PETALING JAYA: Umno Youth says a recent call by Dr Mahathir Mohamad for Malaysian youths to work in Turkey calls to question whether the prime minister is in the “right frame of mind”.
“Two days ago, before he made this statement, he did mention about urging labour market reforms which is crucial to address job mismatches which contribute to graduate underemployment, unemployment and slow wage growth as well as over-dependence on foreign labour. Now he asks us to leave this country?” said Wan Agyl Wan Hassan, the strategic director for Umno Youth.
Saying the proposal was an insult to youths in the country, Wan Agyl also took to task Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.
“Syed Saddiq seems to be silent about this insult and I don’t see how youth can rely on him for the next four years,” he told FMT.
On Saturday, Mahathir, who recently visited Turkey, urged young Malaysians to emulate Turkish youth whom he described as hardworking, adding that they should also work in Turkey before returning to Malaysia.
“The younger generation should go to Turkey, learn the Turkish language and work there for 10 years and when they return here, I think there will be changes in Malaysia,” the prime minister said.
But Wan Agyl said the proposal would only exacerbate Malaysia’s brain drain.
“Hoping for them to come back is totally absurd when they have built their life and career including having a family in that country,” he said.
He said Malaysia does not need more of its talents to add to the more than 35,000 who have migrated in the last two decades.
“This country will not be progressive at all since most of our talents are migrating to other countries,” he said.
Wan Agyl contrasted the call with the previous government’s efforts to attract the Malaysian diaspora overseas back to the country through various incentives as well as such programmes undertaken by Talent Corp.
“Now we ask more young Malaysians to leave?” he asked.
He also questioned Pakatan Harapan’s promise to provide a million job opportunities for youths.
“In fact, there are more jobless graduates not to mention jobless people who have been retrenched,” he added. - FMT
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