MALAYSIA had never enjoyed the status of being an “Asian Tiger” economy, instead it was more of “a monkey”, said former finance minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

Tengku Razaleigh, better known as Ku Li, dismissed the label which was claimed by many, including former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Ku Li said Malaysia could not claim to being an Asian Tiger as the country had financed most of its projects, including dams and highways, because foreign investors had skirted around Malaysia.

“You call yourself an Asian Tiger, but you’re actually a monkey. You’re not developed,” he was quoted as telling Free Malaysia Today.

“But we were never an Asian Tiger. It’s only illusory,” he added.

The term “Asian Tigers” was popularly used in the 1980s and 1990s to describe the fast-growing economies of Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Malaysia was tipped to be the fifth Asian Tiger but economic growth was derailed by the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

Economist Madeline Berma disputed the Asian Tiger label for Malaysia, saying that the country was only qualified to be described as a “little tiger” or “little dragon”.

In 2018, Dr Mahathir, during his second term as prime minister, said Malaysia would become an Asian Tiger economy once again. 

He repeated the claim the following year when launching a government blueprint for economic development up to 2030.

On Friday, Finance Minister II Amir Hamzah Azizan was reported as saying that Malaysia was making great strides to reclaim its Asian Tiger status.

He said this was based on positive outlook from analysts and rating agencies and supported by encouraging economic figures.

“To reclaim the Asian Tiger status is not a pipe dream. The government and I are very confident that we can achieve this.

“We are also seeing a lot of financial analysts out there, a lot of rating agencies, a lot of people that are acknowledging that Malaysia is fundamentally back (on track),” he told the Malaysian diaspora in Singapore on Friday night. – July 28, 2024.