December 22, 2009

Malaysia: The Unstoppable Brain Drain

This is a tongue-in-cheek scenario created by Tay Tian Yan. He claims these are true stories. It was published by mysinchew.com on 16 November 2009.

Titled "Made in Malaysia",this article makes one great reading. The implication,however, are of grave concern.

Story No: 1:

The Successful Operation:

A Malaysian politician had heart surgery in Singapore. The operation was successful. During his recuperation, the politician wanted to thank his three skillful doctors, including an anesthesiologist.

He said: “Thanks to Singaporean doctors...”
“I'm sorry, sir. I'm from Malaysia,” interrupted one doctor.
“Me too.”
“Me as well.”

Story No. 2:

The Overseas Township Planners

A Malaysian company wanted to develop a new township abroad, it entrusted the project to a Singapore multinational company.

The Singapore company sent a team of seven people including the chief executive officer, chief architect and chief financial officer.

The first meeting went off smoothly. They relaxed and chatted. The Malaysian company's director said: “Durians from my hometown Kuala Pilah, Seremban taste the best.I'll treat you all next time when you come.”

“Really? What area in Kuala Pilah? I'm from Kuala Pilah, too!” said the Singapore company's chief executive officer.

Next, one by one, the other six from the Singapore team revealed their identities.

“I'm from Malacca.”
“I'm from Kuala Kangsar, Perak.”
“I grew up in Segamat.”
“My hometown is...”

And all of them were actually “made in Malaysia”.

There are countless similar stories around us.

And there is always another story behind each story.

Some of them were rejected by domestic universities while others were rejected by the
Public Services Department which denied them government scholarships in spite of their excellent results.

They couldn't get it even with 10 As while others got only 10 Bs.As leaving might be better than staying, they just went to a different world after crossing the Causeway.

There is a deep feeling for every story. According to Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) statistics, about 785,000 Malaysians are currently working abroad and 44 per cent of them are working in Singapore while the rest are working in other countries, including Hong Kong, China,Australia, Britain and the United States.

And two-thirds of them are professionals.

Sadly, at the same time, most of the two million guest workers here in Malaysia are from neighboring Indonesia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, India and Vietnam.

They are engaged in work which does not require a high educational background but just a little bit of brains. Low skill, low knowledge and, of course, low wages.

Malaysia has become a country that exports brains while importing labourers,resulting in a serious deficit in the knowledge trade.

The government started to lure our talent abroad in 2000 by offering a variety of incentives, including tax concessions and other conditions.

It has been nearly 10 years but only 770 people responded, with an average of 80 talents returning a year. The 770 are just a small number of the total
number of people working abroad.

However, many of this small group of people still choose to leave again.

While many young people are not able to realize their dreams here and thus,they are packing and preparing to pursue their dreams in unfamiliar countries.

And they said that Malaysia wants to become a high-income country.

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