Ex-PM Mahathir: Malaysia's Development Lagging Behind Indonesia and Vietnam

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad compared the development in Malaysia with a number of other countries including Indonesia. According to Mahathir, development in Malaysia is lagging behind Indonesia, Vietnam and even Africa.

"I am prepared to accept that, in terms of development, Malaysia has fallen behind Indonesia and Vietnam lately. Of course we have always been behind Singapore.But I was shocked when I discovered that we are also behind some African countries," he said via Twitter account @chedetofficial, on Monday, April 18, 2022.

Mahathir Mohamad continued, saying that Malaysia is not ready to use new technology to achieve efficiency and limit corruption. "We reject this technology because it may expose the wrong doings of our Members of Parliament," he said.

Malaysia, according to Mahathir, is losing a lot of money because it refuses better management practices. He also claimed that members of the House of Representatives rejected the use of new technology because many were involved in the export and import business.

He compared Malaysia with countries in Africa. According to Mahathir, Africa could save billions because the government uses new, more efficient equipment.

"Of course we need not feel ashamed about our being overtaken by African countries. Haven’t we been told that stealing Government money is not something we should feel ashamed about. If our boss does it, it is okay.," he said.

This is not the first time Mahathir has highlighted corruption in Malaysia. When former Malaysian PM Najib Razak was accused of receiving funds from the 1MDB project, Mahathir also responded to the accusation. He said that the corruption in his country is bigger than Indonesia.

Read: Former Malaysian PM Mahathir in Stable Condition in Hospital

DEWI RINA CAHYADI