Pakistan and Malaysia - dissimilar similarities

Nation building is a continuous struggle. Many nations that in one century ruled were ruled by others in another century. In fact in modern times, with pace of change faster than speed of light, countries rise and fall in a matter of decades. The rise of China in four decades after centuries of slumber is an example of what can make and break nations. Similarly if we look at the powers that ruled in the last century, especially European countries, many of them are now termed stagnant, stale and sub performing economies. Thus, like individuals, countries need to not only become outstanding but create systems that help it to become even better with passage of time.

Lately a lot has been said about the Malaysian rise and decline and Pakistan's decline and downfall. The latest blog written by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad explaining the state of affairs has created a lot of debate in Pakistan on how similar is the political situation in both the countries. The fact that both Prime Ministers identified corruption and high levels of debt legacies by ex-governments as the main issues is understandable. Prime Minister Mahathir in a scathing blog says "It took over from a kleptocratic government which had raped the nation for years, destroyed its finances, undermined its administrative agencies, abused its laws, borrowed well beyond the ceiling permitted, placed the country on the path to bankruptcy, made the people dependent on the government with bribes and generally undermined the moral of the people". This seems very familiar to Pakistanis as Prime Minister Imran Khan has repeatedly outlined the very same factors of decline.

However the base from which Malaysia declined and the base from which Pakistan has declined are different. Pakistan was already in financial and economic mess in the 90s and in the last decade that mess has resulted in destroying the foundations and fundamentals of the economy to the degree where just to reach the surface/survival level itself will take time. History of both countries converge but what happened after that diverges. Malaysia also got its independence from the British, 10 years after Pakistan, in 1957. Similarly, the two federations lost one part, i.e., East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in 1971, while Singapore was expelled from Malaysia in 1965. However, the economy traversed a different path.

What has Malaysia done that Pakistan has not done? We must remember that Malaysia had Mahathir in the 80s for nearly two decades to focus on developing the fundamentals of the country on sound footing. He made industrialization a priority and exports a goal. Secondly, he knew that in order to have human capital he needed to spend on educating and skilling the workforce. The result of those policies is that today Malaysia has a literacy rate of almost 94% in the country. This was achieved over a period of time when Mahathir first became the Prime Minister.

Malaysia is now embarking on another development path. Prime Minister Mahathir developed a 2020 vision by identifying 9 challenges that Malaysia needs to work on if it wants to succeed. His first challenge is to create a united Malaysia. The second to create free individuals who were progressive, calm, self-confident, and possess a national pride that would be respected by others. The third to create and develop a stable democratic society that would become a model for other developing nations. The fourth to create a moral and ethical society. The fifth challenge to create a liberal and tolerant society where all Malaysians could practice their own beliefs but remain loyal to their nation. The sixth to create a scientific and progressive society that not only used technology but also contributed to technological development. The seventh to create a caring society and caring culture. The eighth to create a just society through equal distribution of income. And the ninth and last challenge to create a prosperous society that had a competitive, dynamic and stable economy.

The interesting thing to note about these challenges was the sequence. Prosperity and economy are the last challenge. The first five challenges are all cultural change. They are all connected to embedding values of unity, tolerance, respect, ethics, open mindedness. As the values change, so does the culture and thereafter the economy. This is where Pakistan needs to focus as well. While Mahathir had sown the seeds of these values in the 80s, Pakistani culture was going through the throes of a closed society where under the guise of religion, dictators had polarized the society while the democratic governments had made ethics and rule of law matters that did not matter. Thus social or societal development remained stunted and retarded.

The two Es that Malaysia followed in its first term of Mahathir are what the Pakistani government needs to focus on in its first term, i.e., exports and education. Having a common basic curriculum in public, private and madressah schools is a great first step but it should also be reinforced by creating community development programs around a value system that Islam and all religions teach. In a culture that values, quick fix, retaliation, indiscipline and rule breaking the prime change required is to get the value system right.

That is why it is important to follow Mahathir's uncompromising focus on disciplined development of culture, systems and institutions. That Mahathir had two decades to do so is also another lesson that all those who look for quick fixes must learn. Real and lasting change is painful, unpopular, slow and resisted staunchly. The difference is that when Prime Minister Mahathir advises Malaysians, who are more educated to be patient they believe him, while the average Pakistani not exposed to better times may feel this is just more of the same- a mindset that needs to change before change is adopted rather than resisted.

(The writer can be reached at [email protected])