KUALA LUMPUR: A survey by a leading international magazine apportioning marks for quality of life, economic dynamism and education has placed Malaysia 37th in the "Best Countries in the World".

Already industry representatives were yesterday looking forward to an even better showing in the future.

"I hope Malaysia will be in the top 10 in the future," said Malaysian Medical Association president Dr David Quek Kwang Leng.

In the health sector, he said the country had fared well over the past five years.

"Occasionally, we receive complaints like those seeking treatment are not entertained at the wards but that is normal and it happens all over the world."

He added that the government should spend more on the health sector to enhance its performance and take it to a higher level.

Global Environment Centre director Faizal Parish said the country's performance in preserving the environment was satisfactory.

He lauded Malaysia for being able to retain 50 per cent of its forests, an achievement which he said deserved praise. Faizal, however, said the country should focus on aspects of water and river management in tandem with the rapid global change.

"Our river water quality has deteriorated for the past few years. This matter needs prodding."

He added that the country should follow Japan and Singapore for their efficient public transportation services.

"If we are together in making more efforts to improve what we are lacking in, I am sure we could be higher in the scale in the next survey," he said.

In Newsweek's first-ever best countries special issue, it set out to answer a question that is at once simple and incredibly complex -- if you were born today, which country would provide you the very best opportunity to live a healthy, safe, reasonably prosperous, and upwardly mobile life?

For this special survey, Newsweek chose five categories of national well-being -- education, health, quality of life, economic competitiveness, and political environment -- and compiled metrics within these categories across 100 nations.

The survey also listed Malaysia as the eighth best in education among the upper middle-income countries.

Asked on how the education system had progressed so far, Universiti Teknologi Mara Vice-Chancellor Datuk Professor Dr Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar said the country should be praised for its continuous efforts in providing education to many.

"We have progressed a lot. Just look at the increasing number of colleges and universities every year to accommodate students nationwide."

He said the quality of lecturers also increased with more PhD holders to teach in universities.

"In fact, students' academic performance has also improved over the years. This is something we should be proud of."

Sahol said more universities should collaborate with top universities in the world to excel in the field.

The other Asian countries listed in the overall best countries survey were Singapore (20th), Thailand (58th), China (59th), the Philippines (63rd), Sri Lanka (66th), Indonesia (73rd), India (78th), Vietnam (81st), Bangladesh (88th), and Pakistan (89th).

Newsweek said that overall, the top three countries in the world were Finland, Switzerland, and Sweden.

The survey was aided by an advisory board whose members comprised, among others, Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz and Brookings-Tsinghua Center for Public Policy director Geng Xiao.

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