singaporean cakap, singaporean dianak tirikan gomen, foreigner dibelai manja....

their economy mainly driven by foreign investment rite?

it doesnt matter. what matters is the concentration of people and urbanisation. the more people in a city, the more vibrant its economy, and this vibrancy is what leads to national economic growth. that's why underpopulated brunei lags behind singapore. even in the 1960s, brunei was better only in terms of 'living standards' - having more space, less congestion, etc. likewise, malaysia too is underpopulated, even discounting the rural areas, kl is small.

if you look at it in a macro view, why would kl and penang (or even new york, london or any large cities today) exist, since none of the cities have any mining, drilling or forestry industries within it?

depend on current situation, malaysia need to liberalize its industry. open total control for foreigners.

currently, the govt has already liberalized some industry but not all