Vietnam was one of the fastest growing countries in the world but from a low base. They were following a similar trajectory to China but about 20 years behind. Not sure how the tariffs will affect things.

Vietnam is the next China, they're still behind but catching up fast.

Malaysia is handicapped by the resource curse (lots of oil) dysfunctional government and race politics that serve to drive out everybody who is not ethnically Malay.

I was in Malaysia ~10 years ago. I saw a lot of weird things for sure, but I also saw a modern capital city that could easily shadow over many European cities today in terms of life quality, fancyness and nearly any metric.

I didn't see any shoe manufacturers :)

What were some weird things you saw in the urban areas or suburban areas?