A collection of Rhony Laigo's articles through the years while covering the Philippines, Saipan and now the United States of America: Malaysia is only country in Southeast Asia that produces its own cars.

1. Malaysia is only country in Southeast Asia that produces
its own cars
By Rhony Laigo
(Note: The author who became a full-fledged journalist right after college is
a witness and at the same a victim of Philippines’ corrupt society, whose
worsening economic conditions back then forced him to abandon his
country to work as a reporter abroad – just like the 10 million Filipinos who
are employed overseas – and has been an outsider since 1991. Last
month, the author visited Malaysia, then an inferior country compared to
the Philippines a few decades ago, but now an economic power in
Southeast Asia. The following article is the author’s attempt to present
contrasting features of the neighboring countries as he tries to persuade
the Philippine government to review its current policies on population
control and federalism, and perhaps even emulate its Malaysian cousins,
who welcome 22 million tourists a year compared to Philippines’ only four
million foreign visitors.)
As a Filipino, I’ve always heard that in the 50s, a few years after the
Second World War, the Philippines was one of the most progressive
countries in Asia and was the leading country in the southeast Asian region
until the 60s. When I was a kid, there was even an ad on television that
said Philippine Airlines was “Asia’s first airline.” In fact the Philippines’ flag
carrier still promotes that title sans the shining luster it used to enjoy. Well,
we were illustrious, until Ferdinand Marcos became president in 1966 and
then the country went into a downward spiral. Some 20 years later into his
dictatorship, the Philippines became the “Sick Man of Asia.”
This month, the Philippines will remember that fateful day, September 21,
1972, when Marcos declared martial law. If not for the EDSA uprising in
1986, in which I was very much involved being a student activist at that
time and a scribe for a college paper, the “Sick Man of Asia” may have

2. been in a worse condition, no thanks to the plunder that the Marcoses and
his cronies did to their own country.
Now, 26 years after the EDSA revolt, the Philippines has yet to fully
recover. But our leader, current President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III,
whose both parents suffered a lot during the dictatorship – his father, Sen.
Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino was assassinated, while his reluctant mother ran
against Marcos and became president after the dictator was ousted (she
survived seven coup attempts during her six-year presidency!) – may be
looking at a country that is ready to face its economic challenges and
hopefully be able to recover some of its lost prestige of the glorious past.
Back in 2009, I had the privilege of returning to the Philippines. Admittedly,
a lot has changed...at least in Metro Manila. There have been signs of
progress, construction was flourishing and many of our kababayans were
employed as outsource service providers in companies more commonly
known as call centers, and even leads India in this sector. Personally, I felt
good…momentarily.
Just last month, however, I was fortunate enough to have been invited by
the Malaysian government to take part and chronicle their
55th Independence Day celebration that took place last August 31. As a
Filipino journalist who has written several stories about the Philippines’
transition from a dictatorship to a democracy, seeing our Malaysian
neighbors celebrate their independence day was an event I will never
forget.
While we in the Philippines have yet to cultivate a full sense of national
pride mainly perhaps because of our parochial differences, the Malaysians
are marching towards greater heights, in spite of what I would consider a
fractured multi-ethnic union of different cultures, religions and backgrounds.
On the contrary, our neighbors down south feed on their own diversity,
using their own creativity and competitiveness to become an envy of other
southeast Asian economies, the Philippines included as it tries to make

3. peace with two insurgent groups. Despite a majority of Malaysians being
Muslims, rarely if none were news about terror threats, unlike in Indonesia
where there have been acts of violence against innocent civilians.
Blessed with its own crude oil, Malaysia is the only country in Southeast
Asia to produce its own cars, Proton and Perodua. The country is also
among the world’s top manufacturing hubs for semi-conductors and other
electronic components, employing hundreds of thousands of people,
including foreign labor, many of whom are, you guessed it, Filipinos.
Malaysia’s infrastructure is also among the most developed in Asia,
according to Wikipedia. In one of our tours, we got the chance to view the
new city of Putrajaya, located some 15 miles outside of Kuala Lumpur, in a
well-planned urban area where new government buildings are located. The
city is beautifully landscaped with a massive man-made lake dotted with
captivating bridges – there are nine spans around the city – because of
their modern architectural design.
In addition, Malaysia’s railway systems are one of the best in the world. Its
KLIA Ekspres also allows international airline passengers to check in their
luggage at the train station, therefore no long queues, and enjoy a
convenient high-speed but quiet half-hour ride from Kuala Lumpur to the
airport, and with free wifi connections.
Kuala Lumpur of course is home to the tallest twin towers in the world – the
Petronas Towers – each having 88 floors and stands 1,483 feet high into
the sky. These buildings of stainless steel alone are a testament of
Malaysia’s solid growth, whose economy is third largest in southeast Asia
and is ranked 28th in the world vis-à-vis the purchasing power of its 29
million people.
Speaking of population, there again lies my envy. While the Philippines has
90 million inhabitants – 7th in Asia and 12th largest in the world – Malaysia’s
smaller population means more social services for its people. In my one

4. week stay, I’ve tried my best to look for squatters and beggars in the
streets of Kuala Lumpur, which were very clean by the way, to no avail.
Contrast that to Manila’s large squatter population, which often than not,
results in violent confrontations when the government tries to relocate them
away from the metropolis.
Malaysia has 13 federated states and three federal territories, which just
like in the U.S. is a form of government that the Philippines I think should
also greatly consider to let regions become more self-sufficient and
compete with one another.
Comprised of 60 percent Muslims, other religions are practiced freely in
Malaysia, including Buddhism and Hinduism along with a variety of
Christian denominations. The Philippines, meanwhile, has more than 80
percent who are Roman Catholic faithfuls, whose church leaders oppose
the use of contraceptives, but that is another issue altogether. The
Philippines also is the lone country in the world that doesn’t allow divorce.
During their Independence Day celebration, most, if not all, buildings and
homes displayed the Malaysian flag. Among those who proudly paraded in
the Merdeka Square were local Malaysian folks, some of whom drove their
teksis (taxi) that carry the Proton brand, which much to my own chagrin,
were symbols of how far Malaysia has gone in terms of progress compared
to where I was born. I had goose bumps and my eyes welled up upon
seeing them celebrate their 55th year as a free sovereign Malaysia with
great pride. I wished the Philippines would emulate the same kind of self-
respect that the descendants of our own forefathers possess, a truly united
nation.
As they passed by the grandstand during the parade, those who took part
waved proudly to their king and queen and to their government officials
who, except for the royal couple, were wearing one type of uniform, both
men and women: black trousers with a blue-collared white polo shirt

5. emblazoned with the number “1” on the upper left chest signifying unity and
“One Malaysia.”
http://rhonylaigo.blogspot.com/
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A collection of Rhony Laigo’s articles through the years while covering the Philippines, Saipan and now
the United States of America