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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 October 2015
Yes, it is time for change in Malaysia. And with the advent of church burnings, time may be running out.
But at the same time, what is it that is to be changed; and why only now? The two questions can be properly answered only if answered together.
To start with, let us look at the immediate conditions. The electoral results of March 8, 2008, were a direct though largely unanticipated response to the steady deterioration of accountability in government, the rising income gap, and the flagrant undermining of the country's once reputable institutions.
The opposition parties managed to capture the mood of the times, and after their electoral victories, they have allowed the success of their campaign slogans to generate their policy arguments. This is the superficially obvious state of affairs.
The second dimension of dynamic change has to do with the present state of the global wealth structure. The crisis that has hit the world, starting with irrational American consumption patterns and the adulation of greed on Wall Street, holds great significance for the future pattern of Penang's – and Malaysia's – economy.
For 2009, Malaysia enjoyed a trade surplus with the USA of US$10.5b, which is more or less the level reached in 1998, just after the financial crisis. Though substantial, it had dropped from US$17.8 billion the year before. That was in the wake of a fall of US$2.1 billion from 2007, which in turn had dropped US$3b compared to 2006. This can be compared to the increase of US$6b between 2004 and 2005, and US$2.8b between 2003 and 2005.
With the structure of the world economy changing rapidly, and with China, India, Vietnam, etc. being responsible for so much of global economic growth, it is imperative for Penang – and Malaysia in general – to shift focus and consider how they can meet the new needs of Asia's nouveau riche, and attract Asia's impatient investment capital.
Simply concentrating on supplying the increasingly isolationistic markets in the West does not hold the promise it did many years ago.
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