Malaysia slides a few rungs in development index
Yoon Szu-MaePublished: May 16, 2001 12:06 AM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 10:21 AM
Living standards in Malaysia rank 61st in the world, according to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in a report released yesterday.
This is a drop from last year's 56th position. Malaysia is currently wedged in between Bulgaria (60) and Russia (62), as the best place to live.
The [#1]UNDP report[/#] provides yearly ranking of 174 countries according to the human development index (HDI), a weighted measurement based on income, health care, life expectancy and educational levels.
Malaysia ranks behind Chile (38), Uruguay (39), Mexico (55) and Panama (59). Cuba replaces Malaysia in last year's spot of 56. Neighbouring Singapore managed to pull a ranking of 24, while Brunei has the No. 32 spot.
However, Malaysia is ahead of other Asean neigbours, Thailand (76), Philippines (77) and Indonesia (109). Coming in last in this year's list is war-torn Sierra Leone. [See [#2]list[/#]]
For the seventh consecutive year, Canada once again sits at the top of the HDI, but under the gender empowerment index, the Scandinavian countries of Norway, Iceland and Sweden rank better as places to live for women.
Such disparities indicate that greater scrutiny of the rankings are required.
"Almost all countries show less deprivation and higher human development in urban rather than rural areas. Most show differences between ethnic groups. And almost everywhere men fare better than women," said the UNDP.
The report, produced every year since 1990, also provides in-depth study of world development with regard to a particular issue of global concern chosen for that year. This year's topic is: human rights and human development.
This year's report continues on the same vein as last year's, warning about the dangers of globalisation and how current developments have ignored the rights of the people.
It argues that "the current arrangements for global governance are based on the pursuit of national interest rather than the collective global interest," which "results in the failure to produce policies [that] protect the poor and the disadvantaged."
This is a drop from last year's 56th position. Malaysia is currently wedged in between Bulgaria (60) and Russia (62), as the best place to live.
The [#1]UNDP report[/#] provides yearly ranking of 174 countries according to the human development index (HDI), a weighted measurement based on income, health care, life expectancy and educational levels.
Malaysia ranks behind Chile (38), Uruguay (39), Mexico (55) and Panama (59). Cuba replaces Malaysia in last year's spot of 56. Neighbouring Singapore managed to pull a ranking of 24, while Brunei has the No. 32 spot.
However, Malaysia is ahead of other Asean neigbours, Thailand (76), Philippines (77) and Indonesia (109). Coming in last in this year's list is war-torn Sierra Leone. [See [#2]list[/#]]
For the seventh consecutive year, Canada once again sits at the top of the HDI, but under the gender empowerment index, the Scandinavian countries of Norway, Iceland and Sweden rank better as places to live for women.
Such disparities indicate that greater scrutiny of the rankings are required.
"Almost all countries show less deprivation and higher human development in urban rather than rural areas. Most show differences between ethnic groups. And almost everywhere men fare better than women," said the UNDP.
The report, produced every year since 1990, also provides in-depth study of world development with regard to a particular issue of global concern chosen for that year. This year's topic is: human rights and human development.
This year's report continues on the same vein as last year's, warning about the dangers of globalisation and how current developments have ignored the rights of the people.
It argues that "the current arrangements for global governance are based on the pursuit of national interest rather than the collective global interest," which "results in the failure to produce policies [that] protect the poor and the disadvantaged."
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