget. "This strong focus on infrastructure and human capital has yielded high dividends for Malaysia, and will continue to be a key enabler for future success."

The prime minister said the Malaysian experience was also made possible by a strong focus on coordinated execution with the private sector to promote the nation's development through the concepts of Malaysia Incorporated and Smart Partnership.

"Both the public as well as private sectors have played their own unique parts in promoting Malaysia's development," said Abdullah.

He said that eradication of poverty was among the biggest successes achieved by the nation -- from 50 per cent of the people living under the poverty line before independence to only 5.7 per cent Thursday.
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