There was a miracle in the 2010 Uber Cup. It was not Malaysia, but South Korea has created the miracle.
The Malaysian team, which is backed by the country, has failed to repeat the miracle 18 years ago and was defeated in semi-finals. Meanwhile, the South Korean team has created history when it defeated China and won its first ever Uber Cup title. It was definitely not an accident.
In the 1970s, the Malaysian national soccer team used to be ranked among the highest in Aisa. But today, it is ranked 147 in the world. And the South Korean team, which was the first Asian team to reach a semi-final, is now ranked 47.
In 1980, the GDP for South Koreans was US$1,645, which was even lower than the Malaysian GDP of US$2022. In 1991, former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad introduced the Vision 2020. In the end of year 1997, South Korea asked for a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) while Malaysian took the "closed door" capital control policy.
After the Asian financial crisis, South Korea started to actively reform and within a decade, the per capita income of South Korea has grown by 104.3% while Malaysia only achieved an increase of 68.4%. Malaysia has been remaining as a middle class country for 15 years.
Today, the per capita annual income of South Korea is US$20,000 and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak set a target under the New Economic Model (NEM) to increase the per capita annual income of Malaysia to US$15,340 in 2020.
Our target for 10 years later is even far less then the current amount achieved by South Korea.
Both the countries have experienced rises and falls over all these years, but there is nothing by chance. There are a few factors that have made the current different statuses of South Korea and Malaysia. These factors include the soft power, quality and mental outlook of the people, management of the government and education.
The South Korean badminton team has a strong "never-say-die" spirit while the Malaysian team has no will to fight. These have portrayed the spirits of most South Koreans and Malaysians.
Malaysia is very lucky to be abundant in natural resources. However, it is also a misfortune as when the country is rich, the government does not step up to develop human resources and strengthen national education. As a results, Malaysians have developed a value and work culture of overly dependent on the government. It is an underlying cause.
The country is now facing all sorts of problems but as the authority is worried of losing votes and support of the people, it continues adopting a liberal policy. For example, when the rankings of national universities is dropping, the Education Ministry still wants to reduce the workload of teachers and offer cash incentives.
How can we have a reform for education then?
In addition, we wonder whether the government will take firm action to collect more than 15 million of traffic summon fines. The National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) loans in arrears serve as the best example.
The government, as well as the people need to change in order to achieve the vision of transforming the country into a high-income economy.
If the government is afraid of removing the safety net, how can the people move forward? How can the people have a sense of crisis if we do not step up the reform?
Politicians should also set aside "racial privileges". Instead of keep talking about "the rise of Malays", it is better to focus on improving the people's fighting spirit and ability to bear hardships, in order to improve the quality of the people in terms of mentality.
Political leaders are having a lot of scruples and their primary task is to fight for regime. Improving the people's quality will never be their first consideration. In this case, when can the country create a miracle? (By Lim Sue Goan)
The Malaysian team, which is backed by the country, has failed to repeat the miracle 18 years ago and was defeated in semi-finals. Meanwhile, the South Korean team has created history when it defeated China and won its first ever Uber Cup title. It was definitely not an accident.
In the 1970s, the Malaysian national soccer team used to be ranked among the highest in Aisa. But today, it is ranked 147 in the world. And the South Korean team, which was the first Asian team to reach a semi-final, is now ranked 47.
In 1980, the GDP for South Koreans was US$1,645, which was even lower than the Malaysian GDP of US$2022. In 1991, former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad introduced the Vision 2020. In the end of year 1997, South Korea asked for a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) while Malaysian took the "closed door" capital control policy.
After the Asian financial crisis, South Korea started to actively reform and within a decade, the per capita income of South Korea has grown by 104.3% while Malaysia only achieved an increase of 68.4%. Malaysia has been remaining as a middle class country for 15 years.
Today, the per capita annual income of South Korea is US$20,000 and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak set a target under the New Economic Model (NEM) to increase the per capita annual income of Malaysia to US$15,340 in 2020.
Our target for 10 years later is even far less then the current amount achieved by South Korea.
Both the countries have experienced rises and falls over all these years, but there is nothing by chance. There are a few factors that have made the current different statuses of South Korea and Malaysia. These factors include the soft power, quality and mental outlook of the people, management of the government and education.
The South Korean badminton team has a strong "never-say-die" spirit while the Malaysian team has no will to fight. These have portrayed the spirits of most South Koreans and Malaysians.
Malaysia is very lucky to be abundant in natural resources. However, it is also a misfortune as when the country is rich, the government does not step up to develop human resources and strengthen national education. As a results, Malaysians have developed a value and work culture of overly dependent on the government. It is an underlying cause.
The country is now facing all sorts of problems but as the authority is worried of losing votes and support of the people, it continues adopting a liberal policy. For example, when the rankings of national universities is dropping, the Education Ministry still wants to reduce the workload of teachers and offer cash incentives.
How can we have a reform for education then?
In addition, we wonder whether the government will take firm action to collect more than 15 million of traffic summon fines. The National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) loans in arrears serve as the best example.
The government, as well as the people need to change in order to achieve the vision of transforming the country into a high-income economy.
If the government is afraid of removing the safety net, how can the people move forward? How can the people have a sense of crisis if we do not step up the reform?
Politicians should also set aside "racial privileges". Instead of keep talking about "the rise of Malays", it is better to focus on improving the people's fighting spirit and ability to bear hardships, in order to improve the quality of the people in terms of mentality.
Political leaders are having a lot of scruples and their primary task is to fight for regime. Improving the people's quality will never be their first consideration. In this case, when can the country create a miracle? (By Lim Sue Goan)
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