I was in Singapore yesterday for a day trip to meet bankers and financial people. I flew in at 9.30 am and went straight to a meeting. I was asked a lot of questions on politics and economics. I spoke in total for 3 hours then caught the 6 pm flight back.
Most of the audience were senior investment directors and officers. All were either Malaysians or originally Malaysians. Half had given up their Malaysian citizenship recently and the other half still hanging on to hope.
They told me that there is no glass ceiling in corporate Singapore and that as Malaysians they are not discriminated upon. All have reached the very top of their profession. They talked about how they really liked the political reforms in Indonesia and will invest heavily there in the next few years. They also likened Vietnam as the next best thing. Sadly, none were bullish on Malaysia. All had political concerns and felt the 1MDB scandal confirmed their worst fears that the corruption is severe and deep set.