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| ON THE OTHER HAND |
| Emulating Mahathir By Antonio C. Abaya Written Oct. 06, 2004 For the Manila Standard, October 7 issue Speaking yesterday, October 5, before the 30th Philippine Business Conference organized by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Malaysia�s former prime minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, spelled out the secrets of his and their success. I was not there so I cannot say what points Dr. Mahathir emphasized in his speech. But the three broadsheets that I get had different slants. The Philippine Daily Inquirer, which is the most heavily misled by Marxists and Leninists, headlined: �Share wealth first before growing business.� Today, recently re-invented as a business paper, had a contextually different headline: �Be fair to foreign investors.� The Manila Standard had a middle-of-the-road emphasis: �Close rich-poor gap.� Will the real Dr. Mahathir please stand up? And will the PDI headline writers please tell us: how you �share wealth first before growing business?�� Before business, there is not much wealth to share except what grows on the land and swim in the seas. It is �business� that organizes people more efficiently to husband these resources and turn them into wealth. Ideally, for all who partake of it. In reality, some wind up with bigger shares of it than others, and others no shares at all. Which is the more just and efficient? We have seen an eloquent example of �sharing wealth first before growing business� in the late, unlamented Soviet Union, which was fired up by the statist idealism obviously shared by the PDI headline writers, but which collapsed from its own weight of unfulfilled expectations, despite a monopoly of power enjoyed by its revolutionary elite for 74 long years. But I digress. The direct quotes attributed to Dr. Mahathir are worth repeating. �Achieving growth is simple if the question of equity can be ignored. But it can�t be ignored. At least not for long. Equitable distribution of wealth must be attempted, even if this gets in the way of growth.� (Dr. Mahathir attempted this equitable distribution of wealth through preferential treatment of the economically disadvantaged ethnic Malays [about 60% of Malaysia�s population] over, and at the risk of antagonizing, the economically dominant ethnic Chinese [who make up about 35%] in his New Economic Policy and through the MARA foundations which gave ethnic Malays business loans at interest lower than market rates.) �Trying to bring about equity by expropriating the wealth of the rich � such as what the communists did � and ensuring that no one gets rich, is counter-productive and detrimental to the well-being of the poor.� (And to make sure the communists did not succeed in imposing their misplaced idealism on Malaysia, Dr. Mahathir [and Lee Kwan Yew in Singapore] used the Internal Security Act, a constitutional instrument that both countries had inherited from the British colonial government, which gave the state the right to throw in jail, indefinitely and without trial, anyone suspected of being a subversive � meaning, communist or communist sympathizer. Under the ISA, the PDI headline writers and some of their editors and columnists would likely be in jail.) �We are not worried about (Anwar Ibrahim) because (his) acquittal on sodomy charges was on very flimsy grounds and he has actually no support, like he did before. He will have support from outside the country, but outside the country they�re not our constituents.� (Anwar, once Mahathir�s deputy and heir apparent, remains in jail on corruption charges and, under Malaysian law, cannot run for public office until five years after his sentence is served. Mahathir blocked Anwar�s rise to power because he felt Anwar would undo the economic progress achieved under Mahathir�s policy of nationalist industrialization, Anwar being praised to high heavens by the western media as an apostle of free trade and globalization. I recall a glowing Newsweek article on Anwar headlined �A Towering Giant.�). During his watch, Dr. Mahathir was an outspoken critic of free trade and globalization. See the AP story of Oct 21, 2001 �Mahathir Slams Globalization,� archived in the Reference Material section of www.tapatt.org. Under Mahathir�s policy of economic nationalism, Malaysia was able to weather the Asian financial crisis in 1997 with hardly a blip in its economic heart. Long before 1997, Mahathir had the foresight to impose restrictions on the inflow-outflow of hard currency. Incoming foreign money was required to stay in Malaysia for x-number of years before being allowed to go out, or under pain of heavy penalties, an initiative contrary to the conditions of the World Bank and the IMF, but which had been tried first by Chile. The People�s Republic of China also emerged unscathed by the 1997 crisis because it did not, and still does not, allow full convertibility of the renminbi. Countries which allowed the free flow of capital � Thailand, South Korea, the Philippines � were devastated by the 1997 crisis as �hot money,� which had been invested in these countries to speculate on real estate and stocks (and not to build factories, mines or farms), fled at the first hint of trouble, leaving thousands of local companies bankrupt, unable to pay their dollar-denominated loans as the baht, the won and the peso plunged.) In the 1990s, during the watch of President Ramos, more than 90% of foreign investments in the Philippines was in the form of �hot money�, which did not generate employment except for a few receptionists, traders and messengers. Under Dr. Mahathir�s unabashed policy of economic nationalism, Malaysia was able to successfully build and market globally a national car (the Proton) and a national motor-cycle (whose name I cannot recall), with foreign partners but whose percentage of local contents was increased every year. Recently, a plant was inaugurated to fabricate the engines of the Proton. The Proton is protected against competition even from locally assembled foreign cars by tax breaks, contrary to the rules of the WTO and the conditions of the IMF, allowing it to capture 65% of the domestic market By contrast, although the Philippine automotive industry was started at least 25 years ahead of Malaysia�s, we are still only assembling automotive components fabricated in other countries, except for such peripherals as wire harness and seat upholstery. To change the social habits of Malays, Dr. Mahathir sent hundreds of Malay workers and supervisors to work in Japanese and South Korean factories to absorb such values as punctuality, hard work and discipline. To imbue his people with the can-do spirit, Dr. Mahathir financially supported Malaysian teams that climbed Mount Everest and trekked or will trek across the Arctic and Antarctic land/ice mass to reach the North and South Poles, respectively. To