Category: General Posted by: Raja Petra
GUEST COLUMNISTS
by Tunku Abdul Aziz
*THE very idea of a new metropolis in southern Johor to rival
Singapore and Hong Kong is intriguing, to put it mildly.
Sceptics, of whom there are many in our midst, are already raising
their eyebrows, plucked or otherwise, as if to say, "Here we go again!"
Malaysia 's thirst for the "superlatives", and don't we know it, is
unquenchable.
I see nothing wrong with our trying to replicate the best; the
verdict of the international business community is that Singapore and
Hong Kong are the best cities in our region in which to live and work.
We, too, have a great city, Kuala Lumpur, the pride of the nation.
Why is it that in spite of the iconic Twin Towers and the biggest
this and the longest that, we do not measure up to international
standards?
Some years ago, the Economist Conferences invited me to deliver a
speech in Bangkok on (no prizes for guessing) fighting corruption.
The three-day gathering was attended by dozens of high-powered chief
financial officers of multinational corporations in the Asia-Pacific.
The Economist's straw poll during the conference asked which city
they would choose if they were setting up a regional office, and, by
implication, where they would prefer to live as expatriates.
To a man/woman, the choice was Hong Kong first and Singapore second.
Kuala Lumpur, to my utter consternation and embarrassment as a proud
Malaysian, did not even get a look-in.
In the late autumn of 1999, I was a guest at a private dinner in
Washington DC. An American private investment banker who had just
returned from a "shopping" trip to Malaysia was asked, "Of all the
countries in Asia, where would you invest your clients' money?"
His reply shook me to the marrow: "Anywhere except Malaysia."
He then mentioned how a senior government official had told him that
a foreigner could not buy a Malaysian company unless he had a Malay
partner and he would be more than happy to recommend one in the
spirit of US/Malaysia relations.
Upon further enquiry, it turned out that the proposed partner was the
civil servant's brother-in-law.
I spent much of the evening explaining to the Americans that it was
not government policy that a foreigner had to have a Malay partner
before he could acquire assets in Malaysia .
The point about these little stories is that both Hong Kong and
Singapore set out deliberately to become attractive, well-ordered and
safe cosmopolitan cities in which business could be conducted with
minimum
inconvenience. They have not become great cities by accident.
For us, so used to and comfortable with our slapdash approach to
doing things, it will require a complete culture change, which in
turn can come about only if there is an unequivocal commitment by the
government to facilitate the necessary change management.
Nothing less than a thoroughgoing reform of our legal framework,
rules and regulations will suffice.
When we talk about the Iskandar Development Region (IDR) as a
metropolis to rival both Hong Kong and Singapore, we are entering the
realm of serious competition, in every respect, with the top world
competitiveness heavy weight champions.
While I have not the slightest doubt that we are more than up to
pouring colossal amounts of cash and concrete into this project, do
we have the capacity and inclination to see it through by continually
seeking to meet the ever-changing global environment and business
requirements?
Judged by almost all the important social, economic and environmental
indicators, these two cities beat the Twin Towers hands down.
Our only claim to fame is that Kuala Lumpur is the cheapest city in
the world for visiting businessmen.
What we want badly are those who will come to set up offices and live
here and add richness not only to our economy but also to our
national diversity.
Being cheap may count as a competitive advantage, but in our case,
listening to the woes of foreign businessmen trying to set up
operations here and dealing with the bureaucracy, we seem to offer a
service that is cheap but with a nasty twist in the tail.
And when we factor in corruption, then doing business in Malaysia
becomes costly.
Ever wondered why more foreign direct investment is not parking
itself here? Talk to both the local and foreign business communities,
and what they have to say based on their experiences would make your
hair curl.
Both Singapore and Hong Kong, which the IDR aspires to rival, started
as very corrupt societies and yet today are among the top 10 least
corrupt countries in the world, according to the Transparency
International Corruption Perceptions Index.
In short, they have shown that corruption is bad for business,
especially global business, and they are making sure that the good
old days will never come back to haunt them again.
Have we the political will to confront corruption decisively or have
we run out of steam?
If the dream of a new super metropolis is not to become a fiasco and
a burden, to be borne, as always, by the hapless taxpayer, the
government must ensure that the IDR is as different from Kuala Lumpur
as it is possible to be.
Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur has absolutely nothing to offer in
either efficiency or integrity. Again, do not take my word for it;
ask the long-suffering taxpayers of Kuala Lumpur .
We have the great fortune of starting from scratch, from the ground
up, and we have the biggest advantage of all: The lessons we can
learn from Hong Kong and Singapore on what makes them tick as the
preferred business destinations of East Asia and the Pacific.
No shame in learning from two "little red dots" which, in my book,
are truly "islands of integrity".
In summary, therefore, do not put crooks in charge, so that good
governance can take root to make the IDR shine even brighter than
Hong Kong and Singapore -- and while we are in a dreaming mood, why
not throw in Dubai for good measure?
We are entitled to our dreams. This is Malaysia, after all.
Tunku Abdul Aziz is a former special adviser to the UN secretary-
general on Ethics.
----------------------------------------------------------------
This e-mail has been sent via JARING webmail at http://www.jaring.my
No comments:
Post a Comment