Johor as the Shenzhen of Southeast Asia

While Pakatan Harapan wants to see Johor as the Shenzhen of Southeast Asia, Ling Tian Soon, the Barisan Nasional State Exco and candidate for Yong Peng told a Singapore media that the state would do well by staying as Singapore’s “backyard” (后花园).

This is exactly where the faultline lies. BN’s economic policies over the decades generally see Johor as the backyard of Singapore.

Even when Shenzhen was repeatedly used by Johor Menteri Besar Dato’ Onn Hafiz Ghazi as an example of success, many state BN leaders didn’t seem to understand the essence.

The “Singapore backyard” model had failed big time with Iskandar Malaysia, which was launched 20 years ago in 2006.

The thinking behind Iskandar Malaysia was that, given the wealth of Singapore’s rich, Johor could be their playground. Iskandar Malaysia ended up as a property play.

Why does Shenzhen matter in this conversation?

Shenzhen first overtook Hong Kong in GDP size in 2018, and most importantly, the city built global technology giants such as Huawei and BYD.

The biggest reason behind this is that while Shenzhen started as a supporting ground for Hong Kong, it decided to pivot to a different developmental model by focusing on building manufacturing, R&D and technology.

If Johor envisions a future that is going to leapfrog from the current middle income trap, political leaders of all parties must have a genuine understanding of what being Shenzhen actually means.

We must also be prepared to pursue a path that will build Johor into an economy that has more thriving Malaysian companies with their own technologies.

I hope Pakatan Harapan will be given an opportunity to shape the Johor economy beyond BN’s limited “Singapore backyard” mindset.