How would a multinational company react to a country which advertises its advantages as follows?

Low taxes: 16%; rule of law; clean government; free flow of information; gateway to China; world-class infrastructure; unrivalled location; skilled workforce; level playing field; international lifestyle

That is how Hong Kong advertises itself (above copy taken from an advertisement in the latest issue of BusinessWeek magazine, Asian edition). And Hong Kong must be doing something right — the ad says that more than 3,000 companies have located their regional headquarters in the territory.

Or consider what Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said recently in Tokyo. He said that the republic must bring in companies that can take full advantage of its "premium environment". He was also quoted as having said that "in Singapore, conditions are stable and predictable, rules are transparent, intellectual property is protected, workers are hard working, everything works and will continue to do so".

Singapore is busy restructuring its economy and is concentrating on seven areas: manufacturing, macro-economic competitiveness, entrepreneurship, human capital, services, domestic enterprises and coping with restructuring. The Singapore government has identified globalisation, technology, the rise of China and the advent of political Islam as key factors that are changing the complexion of the region.

Singapore is also reported to be still on target to attract S$9 billion (RM18 billion) in manufacturing investments this year.

If I were a policy maker in Malaysia, facing the type of stiff competition for foreign direct investment from the likes of Hong Kong and Singapore, I would be very, very afraid.

Yet, I don't seem to see a sense of urgency that the rules of the game have changed permanently and that the game is going away from Malaysia towards countries and territories that are busy opening up and re-inventing themselves.

It is a dangerous complacency and something few people in Malaysia seem to have woken up to. For most of us, it is muddling along as usual. And that's just not good enough when foreign investors are deciding where to put their money.