Economics, Politics and Public Policy in East Asia and the Pacific
Author: Barry Wain, ISEAS
Malaysians expressed a collective sigh of relief when Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim was acquitted of sodomy charges in early January.
Their groan of dismay over the prosecution’s subsequent decision to appeal was equally palpable. Read more…
Author: Bridget Welsh, SMU
Malaysia recently soared into the headlines after Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim was acquitted of sodomy charges — although the prosecution has already filed for appeal.
The case is entirely political and reflects the government’s willingness to use the judiciary for political ends. Malaysia is set to enter the most competitive elections it has ever faced — likely to be held before June or else pushed off until 2013 — and each side has a fighting chance to win. Read more…
Author: Mahani Zainal Abidin, ISIS Malaysia
After stating in 2010 his vision to transform Malaysia, Prime Minister Najib’s task in 2011 was to turn vision into reality.
The Government Transformation Programme made some progress on this front, improving the delivery of some public services. A number of Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) projects also delivered higher private-sector investments and successful large property joint ventures between the government and the private sector, both of which helped revive the investment climate. Read more…
Author: Mohamed Ariff, INCEIF
After registering an impressive 7.2 per cent growth in 2010, the Malaysian economy visibly slowed down in 2011. GDP growth moderated to 5 per cent in the first half of the year, due mainly to sluggish export growth, but increased to 5.8 per cent growth in the third quarter, thanks to commodity exports and domestic demand.
Manufactured exports, the main driver of growth, did not fare well over the year, owing to depressed demand conditions in the US and EU. Read more…
Author: Shankaran Nambiar, MIU, Malaysia
The present and future quality of Malaysia’s human capital is of considerable concern for the country’s policy makers.
Human capital is not improving as it should, and it threatens to constrain Malaysia’s growth objectives. Read more…
Author: Vikas Kumar, Bangalore
In the aftermath of the Arab Spring, commentators on East Asia Forum have highlighted the moderate character of Southeast Asian Islam.
Bahrawi argues that contested interpretations of Islam are democratising Islam in Southeast Asia — but similar contests seem to be ineffective in countries like Pakistan. And van Bruinessen argues that large, resilient Islamic organisations are stabilising Indonesian democracy — but comparable organisations are failing to play such a role in other Islamic countries. So are local factors playing a bigger role in Southeast Asia than is usually suspected? Read more…
Author: Shankaran Nambiar, Manipal International University, Malaysia
As the US loses its AAA rating, and Japan takes a slide to AA-, can the Malaysian economy hold its candle in the global storm that is brewing?
In what is an already gloomy environment, there is no doubt that the weather ahead is likely to turn grey, and Malaysia’s credit rating slipping from A+ to A in early September 2011 is proving an ominous sign. Read more…
Author: Shankaran Nambiar, Manipal International University
The recent downgrade of the United States’ credit worthiness by Standard & Poor (S&P) rocked financial markets around the world, Malaysia’s included.
Yet a strange sense of confidence pervades Malaysia’s market observers. The impact of the downgrade by S&P from a rating of AAA to AA-plus is thought to have limited impact on the Malaysian economy.
Author: Marianne Dickie, ANU
The recent High Court of Australia decision effectively ended the Australian Government’s ‘Malaysia Solution’, where the incumbent Labor government of Prime Minister Julia Gillard had agreed on a bilateral deal with Malaysia that would see 800 asylum seekers coming to Australia by boat be taken to Malaysia.
In return, Australia would accept 4,000 already-processed refugees from Malaysia over four years. Importantly the High Court case exposed the weakness behind the Malaysia Solution and the faulty premise upon which it was established. Read more…
Author: Ong Kian Ming, UCSI University
The heart of Kuala Lumpur is usually chock full of traffic on a weekend. But on Saturday 9 July downtown KL was eerily empty of cars.
Police presence, however, was very noticeable, in the form of roadblocks positioned at major roads leading into the city, fire trucks equipped with water cannons, and helicopters hovering overhead. Read more…
Author: Nurhisham Hussein, Economics Malaysia
An interesting experiment is going on in Malaysia. The administration of Prime Minister Najib Razak has embarked on an economic transformation plan that marks a clear departure from the development plans of Malaysia’s past.
In years past Malaysia’s development plans, while ostensibly focusing on economic growth and structural changes, had been in actuality little more than budget priorities for the federal government. Read more…
On 9 July around 50,000 Malaysians marched peacefully in support of free elections, defying a government prohibition and massive police effort.
Police eventually dispersed demonstrators with water cannons and tear gas and arrested nearly 1,700. Several were injured (including the opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim) and one died from injury. Read more…
Author: Clark B. Lombardi, University of Washington
Islamic law is playing an increasing role in the Malaysian legal system. While many celebrate this trend, liberal Muslims inside and outside of Malaysia are concerned.
In particular, liberal Muslims are concerned about the recent application of strict Islamic law to women, Muslims who hold unorthodox beliefs, or religious minorities. Read more…
Author: Andrew Herd, ANU
The issue of asylum seekers is one of the most controversial and difficult political issues Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and her Labor government faces.
The difficulty does not arise from the actual number of asylum seekers attempting to get to Australia by boat — the numbers approaching Italy demonstrate that comparatively few are attempting to come to Australia — but from the perception, perpetuated by politicians of both sides, that such actions represent a government failure and the need to restore sovereignty. Read more…
Author: Hal Hill, ANU
Malaysia is one of the developing world’s great success stories. Few countries outside of East Asia can match its development record. Since its independence over 53 years ago per capita incomes have risen more than eight-fold, and absolute poverty has been all but eliminated.
But it currently faces three key, interrelated challenges, some generic to upper middle income developing countries, others specific to Malaysia itself.
The first, how to graduate to the rich-country club, has been clearly articulated by the country’s Prime Minister, Tun Najib: ‘We are now at a critical juncture, either to remain trapped in a middle-income group or advance to a high-income economy … We now have to shift to a new economic model based on innovation, creativity and high value added activities.’