The
Malays under UMNO wanted to hold on to power forever, and LKY's PAP in
Malaysia was then a threat to them and their state of political
corruption. The PAP started winning more and more seats, and it was soon
to make the Malays in UMNO realizing and taking action to force the
Government to kick Singapore out of Malaysia.
Singapore was
supposed to be decimated with the cutting off of its lifeline from
Malaysia. With no resources to speak of and water problems, it was
thought that survival was going to be a grave issue. But it turned out
that separating from Malaysia was a blessing in disguise decades later.
I
can still remember the early days of separation when initially the
ringgit was even marginally stronger than the Singapore dollar. But over
the years, due to bad Government and corruption, the Malaysian ringgit
devalued substantially against the Singapore dollar.
Today,
Singapore ranks higher than Malaysia in nominal GDP though in terms of
Purchasing Power Parity wise, Malaysia still ranks above Singapore.
Things are much cheaper in Malaysia on all counts. That such a tiny
island state could compete so well with a country with so much rich
resources boggles the mind.
But Malaysia has lots of potential,
if only they had the correct people running the country and less
corruption. Which is a mountain to climb even for Anwar Ibrahim.
Anonymous
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