YEARS ago, a cousin of mine, who moved abroad to seek a new life, retired and tried to revert to his old village life back in his home town. Before long, however, he packed up and returned to his adopted country – the US.
He was an expert in the aerospace field during his working days in America, and understandably, no one in his old village was able to make head or tail of his cutting edge profession. Back here, it was apparent that there was no place to enjoy his retirement. So he left.
Years ago, I met a doctor who was excellent in his field. The good doctor often travelled to different countries to share his academic research but would also return home to see his grandmother. Back here, there was no avenue for him to further his research and development.
Years ago, two of my old classmates and their families moved to New Zealand and Australia respectively. They were of different areas of expertise but their knowledge was in line with the requirements of their adopted countries. To them and with good reasons, back here was not the best place for their children to get the best education.
Days ago, I discussed the challenges facing civil society in Malaysia with a social activist over coffee. During our chat, he revealed he had already made arrangements to send his only child abroad for studies, even encouraging the youngster not to come back. Contentious issues and the uproar caused by religious bigotry have him deeply worried about his child’s future. Back here, he feels there may not be a peaceful ambiance for his child to grow up in.
Many of my old friends have migrated to countries such as Britain, America, Europe, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore – and are living successful and productive lives there. Some got married after their studies, some developed their careers while some just wanted to seek a free environment to work and live in and where they could also follow their own lifestyles.
Are our talents fleeing the country? This is a persistent issue we must confront.
Migrating to advanced countries is a global trend. Some of these countries, faced with an aging population, are feeling the urgency to compensate for their depleted human capital by attracting high-end human resources to sustain their economic competitive advantage. That is why most such countries have a relatively open migration policy.
Now, with high education standards and advanced information technology, everyone can fly and anyone can become an expert. Moreover, with economic globalisation where more and more multi-national companies are setting up operations across the globe, local professionals and experts seeking green pastures elsewhere has become an unstoppable trend.
Our country is a great example in terms of continually attracting foreign companies and increasing the employment of foreign professionals. In this respect, the resultant loss of local talents is certainly doing the country no favours. It cannot be considered an encouraging scenario unless, due unexpected events, these talents decide to travel the world but at the end of the day, still opt to return to share their knowledge and experience.
In the past few years, the World Bank has given quite a positive evaluation of TalentCorp Malaysia’s initiatives such as the Return Expertise Programme (REP), the Residence Pass-Talent (RPT) and other tax-supporting incentives. To combat talents-pinching, efforts to attract dispersed top brains home to help with the country’s development is, indeed, commendable.
However, all of this is still in the hands of the people and, inevitably, those of the policy makers as well. Take the local automotive industry for example. If only its policy had not tilted towards protectionism, Thailand would not have surpassed us.
Similarly, if Malaysia’s economic transformation programme for the oil and gas industry as well as the liberalisation of the financial sector had not been put in place a few years ago, we would have lost a lot more of our expertise in these areas.
Of course, we can always choose to be the same as New Zealand where the emphasis is on greening the environment, boosting tourism and strengthening agricultural enterprise with less focus on the development of other industries and commerce. But you must know New Zealand is one of the developed countries facing the draining of talents.
There are also examples of nations with increasingly radicalised political conservatism and social division. Indeed, politicians should do more to nurture and promote cross-communal tolerance and understanding in a plural society than paying mere lip service to such noble causes without any tangible results to show for.
In this modern era, the world has become a place where, for admittedly valid reasons, the talented are more than ready and willing to move with the flow of economic opportunities and prosperity. People will continue to migrate to places which offer a conducive working and living environment, security and flexibility for them and their families to develop and progress in a non-discriminatory setting and, not any less important, public policies that are fair and beneficial to all. (From Oriental Daily)