Malaysians need to change attitude, become producers
BEIJING: Malaysians need to change their attitude towards locally produced goods and become producers, not merely consumers, in order to further develop the country, said Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
The Prime Minister said Malaysians typically wanted to buy good quality products but these products must come from other countries.
“If the product were locally made with a local ( brand) name, they would be quite reluctant to buy,” he said during a luncheon with the Malaysian business community here yesterday.
This kind of attitude had resulted in Malaysia becoming merely a consumer nation, Dr Mahathir said.
He pointed out that the people in China also wanted to buy good quality products but then they learned how to produce them.
“The Chinese here want to learn and produce the best quality goods themselves, and because of that, they have become the factory for the whole world,” said Dr Mahathir, who is on the third day of his five- day official visit to China.
The Prime Minister said China grew and outstripped Malaysia very quickly because its people had a different attitude.
“Malaysia wants to consume, China wants to produce and in the end the producer wins. The consumers simply send money out of the country,” he added. — Bernama