Author: Greg Lopez, ANU

The persistent decline in Malaysia’s economic performance since the East Asian Financial Crisis (EAFC) of 1997/98 and the government’s mishandling of the global shocks that preceded the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) were a key reason for the ‘political tsunami’ that hit Barisan Nasional (BN) at the 12th General Election (12GE) on 8th March, 2008. Two years on the economy remains in the mud due to a sluggish global economy, ineffective stimulus plans to address the GFC and most importantly, a lack of political will to put through bold reforms to get the economy back on track.

Like many economies in East Asia, Malaysia evaded the direct impact of the sub-prime crisis but was caught in the after effects – its main export markets collapsed, suffering the worst decline since the EAFC. Read the rest of this entry »

Author: Shankaran Nambiar, MIER

China has come to occupy a prominent position on Malaysia’s trade agenda over the past few years and is now Malaysia’s fourth largest trading partner. China currently accounts for about 11 per cent of Malaysia’s global trade, lagging behind the likes of the US, Japan and Singapore.

This was not always the case. Between 1995 and 1999, only about three per cent of Malaysia’s exports moved towards China. Today, about ten per cent of Malaysia’s exports are destined for China. Only about two per cent of imports came from China in 1995, but more recently they have shot up to close to 13 per cent. Read the rest of this entry »

Author: Ernest Z. Bower, CSIS

For anyone watching Malaysian politics over the last five years, the message is clear – people want their political system to move on to represent a modern Malaysia and more sophisticated electorate. The old ways and anachronistic political structures, as well as some of the personalities that have become inextricably identified with those structures, are being encouraged by fed-up voters to make way for new politics.

This week has seen the start of the second trial of former Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the opposition Pakatan Rakyat Party (PKR), Anwar Ibrahim. Read the rest of this entry »

Author: Mohamed Ariff, MIER and University of Malaya

Economic openness, through international trade and foreign investment, has brought much prosperity and progress to Malaysia, transforming it from a traditional primary producer into a modern industrialising economy. The price Malaysia has had to pay has been exposure to international ups and downs, transmitted through trade and financial channels, the impact of which can be minimised by appropriate macroeconomic policy responses.

The country has arrived at a new crossroads in the wake of the global economic crisis, prompting the authorities to seek a new growth model. Read the rest of this entry »

Author: Hal Hill, ANU

Few countries have matched Malaysia’s stellar record of development over the last several decades: Annual GDP growth has averaged around 6.5 per cent since independence in 1957, and the nation of 27 million people now boasts the world’s 31^st largest economy. But no discussion of this Southeast Asian nation’s economy would be complete without due attention to Mahathir bin Mohamad, who held the reins for 22 years from 1981 to 2003.

Dr. Mahathir’s personal story, as recounted in Barry Wain’s ‘Malaysian Maverick,’ tracks the country’s broader post-war history. Read the rest of this entry »

Author: Amrita Malhi, ANU

Since Friday 8 January, arsonists and vandals have attacked ten churches around Malaysia. Four arson attempts took place on the same morning, following the conclusion of a two-year case before Malaysian courts, over whether non-Muslims can be prevented from using the term ‘Allah’ to describe God in the Malay language.

In 2007, the Home Ministry banned the term in the Catholic Herald newspaper, arguing it could confuse Muslims and cause offence, threatening national security. Read the rest of this entry »

Author: Foong Kee Kuan, MIER

In Malaysia the doom and gloom of the global financial crisis was pervasive at the start of this year, but gradually gave way to increasing optimism following the leadership change in April. Currently, various economic indicators forecast continued improvement for Malaysia, albeit subject to occasional pullbacks, and this economic progress is due to the efforts of the Malaysian government’s introduction of policies aimed to stabilise the economy.

Economic activity rebounded in the second quarter of 2009, after bottoming out in the first quarter, with stabilising domestic and external conditions leading to further improvement in the third quarter. Sentiments among businesses and consumers also recovered, leading to more private investment and consumption along the way, with the rate of decline in inflation also slowing in October.

The Malaysia government’s response to the global downturn has been to introduce a raft of national stabilisation measures, to varying degrees of effectiveness. Read the rest of this entry »

Guest Author: Mahani Zainal Abidin, ISIS

There were two big game-changing events in Malaysia in 2009. Dato Sri Najib Razak became the country’s sixth prime minister and the economy was hit by the global crisis.

Malaysia avoided financial meltdown in the current crisis because of the financial reforms it made after the 1998 Asian Crisis. But the decrease in export demand drove the economy into recession. Read the rest of this entry »

Author: Greg Lopez

On November 9, Mr. Najib Razak, Malaysia’s Prime Minister and Finance Minister, announced at the Multimedia Super Corridor implementation council meeting that Malaysia was aiming for an average annual GDP grow rate of nine per cent until 2020. Realising later that the numbers were absurd, the government went into damage control mode.

Immediately, the local media edited the premier’s statement to six per cent. The next day, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, in charge of the Economic Planning Unit, Read the rest of this entry »