Time to shut down failed TalentCorp

 

From Chew Kok Liang

I refer to the recent spate of letters and articles regarding Malaysia’s brain drain.

In 2007 then deputy home affairs minister Tan Chai Ho released statistics showing that of 107,000 Malaysians who had renounced their citizenship since independence, 79,000 of whom were Malays.

In 2011, the World Bank’s report on Malaysia’s brain drain said over a million Malaysians had emigrated, adding “Singapore absorbed most of the brain drain, both in terms of stock (54% in 2010) and increment (68% over the last decade). Over the last decade, the skilled diaspora in Singapore has grown at a yearly rate of 6%.”

It also found that the key factors that motivated Malaysians to move abroad included differences in earning potential, career prospects, quality of education and quality of life.

“Discontent with Malaysia’s inclusiveness policies is a key factor too, particularly among the non-Bumiputeras who make up the bulk of the diaspora.”

In 2011, TalentCorp was created to help stem the brain drain and attract back Malaysians through its returning experts programme.

However, in a 2015 interview TalentCorp CEO Johan Mahmood Merican admitted it had only attracted 3,600 Malaysians home through its returning expert programme (REP) in the past four years, a figure he admitted was but a “drop in the ocean”.

In 2019, the United Nations department of economic and social affairs said the population of the Malaysian diaspora stood at 1,730,152.

In 2022, the TalentCorp REP total stood at 5,774, a negligible 0.33% of Malaysians who emigrated.

That is not even approaching half a percent of the Malaysians who emigrated, with many returnees emigrating again because of their disappointment with life back in Malaysia.

TalentCorp is therefore an abject failure. It is time TalentCorp is closed down to save some money.

Malaysia’s best and brightest continue to emigrate, especially to Singapore. Many are driven by economic factors but non-Malays are also driven by institutionalised discrimination in Malaysia.

Malaysia trains and educates its graduates and then, 20% of them leave the country.

Besides white-collar workers, Singapore also hires blue-collar workers such as contractors, bus drivers, construction workers and nurses from Malaysia. Thus, both blue- and white-collar workers are leaving Malaysia for Singapore.

Many talented or successful Malaysians I have interacted with have emigrated or are contemplating emigration. Not only for better opportunities overseas but also for the freedom of living in a country which does not practise institutionalised discrimination.

Malaysia is haemorrhaging talent that others happily snap up. Remember Cassandra Hsiao, a Malaysian-born student living in the United States who was accepted by all eight Ivy League universities she applied to in 2017?

What can Malaysia do to stem the brain drain? I can only echo the conclusion of the 2014 Penang Institute report “Exporting grey matter: what the brain drain is costing us”:

“Malaysia needs to value its talents and provide them with an avenue to contribute. Creating a meritocratic system and providing a conducive environment for talent to thrive will brighten career prospects for talented individuals.

“This will serve the nation well and help Malaysia escape the middle-income trap. After all, the grass is greener where you water it.”

Where there’s a will there’s a way. - FMT

Chew Kok Liang is a FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.