The Malaysian High Commissioner to the UK and Northern Ireland, Ahmad Rasidi Hazizi, can’t recognise the Malaysia portrayed in the international media. According to him, there is a disconnect between the real Malaysia and the Malaysia that is equated with corrupt dictatorships like Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe.

In a letter to The Economist, Rasidi claims that the Malaysian economy is in fact not in trouble, saying that it grew 5% last year and is expected to maintain that rate for the next four years. Additionally, he says, the Economic Transformation Programme created 1.8 million jobs and tripled private investment in the six years since its launch.

He also argues that the Najib administration has implemented a bipartisan reform panel, repealed the Internal Security Act, the Banishment Act and the Restricted Residence Act.

Rasidi paints an almost utopian picture of Malaysia, a country advancing rapidly under the rule of a magnanimous leader, the beacon of hope in the Muslim world. This rosy daydream of Malaysia is one we’d like to have. Unfortunately, Rasidi’s claims sound more foreign to Malaysians than The Economist’ claims do to him.

The truth is that the macro figures on economic growth do not reflect what happens at the micro level. Trickle-down economics can work only if money held by the wealthy is circulated through the economy, benefiting everyone. But when all that money is concentrated at the top, those at the bottom of the totem pole get the privilege of scraping for their next meal.

Considering our rate of growth, employers everywhere should be busy hiring workers. But all we hear about these days are layoffs, and that is hardly the sign of a blooming economy. Yes, the government has enough in its coffers to give out BR1M payments, but the average city dweller still struggles to feed his family three square meals a day.

Many Malaysians will tell Rasidi that they don’t recognise the administration describe. While urban areas are growing in a sign of economic growth, the people have yet to reap the benefits. We still have a ridiculously low minimum wage. And we must contend with rising prices while our Prime Minister’s supporters plead with us to praise him for the reduction of fuel prices at the pump.

This version of Malaysia that the government likes to portray exists in fact sheets and reports, but you’d be hard-pressed to find it in the real world. Show us one success story and we’ll point to the hundreds, perhaps thousands, living homeless under bridges and beside landfills. Boast about the low fuel prices and we’ll point out that we’re suffering under the weight of the GST and other taxes.

And there is the matter of the repealed laws being replaced by amendments to other draconian laws to make them more severe, not to mention the addition of the dictatorial National Security Council Act. No Malaysian can deny that the current administration wields powers in much the same way as Mahathir Mohamad did when he was in power.

Spare us the condescension, please. Things may not be utterly beyond redemption, but there is no way we can deny that something has gone rotten.