As Malaysia heads to the polls on May 9th, prime minister Najib Razak can point to what looks like a buoyant economy with growth hitting nearly 6 percent last year, a stronger currency and full employment. Najib has had to steer the country through the global financial crisis and the plunge in oil prices, and has been lauded by analysts and economists for some key economic reforms. But those same reforms have caused pain for ordinary Malaysians, leaving Najib with the uphill task of convincing voters that Malaysia's economy is on the right track, as Rian Maelzer reports from Kuala Lumpur.

Che Mazenah Che Omar is a life-long supporter of the ruling Barisan Nasional. Or was, until recently.

CHE MAZENAH CHE OMAR BREAKFAST STALL OPERATOR "All the news we see in the papers, on TV say the economy is doing well. But we don't see that or feel that. It feels to us that the economy is really bad and we are feeling the pressure of rising cost of living. That is our reality."

Like many Malaysians, her big complaints are the 6 percent goods and services tax introduced three years ago and the rollback of subsidies. Yet economists say Prime Minister Najib Razak needed to take those steps to boost government revenue and reduce the deficit. And they point to economic growth averaging close to five percent and, on paper at least, rising national per capita income.

PROF. YEAH KIM LENG, ECONOMIST SUNWAY UNIVERSITY "Despite the headline numbers that are showing very good performance of the overall economy, the key here is to ensure that growth is well distributed and because of the unequal distribution of the growth we are seeing some of the discontentment particularly among the lower income groups that are facing rising price pressures."

RIAN MAELZER KUALA LUMPUR "When Najib came to power in 2009 he pledged to forge a new economic model to help Malaysia become a high-income country. Among the steps he proposed was to end the affirmative action policies that favour the majority ethnic Malays and reduce government involvement in the economy through privatization."

PROF. TERENCE GOMEZ UNIVERSITY OF MALAYA "He has reneged on both. We have not seen first a new economic model in place, and second we have not seen a major transformation, a transformation that people would argue Malaysia today is better off than we were 10 years ago."

Critics say there is still too much patronage, wastage and corruption. And while Najib's government has succeeded in attracting some high-tech investments, Malaysian industry is still far too reliant on cheap foreign labour.

Analysts also cite the need to upgrade Malaysians' skills to make sure they are prepared for the jobs of the future and ensure that Malaysia's economic progress will be a reality people can feel, and not just hear about in the media. Rian Maelzer, CGTN, Kuala Lumpur.