Within 2 years, however, the end of this particular recession was in sight for Malaysia, and Daim as Finance
Minister took full credit for masterminding Malaysia’s exit from recession through a series of economic
austerity and stimulatory measures. These measures in reality laid the groundwork and (illusory) foundations
upon which the subsequent Malaysian economic "miracle" was built. As a result, Malaysia’s so-called
economic "fundamentals" were never really as strong as the government made them out to be, and Malaysia
became just as vulnerable to speculative attack on its stock markets and currencies as countries like
Thailand and Indonesia (which were deemed to have far higher rates or corruption and other abuses).

Mahathir and Daim had far more grandiose plans for Malaysia, and Malaysia’s drive towards industrialized
nation status by 2020 was formally launched by Mahathir as his "Vision 2020". A cartoon by Lat,
Malaysia’s most well-known cartoonist, may have been more prophetic than people realized then - it
showed a man holding tickets with the words "20 big" and "20 small" in his hand (his version of "Vision
2020"), referring to certain gambling schemes run by Magnum, a company controlled by MCA and Sports
Toto, a company controlled by a Daim associate, Vincent Tan, who also controls the KL monorail project
(now re-started with a government soft loan) as well as a controversial waste disposal privatization project
through a company known as Indah Water.

Was it really a gamble, and is it one which Mahathir and Malaysia now appear to have lost or can Mahathir
and Daim still pull a few tricks out of their hats, since as it would appear tricks are all they have left?

All available information points to the fact that it was a gamble. This damning indictment can hardly be
avoided by anyone having any independence of mind uninfluenced by foreign agents and local propaganda.

The country’s future was put at stake on a scale again unprecedented in its history and all the not
insubstantial gains of the past were also put at risk by imprudent government policies which actually
benefited a few while only appearing to benefit the many. The inherent inequities of the system thus
perpetrated a false sense of progress and development.

While there were tangible "benefits" in the form of the new roads, highways, airports, ports, buildings and
other infrastructures, these eventually all had to be paid for by consumers and other users, who also had to
pay for the additional hidden costs in terms of the moneys which were siphoned out of these projects for
political and conspicuous consumption purposes by a selected few (the cronies).
 
 
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