IRB 20703 MALAYSIA’S FOREIGN POLICY

DR. HUSSAIN YUSRI

IMPACT ON TUN DR MAHATHIR LOOK EAST POLICY

SARJANA MUDA HUBUNGAN ANTARABANGSA DENGAN KEPUJIAN

SEMESTER 3 TAHUN 2 (SMIR3)

GROUP 1

1. FARIS AKMAL BIN ABD RAHMAN 065628

2. MUHAMMAD AMIN BIN ZAINISAM 065889

3. YASER ALKADRI NIM F1F020040
4. DAVID YOANEDI PUTRA NIM F1F020027
5. PANDU PUTRA RITONGA NIM F1F020074
INTRODUCTION

THE HISTORY OF LOOK EAST POLICY AND WHAT MAKES IT SO IMPORTANT FOR
MALAYSIA

Furuoka (2007) Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad took office as Malaysia's
leader in July 1981. After serving in his position for six months, he declared a plan to use
Malaysia's nation-building efforts to learn from Japan's (and Korea's) experiences. He believed
that Japanese work ethics, morale, and management prowess are the key to the country's
success and extraordinary progress. He believed that a programme allowing young Malaysians
to study in Japan would help Malaysia thrive economically and socially. Malaysia made the
decision to send students to Japan for this reason in order to teach them Japanese work ethics
and discipline in addition to academics and technical knowledge.

Furuoka (2007) The most successful aspect of Japanese society is their ability to instil a
strong work ethic in practically all of their people. This is something that many people have
noticed and can be proven simply by looking at how Japan operates. It is not easy to shape a
hardworking country like Japan. These principles must be instilled at a young age and modelled
by the majority of citizens. This is precisely what Japan has done throughout history and
continues to do today.

Furuoka (2007) This programme is known as the "Look East Policy." There are two
components to the course. The first is sending Malaysian students to Japanese tech schools
and universities. The second is to deploy trainees to Japanese businesses and training facilities.
The Government of Malaysia funds these programmes, while the Government of Japan
contributes to them by sending Japanese teachers to Malaysia and by covering a portion of the
expenses.

The policy was essentially an attempt to persuade Malaysians to abandon their

conventional views of Western countries as role models in favour of looking East. The
underlying idea was that Malaysia could learn a lot from the experiences of countries in the
East, particularly Japan and Korea, which had made significant economic growth. Therefore,
Tun Dr. Mahathir believed that allowing young Malaysians to study in Japan would benefit
Malaysia's economic and social development, Furuoka (2007).
LOOK EAST POLICY: IMPACT ON SOCIAL ASPECT

As the purpose and background of the look east policy carried out by Tun Dr. Mahathir,
changes in the social aspect are the main thing to consider in implementing this foreign policy.
Tun Dr. Mahathir sees that the work ethic and attitude of the people in East Asia, especially
Japan, have a positive value, especially in the country's development and industrialization. Dr.
Mahathir showed this intention in his speech at the 5th ASEAN-Japan Symposium 1982 in
Kuala Lumpur. He said, "We want particularly to emulate and learn from the Japanese the work
ethics and attitudes and the management system, which we think is the main factor in their rapid
growth and industrialization (Machado, 1987)." Dr. Mahathir formed programs that were also
part of the "look east policy" foreign policy to achieve these goals.

