Lim Chong Eu's unfulfilled legacy
The extensive media coverage of Lim Chong Eu's monumental achievements also provides some analyses of why he was not fully able to achieve some of his objectives.
COMMENT The extensive media coverage of the late former Penang chief mininster Lim Chong Eu's monumental achievements also provides some analyses of why he was not fully able to achieve some of his objectives.
For instance, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, while agreeing that Chong Eu (left) made "Penang the centre for the transformation of Malaysia into an industrial nation", also noted that despite this, the latter lost his seat in the 1990 elections, indicating that "the people of Penang (had failed) to remember his services".
In all humility therefore this perspective has enabled me to focus to some extent on whether Chong Eu's leadership may be termed as one of an ‘unfulfilled' legacy, in not uplifting the economic wellbeing of as many people as he would have hoped for.
Some preliminary background to this might be useful. It needs to be understood that the electronics industry essentially involves the production and assembly of high tech electronic components and other parts that are themselves mostly imported.
Export-oriented
The entire industry is export-oriented and driven. Therefore, despite the successful efforts to provide jobs, this was limited mainly to one sector of the economy and did not in fact involve the domestic economy to any marked extent particularly in manufacturing, where most jobs needed to be created.
The problem for Chong Eu was also that the federal government itself adhered to a similar economic growth and export oriented model.
Accordingly, policies especially in manufacturing were not broad based so that they might have been extended to other industries as well to widen and sustain employment opportunities in Penang.
It is well known that even upstream and downstream manufacturing involving commodities such as oil palm, continue to be exported as raw materials thereby failing to create the much desired employment opportunities.
This resulted in skewed economic development where innovation and entrepreneurship were stunted.
As mentioned earlier, Chong Eu identified how the Malayan Railway workshop had created and manufactured heavy machinery for the railways that not only overcame this problem but also became the model emulated by other local industries as well.
It may be said therefore that Chong Eu was in fact working against these severe constraints of which he was increasingly becoming aware of.
Severe limitations
The economic recession of the mid-1980 followed by the global financial crisis exposed these severe limitations of a domestic economy dependent on FDI and the export driven economic model and despite working tirelessly and almost single-handedly there was little he could do to improve the situation.
It is arguable as to whether he might have been able to influence federal economic policies had he moved to the position of minister.
Also as pointed out by Dr Mahathir, on the important question of race relations Chong Eu "contributed the most" to the formation of the BN for the good of Malaysia.
Job opportunities were essential for harmonious race relations and the electronic industry was initially very successful in providing these opportunities not only in Penang but also in the surrounding states as well.
But here again, despite initiating fundamental knowledge based skills training, there was a limit to which especially untrained rural youth could respond to rapid and accelerated new technological skills, and the industry almost by definition, had to face continuing employment problems in these areas.
Finally, a pertinent question has been raised as to whether the legacy of Chong Eu might be fulfilled within the current economic development environment ("Keeping Chong Eu's legacy alive (NST 29/11).
In unveiling the federal government's Economic Transformation Program it is clear that Penang will retain its status as the centre of Malaysia's electrical and electronic sector and Permandu will spur the development of the local electronic sector.
Whether this will result in enhancing the legacy of Chong Eu remains to be seen.
But other important areas such as economic development plans, continue to be based on the World Bank export-oriented foreign investor driven economic model that is unlikely to result in the fulfillment of Chong Eu's legacy.
COLLIN ABRAHAM can perhaps qualify as a product of 1 Malaysia - if ever there was one. Beginning a career as the first UM graduate to work as a field assistant in the Social Welfare Department, he moved on to become the director in Malacca and to social development consultant research postings in the Johor/Pahang Regional Master Plans, in Felda, and in rural development. He later joined USM to lecture on ethnic and race relations from where he retired as associate professor. He is the author of the Finest Hour: Malaysia-MCP Peace Accord in Perspective.
