Indonesian. Ex-engineer at Microsoft, Samsung, & IntelUpvoted by , lives in Indonesia (2004-present) and , MBA International Economics & Marketing, Fudan University (2008)
There are several reasons.
Malaysia is richer from the start.
Well, this might not be answering the question but the reality is Malaysia was already richer than Indonesia and Philippines per capita since early days. During the 1960's for example, Malaysia GDP per capita is already around five times of Indonesia and twice of Philippines. Today, Malaysia GDP per capita is three times of Indonesia and four times of Philippines.
So if you ask why Malaysian is wealthier (per capita) than Indonesia and Philippines, you might need to look further than just decades ago.
Malaysia enjoys political stability
Compared to heated democracies in Indonesia and Philippines, Malaysia enjoys political stability. Even though I don't think Malaysia has better politicians than Indonesia or Philippines, but Malaysia does not experience much political turbulences like Indonesia and Philippines.
I don't really agree with Steven de Guzman's answer about Malaysia has less corruption. It just seems so. But I once worked with Malaysian civil servants and I realized that backhanding is not just a tennis move.
But I agree that Indonesia and Philippines are also corrupted.
Malaysia invested wealth better
Malaysia has infrastructure boom during 1980-1990 and they focused into what it takes to boost their economy during that time. Albeit the economic crisis of 1998 hit them hard, they bounced back in five years. Meanwhile in Philippines and Indonesia, the wealth did not really being managed well.
In Indonesia, public infrastructure is never a focus. Once, the budget for its infrastructure development is only around 2% of national budget. While the budget for fuel subsidy is even larger than that.
I don't know about Philippines. But Malaysia invested better in long-term during the early days so that they can enjoy better development later.
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