Four main programs are part of the look east policy (Machado, 1987), namely the First
one is the degree program, this program allows students to study intensive Japanese for a
one-half year, then, while continuing with language, they take science and social science
courses taught by the Japanese academic instructors for an additional one and one-half years.
On completion, they go to Japan and enter universities as third-year degree candidates in
scientific and technical fields. The second one is executive development. Several groups per
year, each consisting of nine or ten managerial personnel from various government departments
and statutory bodies, have been sent to Japan for individual posting with private and public
organizations in their areas of concern for a year or less. Participants have been assigned to
companies, Sogo Shosha, public authorities (e.g., the airport), and cooperatives. Several
groups have also been sent to South Korea under the same program. Third is industrial training.
This program is for professionals (such as engineers), technical instructors, technicians, and
members of the general workforce, primarily from the public sector. Participants take an
intensive Japanese language course at ITM for six months before going to Japan, where they
are assigned to plants for training in their areas of specialization. Forth is Technical College
Education. It is another small program under which 25 to 30 Malaysian students attend various
technical colleges annually. The first batch in 1984 was drawn from participants already in
Japan under the industrial training program. Others are to spend one year at a language school
in Tokyo for an intensive course before beginning their studies. There is a similar program in
South Korea too (Machado, 1987). With the transfer of knowledge and culture, at least some
minor changes have occurred, such as using a time card system in government offices, so that
employees can be more easily monitored and disciplined on time (coming and going home).

LOOK EAST POLICY: IMPACT ON ECONOMIC ASPECT

Mr. Mahathir is a figure who has not only been in power in Malaysia since 1981,
but for a long time, he has tried to change the course of Malaysia’s economy and
politics. One of Mr. Mahathir's obsessions towards Malaysia is an attempt to make
Malaysia a Newly Industrializing Countries (NIC’s) where one of the objectives is an
attempt to minimize economic and capital dependence on industrialized countries in the
West. During the reign of Mr. Mahathir, the most prominent foreign policy is the Look
East Policy. One of the reasons for Mahathir's policy was that Britain was no longer
suitable to be used as an example for the continuity of economic and political
development in Malaysia. Shifting this orientation, by choosing Japan and ASIA NIC’s
(South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong-kong) is the right and strategic answer
(Joan M. Nelson, 2008). The Look East Policy announced by Mr. Mahathir in December
1981 aims to support the implementation of the New Economic Policy (NEP). Another
aim of the Look East Policy is to invite Japanese investment and ASIA NIC’s to invest in
Malaysia. By involving Japan and ASIA NIC’s this can become a model for the country’s
economic development. So that in this way, Malaysia can develop forward to become
one of the “Asian Tiger Candidates” in the Southeast Asian region. The results of the
Look East Policy are:

● Malaysian Automotive Industry

In 1982, Mr. Mahathir announced to ASEAN countries that Malaysia would soon
have its own car company. The beginning of the work on the establishment of the
company and cooperation with Mitsubishi which has produced a prototype of the Proton
car which will soon be produced. Officially this company is under the joint company
Otomobil Nasional Dirian Bhd, which was started in 1983 (Furuoka, 2007).

● Trade Beneficial
 In 1985, Japan's dominant position was further strengthened with Malaysia
exporting and importing more products to and from Japan than any other country. As
much as 24.3% of Malaysia's exports to Japan and 23% of its imports from there. This
compares to only 2.6% of Malaysian products exported to the UK and 4% of its total
imports from that country. Even Malaysia's second most important trading partner,
Singapore, is relatively far behind with 19.3% of exports and 15.9% of imports. For
Japan, on the other hand, Malaysian trade represents only a small part or only 2.03% of
Japan's total exports (FMT, 2022).

● Investment

In 1970-1973, there were 197 Japanese companies in Malaysia. By 1977 this

number had swelled to 489 companies founded with an investment of US$425 million.
So that it can be said that almost 70% of factories in Malaysia "smell" of Japan.

Then Japanese investment in Malaysia in 1981, reached 69 million Ringgit and

increased to 766.6 million Ringgit in 1983, which was number two after Singapore. The
increase in Japanese investment in Malaysia since 1987 is referred to as the third wave
after the first wave from 1973 and the second wave from 1982 (Furuoka, 2007).