instill national pride, Dr. Mahathir encouraged the building of the Petronas Towers, the tallest building in the world. He was also going to build the longest building in the world, on top of and along the entire length of the Klang River in Kuala Lumpur, but this seems to have been abandoned. During his watch, President Ramos also wanted to build our �tallest building in the world�, the Centennial Tower in Luneta facing Taft Avenue. But this was shot down in media by environmentalists worried about its effect on the environment, by bleeding hearts who said the money was better spent feeding the poor, and by political opponents who felt FVR was building a monument to himself to facilitate a constitutional amendment that would allow him to run for a second term. Dr. Mahathir could not have accomplished many of his projects if he had to face a media as hostile to government as Philippine media incurably is. In 1995, I was a guest of the Malaysian Government, along with about 20 other journalists from Asia, Africa and Latin America. In one of our briefings, it was explained to us that Malaysian media operate under a set of rules unilaterally imposed by government. Aside from restrictions on the spread of articles and broadcasts deemed sympathetic to communists, Malaysian journalists are also not allowed to question the supremacy of the Malay language or the legality of the Malay royal families, or to attack the government. Malaysian journalists are also not allowed to print or broadcast any material that will contribute to racial tensions. Philippine media, used to American-style �absolute freedom of the press� would not likely accept any such restrictions. But, it has to be asked, which country under which media environment has been more successful? My friend Cesar, who lived and worked in Kuala Lumpur for seven years, says of the Barisan Nasional, the political coalition that governs Malaysia and is made up of three parties: the UMNO or United Malay National Organization, representing the ethnic Malays, also stands for �U May Not Object;� the MCA or Malaysia Chinese Association, representing the economically dominant Chinese, also stands for �Money Controls All;� and the MIC or Malaysian Indian Council, representing the Tamil Indians who are lowest in the totem pole, also stands for �May I Come in?� ***** OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reactions to �Emulating Mahathir� Very good piece, tony. cheers gil Gil Santos, [email protected] October 08, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I had the privilege of meeting Mahathir way back in the 1980's and already at that time, he had launched 2020 - the vision to industrialize and make Malaysia a first world country by the year 2020. Malaysia has recently changed its leader, but still the 2020 vision stays. Contrast this to the Philippines, where visions and strategies and policies change with the wind, every time a new politician is elected, whether it be a mayor or the President. The result is a "roller coaster" development with no direction, no vision, no continued dedication to any clear goal that is shared and understood by all. What we need is a "staircase" development where even if political leaders change, the development process continues going up the stairs consistently towards a vision understood and shared by our citizens and tenaciously adhered to by our leaders... Sad to say, we dont have this mechanism in place, so down and down the stairs we go. Nonoy Yulo, [email protected] October 08, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, An excellent piece particularly on your dig to the Philippine media. The status of Philippine automotive industry versus the Malaysian's to me is also a shame of the Filipino. Hearing some Pinoys claiming the jeepneys to be a symbol of the Filipino ingenuity gives me great discomfort. Fifty years since we started assembling jeepneys from the surplus of American forces we are still assembling those jeepneys with a little improvement. This time from the Japanese and Korean surpluses which in truth are cannibalized parts of Japanese and Korean vehicles. What fifty years of ingenuity can we be proud of. It is more of what Rizal said is indolence of the Filipino. Thus we pale in comparison to the Malaysians. A pity to me is we seem unable to produce leaders like Mahathir, or Lee Kuan Yew. What is wrong with the Philippine society? What is wrong with our family? What is wrong with our educational system? Why can't the Philippines produce leaders the equal of Mahathir and Lee Kuan Yew? Jorge Matanguihan, [email protected] October 09, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww At 09:22 AM 10/8/2004, you wrote: >"share wealth first before growing business?'' That's a plain lie. What he said was the they wouldn't take anything away from the wealthy and give it to the poor. What they did was to outline future growth and channel a larger percentage of that growth to the Pribumis and a smaller one to the Chinese, without removing anything from anybody, under a policy of racial reconciliation and preventing further riots. And after 20 years they were thus able to make the poor not yet rich but improved their situation by 2000%, compared to before. They got all parties to agree to this formula, and that was the basis of their success. He said that the poor must be protected from the predatory actions of big business. Further he advised to treat investors fairly, as they are the creators of jobs. He clearly meant Phil. government changing of rules, and also the courts overturning contracts that are already in the bag or completed. Peter Ritter, [email protected] October 08, 2004 MY REPLY. Just for the record, I did not write the line �share wealth first before growing business� which you say is a �plain lie.� That was the headline of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, which I merely quoted. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Mahatir's record has always been mixed. Analyst doubt if Malaysia's policy of capital control was really the best. I think that that debate will not rest for some time. (MY REPLY. Figures do not lie. The Malaysian ringgit did not suffer any devaluation. The Thai baht, the South Korean won, and the Philippine peso all suffered major devaluations from the Asian financial crisis of 1997.) He certainly PERSECUTED Anwar Ibrahim but the fellow himself is no winged angel. He led thugs to rough up delegates to the free-Timor conference held in KL. We should be wary about emulatiung this or that. People who EMULATE are low in IQ. Peiople should be taught to THINK, ANALYZE AND DOUBT not emulate, whioch is only for apes. In fact apes do not simply emulate. They even think. (MY REPLY. By the same token, we should not emulate your beloved Americans either.) Ross Tipon, [email protected] October 11, 2004. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |