'Talent Corp needs 300 years to reverse brain drain'

At the rate Talent Corp is attracting promising Malaysians overseas to return home, it will take 300 years for the programme to reverse the country's brain drain, said Damansara Utama state assemblyperson Yeo Bee Yin.

She was responding to Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Abdul Wahid Omar (left) who had in Parliament said the RM65 million spent since 2011 for Talent Corp was worthwhile as it was effective in reversing the brain drain.

"We would like to remind Abdul Wahid that according to the World Bank report... there are more than 300,000 Malaysian professionals settled down outside of Malaysia.

"The Talent Corp programme however, has only succeeded in bringing back 680 Malaysians professionals in 2011, 923 in 2012 and 502 up to June this year.

"Even at 1,000 professionals returning every year, at this ‘reverse' rate, it will take 300 years for Talent Corp to reverse Malaysia's brain drain," she said in a press statement today.

Yeo said that even this estimate is very optimistic as it excludes the ongoing brain drain.

Aside from the fact that two out of every 10 tertiary educated Malaysians leave the country according to the World Bank Report 2011, Yeo said Malaysia is also unable to attracted foreign talent as 60 percent of immigrants only have primary education or less and the number of skilled expatriates has declined by 25 percent since 2004.

"Perhaps Abdul Wahid Omar, as the former CEO of Maybank, can tell us as to what kind of magic mathematics he has used to define the effectiveness of Talent Corp in reversing brain drain?" she said.

‘Address social justice'

Yeo pointed out that the World Bank Report had found the three main driving forces for talented Malaysians to leave the country is due to career prospects (66 percent), social justice (60 percent) and compensation (54 percent).

"While brain drain and the diaspora reflect the forces of globalisation and it is not unique to Malaysia which is a developing country, losing talents due to career prospects, compensation and social injustice can and should be addressed to reverse brain drain.

"Surveys have shown that Malaysian diaspora have strong sense of attachment to the motherland. Given more inclusive policies and fairer social environment, many talented Malaysians will choose to come home or stay in Malaysia even without the costly Talent Corp Programme," she said.

Yeo (right) urged the government to re-examine its brain drain reversal policies to address the root of the problem.

"There is a serious need for policy and structural reform to introduce meritocracy back to the Malaysian society, both in education and business world, while not neglecting the population based on needs," she said.