MALAYSIA is deep in debt. According to Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, the figure has reached RM1.087 trillion (around Rp3.8 million trillion), or 80.3 percent of Malaysia's gross domestic product. With a debt that high, Lim said, "If a baby is born today in Malaysia, he (she) will already be in RM33,000 (approximately Rp116 million) in debt."

Former Prime Minister Najib Razak corrected the data, putting Malaysia's debt at only RM686 billion. But Lim