Malaysia must respond to stop brain drain, says Kit Siang

By Debra Chong

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 – The DAP’s Lim Kit Siang today called the government’s Talent Corporation meaningless, and pointed to news that another Malaysian had become Singapore’s top student as a sign that talent was leaving the country at a faster pace.

He said Talent Corporation would not be able to stem the brain drain phenomenon unless it can provide what other countries are offering Malaysians.

The veteran opposition leader cited the example of Malaysian teen, Chia Pei Yun, topping Singapore’s O-level examinations this year.

The O-levels are the equivalent of Malaysia’s SPM examinations.

“Unless the Cabinet is prepared to come out with a commensurate response, even the formation of a Talent Corporation will not be meaningful in checking brain drain to retain and attract the best human capital in the country, the most important pre-condition to save Malaysia from bankruptcy in 2019,” the 69-year-old said in a media statement today.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of the government’s transformation programme, Datuk Seri Idris Jala, had previously warned that Malaysia could become another Greece before it achieved its dream of a becoming a developed nation in 2020.

Lim said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak should make the issue a priority when he holds his weekly Cabinet meeting tomorrow if he is serious about transforming the nation’s economy from industry-based to knowledge-based.

Lim remarked that it was the third year in a row a Malaysian student had excelled in the island republic’s exams, and named Selangor girls Lai Kai Rou and Haw Sue Sern to drive home his point.

The federal lawmaker reminded Najib to heed the advice of his own panel who had collectively said, when the New Economic Model (NEM) was announced last March, that: “Malaysia must be seen by its people and others as a land of equal opportunity to earn a good living and provide a secure, happy life for each individual and family.”

The Talent Corporation – or Talent Corp for short – is an agency under the Prime Minister’s Department tasked to draw skilled foreigners and an estimated 700,000 skilled locals currently abroad to work in Malaysia.

Another 1.5 million Malaysians are estimated to be studying and living overseas.

The agency is headed by Johan Mahmood Merican, 37, who has a first-class honours degree in economics from Cambridge University, and started operations on January 1.

Putrajaya had last month announced a new visa scheme to start in April that will make it easier for skilled expatriates to live and work in the country.

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