If you do not know economics that well, you can just read through this post and still understand most of the questions because they're kind of understandable from a layman's view. And if you do care about Malaysian economy, take the survey now before you continue reading this post because I'm afraid your judgments will be skewed after reading this post, thus affecting your responses. You can take the survey by clicking the link below:
PROMUDA Survey on the Economy
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Here are the results of the survey as of January 12, 2008:
Question 1
In view of globalization, do you feel Malaysia is getting more or less competitive as a nation?
| Answer | Responses | Percent |
| Less competitive | 312 | 78.00% |
| More competitive | 78 | 19.50% |
| I don't know | 10 | 2.50% |
Question 2
Do you think Malaysia is on track to achieve a developed nation status by the year 2020?
| Answer | Responses | Percent |
| No | 298 | 74.50% |
| Yes | 73 | 18.30% |
| I don't know | 29 | 7.30% |
Question 3
What is your perception of the state of Malaysia's economy?
| Answer | Responses | Percent |
| The economy is stagnant | 249 | 63.50% |
| The economy is in a recession | 74 | 18.90% |
| The economy is doing well | 57 | 14.50% |
| I don't know | 12 | 3.10% |
Question 4
Please estimate the increase in price level of basic commodities you have experienced in Malaysia over the last 3 to 4 years.
| Answer | Responses | Percent |
| 20% - 50% | 206 | 52.80% |
| 50% - 100% | 119 | 30.50% |
| Less than 20% | 32 | 8.20% |
| I don't know | 17 | 4.40% |
| More than 100% | 16 | 4.10% |
Question 5
How do you view the level of graduate unemployment problem in Malaysia following MIER's statement below?
"The Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER) said the country is now experiencing “jobless growth” where the economy grew at 5.9% in the last five to six years, but few jobs were created."
| Answer | Responses | Percent |
| The problem is getting worse | 259 | 66.60% |
| The problem is the same as before | 94 | 24.20% |
| I don't know | 26 | 6.70% |
| There is no such problem | 10 | 2.60% |
Question 6
How do you view affirmative action policies such as NEP?
| Answer | Responses | Percent |
| Skewed implementation and subjected to abuse, thus policy should be reformed | 304 | 79.40% |
| Effective implementation benefitting target groups, thus policy should be maintained in its present form | 43 | 11.20% |
| I don't know | 36 | 9.40% |
Question 7
Please choose the best 3 options below which you think can help the nation to be more competitive in the future.
| Answer | Responses | Percent |
| Have more quality leadership | 320 | 84.20% |
| Ensure effective implementation of policies | 284 | 74.70% |
| Reverse the 'brain drain' | 235 | 61.80% |
| Encourage more foreign direct investments | 104 | 27.40% |
| Encourage more transfer of technology from abroad | 93 | 24.50% |
| Hire more skilled foreign workers | 7 | 1.80% |
| Other | 1 | 0.30% |
Look at the results and make your own conclusions.
I personally feel that either something is really wrong in the country, or the validity of these responses is questionable. But if something is wrong in the economy, some changes need to be done by the administration. I myself do not know much of the statistics, so I can't say that Malaysian economy is in a bad shape.
Now, what do YOU personally think? Feel free to share your comments below. I'd be glad to hear what's on your mind, because every opinion matters...
Source: PROMUDA State of the Nation 2008 Survey - Part 1: On the Economy
5 comments:
Lets vote for a change in the coming PRU!
The survey does not give the real indication of Malaysia's economic performance; it just shows that many young professionals/people out there are upset on the government and think that a regime change can make things better for the country.
If you want to know how the country is doing economically, ask the experts and look at the statistics. What you might hear and find may not have been so dim and pessimistic.
While policy implementation and government's accountability are crucial in promoting and maintaining economic growth, other factors like people's/labor force's level of competitiveness, skills, professionalism and entrepreneurship are dependent upon the citizens' willingness and desire to work hard(er) and doing continuous effort to improve their skills, know-hows and the level of professionalism required in their work-domain (integrity, honesty, etc.)
The economy will be stagnant, thus, if we have a bad government, and bad people (workforce, citizen).
My point is, it is not good enough to put all the blame on the government, if we were to talk about economic performance. Remember that they are just people like us, and they are `as good as the people who put them in power', to quote my professor's favourite `wisdom'. The government can do better in terms of managing, implementing and regulating, but then it is up to the people to improve their own living, to venture into the realm of possibilities and opportunities and dare to take the risk. When the people are able to reach their full potentials with their own effort and move beyond the excuses of bad government and better policies, only then the talks about progress, development and better government will make some sense.
Yes, we may not be doing so well economically right now, but looking at the Indonesians who come to our country and make 5000-6000RM in a month, we may as well realized that Malaysia still has a lot to offer. It is a land of opportunity, but only for those who is willing to work hard.
My point is this: the people have to wake up, not just for the call f or a better government, but for the betterment of themselves as citizens, as productive workforce, and most importantly as Malaysians as a whole.
Hey izzat. have been reading your blog since friendster days.
anyway, of the utmost importance [to me, at least] is to reverse the brain drain. Many of our problems starts there.
Did the quiz too. Honestly, it's not really thorough isn't it?
thanks for the comments guys..
yeah it's not a thorough survey.. but you probably don't want to do a 48 question survey that takes an hour to complete, do ya? lol..
anyways, great point, an.. it's always easy to put all of the blame on the government.. i'm sure some parts of the problem do come from the government, but we also have our share..
i do think a few changes should be done, but at the same time i also think that some these results are only valid to a certain extent for various reasons..
and, like Dr. Pang's favorite quote, "the government is as good as the people who put them in power"... - a really good point..
perhaps, the people has now become better and more mature, and that's why they're trying to change the current government to become better, or to put a better government in power? who knows... and yes, Malaysia is superbly a country that's rich in resources.. God bless Malaysia
I think this survey has more emotional rather than rational opinion. these people subconciously 'hope' that malaysia will fails economically in the sense that to proof the current government is terrible at managing this country. the situation is almost the same in US where the Democrats 'hope' that the war Iraq will fail so that they can proof the Republican is a bad government.
The truth is Malaysian economy in recent 2007 had rather a strong achievement. In term of global competitiveness, malaysia is at 21st place, which all other top 25 in the list is developed countries. The details can be read in World Economic Forum report.
Conclusion is, Malaysian economic is not exactly as bad as most anti-government analyst hoped it to be. But to be honest, malaysia could achived much better if the malay bussiness contract isn't limited to certain malay elite who's the only requirement they need to have in order to get the contract is the ability to suck up the politicians.
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