Ka Chuan: Malaysians' negative comments affected rankings

KUALA LUMPUR: A Federal Minister has suggested that the negative comments of Malaysians brought the country’s ranking down in the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s Global Competitiveness Report.  

Malaysia dropped six spots to 25 on the index, lagging behind Singapore which was placed second in the world. 

The report takes into account a public survey, which makes up 70% of the report while government data takes up the remaining 30%. That is where International Trade and Industry Minister II Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan feels Malaysia suffered.  

“This 70% is perception. I have to say this. Like in Singapore, they got high marks because all their people gave good comments about the country.  

"We have to train our citizens when it comes to surveys like this,” he told reporters during the SME Solutions Exo in KLCC here on Thursday.  

Next time around, Ong called on Malaysians to “speak the truth without emotions” as driving the ranking down would hurt Malaysia’s standing with international investors.  

The report highlighted Malaysia’s need to address governance, corruption, health and primary education for its people.  

The country experienced its largest rank drop in health and primary education, falling 20 ranks from 24 to 44 in 2016.  

The report noted that Malaysia had seen a rise in malaria cases and a drop in student enrolment in primary schools in 2015.  

Responding to this, Ong suggested that the student enrolment analysis may have been flawed, as some students had “parents who worked overseas and so they go overseas with them”.

On the issue of health, Ong questioned why the WEF did not include cases of zika in its report, saying that Singapore would have experienced a drop in its rank, if zika was considered.  

The report also gave Malaysia a low score on institution and governance, where it clocked in low marks for public trust in politicians, diversion of public funds, government wastefulness, corruption, transparency and judicial independence.  

The report, however, said Malaysia remained strong when it came to infrastructure and macroeconomic environment, maintaining the same ranking as 2015.   

When asked, Ong said that a multi-ministerial meeting would convene next Friday to discuss the contents of the report and plan for changes to improve Malaysia’s ranking.