"Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad is believed to have said: "If we use the merit system , half of the university students don't qualify..."
A Hokien would simply put the difference to Singapore's national attitude of Kiasu (as in don't want to lose out) and Malaysia's national attitude of Kiasi (as in being defeatist, rightly or wrongly, perpetuated by vested political interests).
Seriously, both former Prime Ministers (of Singapore and Malaysia respectively) are autocratic in their own ways. Whether Singapore and Malaysia could have been better off as one is subject to much debate and we can do so until the cows come home and not getting any wiser.
I believe Singapore was lucky to be kicked out of Malaysia because LKY was able to do what was necessary and the results was an amazing transformation of an island state with practically no natural resources, into a vibrant financial centre, with national reserve twice that of Malaysia (ranked No.11 as compared with No.20 in the world) and if based on per capita, its national reserve was 11 times that of Malaysia (ranked No. 4 in the world!)
If Singapore and Malaysia were one country, I can imagine the chaos and disruptions in administration arising from political and racial disputes. There are certain things which cannot be forced upon and it is better to be pragmatic. The sum of the parts seems greater than the whole can be seen when the reserves of Singapore and Malaysia are lumped together and its ranking would have edged out India! But was it possible? No way could there be unity and autonomy to do what was necessary. I believe in the principle of subsidiarity, which according to Wikipedia:
'Subsidiarity is an organizing principle that matters ought to be handled by the smallest, lowest or least centralized competent authority. The Oxford English Dictionary defines subsidiarity as the idea that a central authority should have a subsidiary function, performing only those tasks which cannot be performed effectively at a more immediate or local level...'
Hong Kong and Macau, which were under British and Portuguese rule respectively for many years, prospered way ahead of China, until recently. They are essentially being administered separately and differently to continue their economic and developmental success.
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