Kuala Lampur, July 30 -- For decades, Malaysia has been the world's most polite economic underachiever.

We dazzle visitors with the Petronas Twins, hum along to our export numbers, and pat ourselves on the back for avoiding the fate of a Sri Lanka or a Greece. But beneath the gloss lies a nagging, uncomfortable truth: we are stuck in a middle-income trap, and the clock is ticking.

While our neighbors - Vietnam, Indonesia, even Bangladesh - race ahead with aggressive industrial policies and reforms, Malaysia remains a nation debating the size of subsidies for the rich while our best and brightest pack their bags for Singapore. Let's talk about the major issues no one wants to name, and whether the current government is finally serious ab...