During his two-day visit to Vietnam, the Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim asked Malaysia to learn from Vietnam’s experience for Malaysia to rise again as a world-class great nation.
The question is whether Malaysia can learn from Vietnam to become a world-class great nation.
In 1973, when the United States admitted defeat in the Vietnam war and withdrew its troops from Vietnam, Malaysia’s per capita GDP was nine times that of Vietnam although Vietnam had four times Malaysia’s population.
Today, fifty years later, Malaysia’s per capita GDP is only three times that of Vietnam, although Vietnam’s 102 million population is slightly thrice that of Malaysia’s 33 million population.
These figures show how Vietnam had progressed in the last 50 years, or how Malaysia had regressed in the past five decades.
When Vietnam first appeared in the annual Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) in 1997, it ranked 43 out of 52 countries with a score of 2.79 out of 10 points, while Malaysia had a score of 5.01 out of 10 points and ranked No. 32 out of 52 countries.
In the 2022 TI CPI, Vietnam’s score has improved to 42 out of 100 points and ranked No. 85 out of 180 countries while Malaysia has slided down to 47 out of 100 points and ranked No. 61 out of 180 countries.
Will Vietnam overtake Malaysia in the TI CPI in the next few years?
In his statement in Hanoi last Friday, Anwar said Malaysia can learn from the experience of Vietnam which has been able to redevelop the country after it was almost destroyed by French colonialism and American direct involvement.
Anwar said as a result of the destruction, many Vietnamese people had to flee, including to Malaysia, due to the chaos in their home country at that time, which was not only unsafe but the economy was also severely affected.
But for Malaysia to learn from the experience of Vietnam, two factor are necessary – the two factors which had been emphasized by the Yang di Pertuan Agong and various Sultans in the country: political stability and national unity.
This is where the six state polls on August 12 are important, as they would indicate whether Malaysia can rise again as a world-class great nation like Vietnam or continue in the trajectory of a divided, failed and corrupt state although the results of the six state polls will not affect the tenure of the Anwar unity government at the federal level.
Another important lesson of the six state polls is to show the world that in the era of social media, it is possible to prevail over the tsunami of lies, falsehoods, fake news and hate speech.
One of the highlights of the tsunami of lies, falsehoods, fake news and hate speech in Malaysia is that I caused the May 13, 1969 riots, which is not only baseless, wild and preposterous but wicked and evil.
I was never accused of causing the May 13, 1969 riots for thirty years between 1969- 1999, but in the 21st century, such baseless allegations surfaced, including the very wild and preposterous allegation that I urinated at the flagpole of the Selangor Mentri Besar’s residence on May 13, 1969 when in fact I was in Kota Kinabalu.
Can such tsunami of lies, falsehoods, fake news and hate speech be overcome?
This six state polls on August 12 will be a crucial test of this in Malaysia!