Malaysia needs strong leadership to become an Asian Tiger - Economist

SHAH ALAM - Malaysia has never been an economic powerhouse in Asia, but the country needs to meet at least four conditions if it wants to be known as an Asian Tiger.

Economist Datuk Dr Madeline Berma said that to date, only four countries have been recognised as Asian Tigers or Dragons: Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan.

Madeline clarified that Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia are referred to as Little Tigers or Little Dragons because they lag in terms of development and economic progress compared to the four countries dubbed the Asian Tigers before the 1997 Asian economic crisis.

"I believe Malaysia has not reached the level of economic development to be called an Asian Tiger.

"That is why I think Malaysia only achieves the level of a cub, not the mother (Asian Tiger).

"This is because economic development studies conducted in the 1990s by experts found that only four countries in this region were worthy of being called Asian Tigers or the Four Asian Dragons: Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan," she told Sinar.

Elaborating further, Madeline said that according to The Flying Geese theory, Malaysia is actually in the third layer of the most developed countries in Asia, led by Japan and followed by the four countries referred to as the Asian Tigers, while Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos lag far behind.

Madeline described that the four main characteristics of Asian Tiger countries are very rapid national economic growth, exceeding 7 per cent per year, adherence to classic Confucian beliefs, low national debt deficit compared to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and good leadership.

Madeline said that the majority of countries that have successfully emerged as Asian Tigers have iron-fist administrations, good governance, and fewer problems with corruption, fraud, and abuse of power, as seen in South Korea.

This is why, according to Madeline, there is a theory that democratic countries like Malaysia find it difficult to achieve rapid economic progress because there are too many restrictions and voices of dissent every time the government wants to implement administrative and economic reforms.

She said Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan managed to emerge as Asian Tigers because they had strong leadership at the time.

"That is why, if we look at Malaysia, we had Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad at that time; in the Philippines, there was Ferdinand Marcos; in Indonesia, there was President Suharto; while Singapore was under the administration of the late Lee Kuan Yew's family.

"Any country that wants to reach the level of an Asian Tiger must have characteristics such as having visionary leaders, good governance, strong financial positions, high investment and savings values, and good human resource development.

"In fact, if we look at the countries that have achieved the status of Asian Tigers, like South Korea, they place a strong emphasis on human resource development and education, especially Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) for their younger generation," she said.

However, she explained that Malaysia is struggling to reach the status of an Asian Tiger because the younger generation is less interested in furthering their education after finishing Form Five, as they are more inclined to join the gig economy.