Malaysia vs Mauritius. Maybe We Can Learn From Them?

I have plans to travel all around the world. In 5 years time, I wish to go to Mauritius. Well some of you may think that it's quite long to wait, but I have a lot of expanses that I need to deal with since I started working, (plus I sure want to do my Umrah before travelling to other places) so I have to start saving for this big 'project'. hehe. I have been studying about Mauritus quite sometime. For those who doesn't know, it is located in the Indian Ocean, southeast cost of Africa.

The Strategies That Wowed Me

Well anyway, today's post is not about Mauritius. If you want to know more about what's interesting in Mauritius, you may do some googling for it.=) Just now, while I was reading this week's 'The Edge', I have came across an article by Prof Joseph E Stiglitz, a professor in Columbia University and a Nobel laureate in economics. Mauritius, is neither particularly rich nor on its way to budgetary ruin. Nonetheless, it has spent the last decades successfuly building a diverse economy, a democratic political system and a strong social safety net. Here are two points captured on Mauritius success stories that we may want to rather learn from:

1. Unlike us: that's very popular with our own crude oil, Mauritians have no exploitable natural resources. So they are their own asset. You can find free education up to university for all of the citizens, transport for schoolchildren and free healthcare, including heart surgery for all, there, at Mauritius. It is not whether we can afford to provide free healthcare or education for all, but it is actually about how to organize the society.

2. Apparently, Mauritians also believe that spending a lot of money for military is a waste. While we have a lot (millions of RM spent for millitary submarines) of 'submarine warfare', Mauritious thinks that defense systems are not all about spending.

Mauritians have increased per capita income from less than US$400 around the time of independence to more than US$6,700 (RM20, 470) today

But Not Everyone Is Perfect

This is not to say that Mauritius is without problems:

1. Its worries today is on imported food and energy inflation. So some intervention i.e. stabilising prudential banking regulations is being considered.

2. US until now, still occupies one of Mauritius offshore islands, Diego Garcia, as a naval base without compensation, officially leasing it from UK; expelled its citizens and refuses to allow them to return. This is totally a violation of international law.

Well, this post may bore some people, but I hope it could add to our knowledge on economy and growth.=)