Amid the hotly contested Johor state election, various claims are bound to be made by parties trying to get a leg up over one another.
One of the more controversial ones was that Singapore would be more developed if it was under the governance of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO).
However, former Malaysian Cabinet minister Lim Guan Eng has disputed this claim, saying that Singapore’s success was due to our lack of corruption.
In fact, he doesn’t think UMNO would make Singapore better, rubbishing that as a “fantasy”.
In a Facebook post on Friday (11 Mar), Mr Lim gave 2 principal factors for Singapore’s success.
Firstly, we have “an efficient and competent government”.
Secondly, he also praised us for being “clean and almost free from corruption”.
He cited Singapore’s No. 4 ranking on the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index, meaning we’re the 4th most clean nation in the world.
According to the 2021 ranking, out of 180 countries, we are tied for 4th with Norway and Sweden.
Singapore is the only Asian country to be ranked in the top 10 in the last 10 years, said our Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB).
Malaysia’s ranking is No. 62, its worst-ever, said Mr Lim.
Besides the ranking, he also noted that since Singapore separated from Malaysia in 1965, the Singapore dollar has risen to 3 times the Malaysian ringgit.
Our foreign exchange reserves, asset holdings and GDP per capita has also far exceeded our northern neighbour.
On the other hand, UMNO is a party “identified closely with corruption”, Mr Lim said.
He pointed to former prime minister Najib Razak, describing him as UMNO’s “de facto leader”.
The ex-minister reminded that Mr Najib had been found guilty of charges relating to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.
Thus, it’s “an outrageous fantasy” to say that UMNO can make Singapore better, he added.
The remarks were made by Johor Barisan Nasional (BN) Chief Hasni Mohammad at a press conference on Thursday (10 Mar) as the state elections were in full swing.
The claim was in response to Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) vice president Mohd Amar Abdullah’s comments a day before, suggesting that Singapore was more developed than Malaysia as there was no UMNO in the country.
Doubling down on this statement, the BN leader also said UMNO could be as strong as the People’s Action Party (PAP) if it was in Singapore, reported Malaysiakini.
It led to a number of netizens calling Mr Hasni out for being delusional.
Mr Lim joined in the chorus, saying Mr Hasni’s words were destroyed his credibility, given that he’s the Chief Minister of Johor.
He called on Mr Hasni to withdraw and apologise for his remarks.
Mr Lim, currently leader of the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP), also urged Johor’s voters not to support Ms Hasni and vote for the opposition instead.
However, Johor voters apparently didn’t heed his call, as BN won the Johor State Election resoundingly on Saturday (12 Mar).
Whatever goes on with the politics in our closest neighbour, it’s not surprising that inevitable comparisons are being made with us.
Whether or not Singaporeans agree with the remarks, at least we can be entertained by them.
We suppose we should also be glad that Singapore’s success is acknowledged by politicians in other countries – it affirms that we have something to be proud of.
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Featured image adapted from Lim Guan Eng on Facebook and MS News.
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