Six years of Dr. Sam and Terengganu is still lagging behind other states
BY ZED YAMANI
Pas keeps telling us Datuk Seri Dr. Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar is Malaysia’s technocratic success story.
PhD in aeroengine combustion from Leeds. Calm. Serious. Data-driven. Now that he is chairing PN, Pas supporters are already chanting, “Dr Sam for PM11!”
So I looked at the numbers. In my view, they tell a very different story. Let’s start with the point Dr. Sam will definitely bring up.
Terengganu’s GDP grew on his watch. RM33.9 billion in 2018 to RM39.9 billion in 2024 according to DOSM.
True. No argument there.
What he will not mention is this: Every single Malaysian state and federal territory grew during the same period. Every one of them.
Growth during a period of national expansion is not leadership. It is the national economy doing the work.
The real question is not whether Terengganu grew, but whether it was catching up with the rest of Malaysia while he was in charge.
In 2018 the state’s GDP per capita was about 67.6 percent of the national average per DOSM. By 2024 it had fallen to 57.2 percent.
Over six years, despite a PhD and a reputation for data-driven governance, the gap widened. It did not just get bigger. It got bigger faster.
Before Dr. Sam, the gap widened by 7.5 percentage points over eight years and that includes a base-year revision, so treat it as approximate.
Under Dr. Sam, it widened 10.4 points in just six years.
Adjust for time and the divergence ran nearly twice as fast under the man with the engineering PhD.
He did not inherit the divergence. He accelerated it.
To be fair, I think there are two things Dr. Sam’s administration genuinely does well.
Terengganu ranks joint first in Malaysia for budget transparency according to IDEAS’ MYOBI index, tying with Selangor.
The state also receives clean audit opinions from the Auditor General consistently. The books are spotless. No dispute there.
The problem is that the economy in those books describes is steadily falling behind.
Real transformation means changing what the economy actually produces.
Yet Terengganu’s manufacturing remains dominated by petrochemicals from the Kerteh complex, according to DOSM.
About 80 to 86 percent of state revenue still comes from petroleum royalties and federal transfers according to budget documents and MARC Ratings.
Take away Petronas and Putrajaya, Terengganu cannot pay its own bills. That is not a self sustaining state economy.
It is an economy on federal life support. Want to know who is actually building Terengganu?
The Kerteh Biopolymer Park is led by the federal agency ECERDC. ECRL is a federal project.
RM14.3 billion in Twelfth Malaysia Plan investments are being driven by ECERDC and MIDA.
Dr. Sam’s own contribution is Invest Terengganu. An agency so outgunned, it barely appears in its own investment announcements.
The pattern is simple. Putrajaya builds. Kuala Terengganu cuts the ribbon.
Let me talk about the people.
Terengganu has one of the two lowest labour force participation rates in Malaysia alongside Kelantan. Around 61 percent in 2024 per DOSM.
Female participation ranks last at 42.7 percent per DOSM Q4 2025.
About 45.8 percent of degree holders work below their qualification level per the DOSM State Socioeconomic Report.
Much of the population sidelined. Nearly half the graduates mismatched. This is what human capital looks like under a technocrat who built none.
If you want to see what a state with no oil but real economic leadership looks like, look at Penang.
No petroleum. No royalties. No wang ehsan. GDP per capita RM76,030 versus Terengganu’s RM32,442. DOSM 2024.
Penang attracted RM60 billion in manufacturing FDI in 2023 per MIDA. Terengganu managed RM2.3 billion in total over five years.
I hear what you are saying. Penang has a port and a fifty-year head start. Fair point.
So let me give you a fairer comparison.
Pahang. Same east coast. Same interior jungle. No oil, no royalties, no wang ehsan.
Economy built on palm oil, tourism, and manufacturing. Sound familiar?
In 2024, Pahang grew at 5.7 percent per DOSM. That beat the national average of 5.1 percent. Terengganu grew at 4.5 percent and missed it.
Pahang’s GDP per capita is around RM44,000. Terengganu’s is RM32,442.
No oil. Similar geography. Pulling further ahead anyway. Not Penang. Pahang. Same coast. No excuses.
Here is the statistic that should follow Dr. Sam into every policy debate.
Terengganu has the lowest life expectancy of any Malaysian state. 72.6 years per Open DOSM.
Did he cause this? No. It predates him and it is structural.
But six years of government by an aerospace engineer with a reputation for evidence-based leadership produced zero improvement.
People in Terengganu still die younger than everyone else. Credentials do not change that. So put the record on the table.
GDP convergence with Malaysia. Down 10.4 percentage points on his watch.
Economic diversification. None. Still running on Petronas fumes and federal transfers.
Graduate utilisation. Nearly half mismatched. Life expectancy. Last place. Budget transparency. Joint first.
He built the most transparent administration of a declining economy in Malaysia.