LOOK EAST POLICY: IMPACT ON POLITICAL ASPECT

The political sphere is also one of the aspects affected by the Look East Policy,
this is shown by Tun Mahathir's anti-British attitude. Malaysia also began to lean more
towards themselves to have more relations with developed countries and NICs in Asia
or the East mainland.

anti-British

The anti-British attitude that began to develop in Malaysia after Tun Mahathir's
advancement as prime minister is something that can be predicted by many observers
and academics, this is because Tun Mahathir came up with a Look East Policy.
Mahathir appealed to Malaysia and all Malaysian citizens not to use the west/British as
a reference, Mahathir actually thought that Malaysia should use developed
countries/NICs in Asia such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan as a reference. Tun
Mahathir thinks that Japan and South Korea are good examples in developing a
country. Therefore, Malaysia began to move away from the clutches of British hands.
This was further clarified when Mahathir made their first anti-British movement by
acquiring or nationalizing one of the major British companies in Malaysia, namely
Guthrie (Salamm, 1992)

After successfully taking over the Guthrie company, Mahathir continued his
movement by making a statement namely Buy British Last (BBL). the purpose of this
policy is to put political and economic pressure on the British side which has always
underestimated Malaysia, also from an objective perspective, this policy is also
considered as Malaysia's way of making relations between ASEAN countries a priority.
therefore, the main objective of this BBL policy is to declare that Malaysia is an
independent country at this time and is also independent from the United Kingdom. As
the final step to show anti-British attitude, Mahathir carried out an action which
according to some practitioners and academics was the final step and the climax of
Mahathir where Tun Mahathir was not present at the annual meeting of the
Commonwealth of Nations (Salamm, 1992)

Relation and Agreement

As previously stated, the Look East Policy, which makes Malaysia's point of view
more inclined to Eastern countries such as Asia, has an influence on how Malaysia
conducts relations between countries. Malaysia during the Tun Mahathir era preferred
relations with countries that were used as references in the Look East Policy, such as
Japan (Furuoka, 2007). Mahathir came up with an idea by formulating the East Asian
Economic caucus (EAEC) and encouraging Japan to become a leader in this
agreement.

Mahathir has other priorities in building relations with countries outside Malaysia,
and not only with developed countries in the Asian region. Mahathir has a priority order
for establishing relationships in the Look East Policy. Relations with ASEAN countries is
the first priority that Mahathir has maintained. then to two is followed by a relationship
with countries of the Non-aligned movement and as the third and fourth order is the
relationship with Islamic countries and commonwealth countries and Islamic countries
(Salamm, 1992)

DRAWBACKS TO LOOK EAST POLICY

The effectiveness of the Look to the East policy is frequently assessed. Positive effects
are frequently seen. The fundamental view to the east does, however, have a hole that has to
be filled. The primary issue with this policy is how inefficient and ineffectively it is implemented.

Malaysia is still firmly entrenched in the "middle income trap," as seen by the Look East
policy's emphasis on strong ties between the government and corporate community, strong
work ethics, weak labour unions, and a lack of environmental concern. The administrative
structure of organisations in Malaysia should have been changed by this policy to be more
effective, but this did not occur. It is clear that Malaysia is still lagging behind in terms of good
governance when compared to nations like China, South Korea, Japan, and Singapore (FMT,
2022).

In terms of inefficiency, Malaysia still lacks an overall understanding of governance that

despises corruption, cabinet ministers with integrity and honesty, transparency in governance,
and respect for integrated ecological and human rights, all of which are necessary for work
ethics and industry to flourish in a meaningful manner. The corporate sector is no exception to
this. The rise of ethno-religious politics anytime public responsibility is expected together with
the desire for devotion to a leader is what has so far made the issue worse (FMT, 2022).

It is undeniable from an environmental perspective. In contrast, Mahathir's Look East

policy of mistaken industrial nationalism has neglected environmental damage where future
generations would face the brunt of the irresponsibility, resulting in millions of automobiles on
the road today that contribute to the climatic crisis (FMT, 2022)..
CONCLUSION

The Malaysian society has benefited greatly from Tun Dr. Mahathir's look east policy, particularly
in the economic, social, and political spheres. The foundation of Malaysia's and East Asia's
bilateral relations has likewise been this policy. However, there are also gaps in this policy that
should be considered for improvement in the subsequent policy. Of course, Mahathir
accomplished some positive things during his administration, such as the development of the
infrastructure, but these achievements only represent a small portion of the overall system and
process of success.

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