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UPDATED VERSION. INVESTORS choose their centres of operations carefully, often by prioritising the proximity to human capital as a rule of thumb. This investment requirement triggered a dilemma in Penang, which had recently lost out on a multi-billion ringgit foreign investment because it could not guarantee the adequate supply of experienced electrical and electronic (E&E) engineers. Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who is also a Paeliamentarian, recently told the House of Representatives that the state lost US$3 billion (RM10.2 billion) worth of foreign investment because it could not commit to supplying 1,000 engineers to the investors. While rival political parties were swift to capitalise on the issue to criticise the Chief Minister for letting go a vast opportunity, the issue had exposed a new reality in Malaysia -- the country's position in global competitiveness. It was imperative of Chief Minister Lim to clarify as Penang is considered as the country’s Silicon Valley. “I didn’t turn down their investment but they did not want to come because I could not give them a guarantee,” he was quoted in Singapore's Straits Times as having told The Star recently. This difficulty in getting bulk numbers of experienced engineers in specific fields was acknowledged by the Human Resource Minister today. The Penang Chapter of the Institute of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) today said that of the 1,350 engineers on its register, only 260 were trained in the field of E&E. Penang hosts major manufacturing plants that carry international marques in the E&E industry, including Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, and photonics player like Osram Opto Semiconductors and medical device producer B.Braun. Last year, Penang obtained RM10.2 billion worth of FDI, in contrast to the national total FDI of RM46 billion. Brain-drain vs. Brain-gain To give the issue a perspective and a context, I was actually contacted by the Straits Times on the same issue in my official capacity as the Chief Minister's Chief of Staff. The issue we faced was that the specifications laid down by the potential investor from Europe were tough to be met with a guarantee. It was a huge task to guarantee a steady supply of over 1,000 experienced E&E engineers in one go as most of them were currently employed in industries already entrenched in Penang. I had grounded my observation based on supporting data from the state Human Resource Department and the Northern Chapter of the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM). Nevertheless, I also indicated that by recruiting foreign talents -- some suggested India for its English-speaking competency -- to fulfil the headcounts required may be contradictory to the objective of nurturing our human resource capital in the long run. More importantly, I attributed the shortage of experienced E&E engineers to the decades-old brain-drain -- the exodus of good talents from Malaysia -- to the benefit of neighbouring economies. This was somewhat supported by a sidebar story in the Straits Times on the same day. According to the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) quoted in the story, there are 785,000 Malaysians who work overseas, and an estimated two out of every three among them are likely to be professionals. The MEF added that of the Malaysian professionals who work abroad, 44 per cent are in Singapore and 28 per cent in other parts of Asia, with the rest residing in other parts of the world. It appeared that the government was well aware of the brain-drain issue as in 2000, it had launched a programme aimed at wooing them back to the country with offers of tax and duties exemptions. Professionals targetted included doctors, engineers and IT experts. However, response had been lukewarm. The MEF said only 770 respondents were approved since then, which translates into an average of 85 each year. That probably prompted the same government to announce a brain-gain programme recently. On October 23, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak announced in his maiden budget speech that said new incentives will be offered to attract foreign talents. Besides making it easier for them to apply for permanent resident status, visas would also be granted automatically to working and dependent expatriate family members within 14 days. However, critics were skeptical of the success as things often boil down to salaries and expectations. Shamsuddin Bardan, the executive director of MEF, which is an umbrella trade body for 4,000 private-sector employers, pointed out that it all boiled down to salaries. He gave an example: A senior engineer working in the US could make about RM30,000 a month, compared to about RM20,000 in Malaysia. The pasture was greener elsewhere, hence the exodus. On the political ground, the opposition has long highlighted the serity of the brain-drain effect. The hypothesis had been that Malaysian professionals ventured overseas due to higher pay beyond Malaysia, and equal opportunity offered to the best talents irrespective of race and religion. Meanwhile, the standard of the command of English among new entrants in the job market had been waning, largely due to the country’s education system that produced umemployable graduates.
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Dear Jeff, My engineering graduating class from the United States has 11 Malaysians (6 Chinese, 3 Malays & 2 Indians) - All of us accepted job offers to stay in the States - Good riddance to race based policies and politics! Ketuanan Rakyat ... now that's worth coming back to !
According to the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) quoted in the story, there are 785,000 Malaysians who work overseas, and an estimated two out of every three among them are likely to be professionals. Now we can quantify brain drain. 1000 experienced engineers equates to RM10.4 billion investment. 2 out of 3 of 785,000 professionals working overseas is RM 5442Billion. What was Najib's budget for 2010? 200 billion? So, it is equal to 25 times of national budget
IMHO, the brain drain "solution" done by Federal government are plain bureaucratic and next to useless. Zhuangzi 2000 years ago has told the story of dragon slayer in a sentences. He didn't elaborate it. But it is pretty obvious for today world : Dragon slaying(skilled worker) are "useless" skill in a land without dragon(industry) . To make "dragon" available, you must breed and groom dragon, otherwise dragon slayer will leave for land with dragon. If Malaysia want to slow down the outflow of knowledge worker brain drain, the country must learn to groom and growth the local SMI/SME knowledge industrial. Even speaking of "open market", body like EU has rule that company must put priority to source services from available SMI/SME before looking at big company. If the EU rules apply here, many Malaysia Financial institution already break the law. It is common sense, it is bad idea putting all the egg into one basket, this also apply to work market. Worst, when monopoly the market, big company will play price fixing, give undertable to secure contracts and play survival than become creative. Only after the country groom enough SMI/SME, the knowledge labour market will not face roller coaster volatile knowledge worker market. Because the lack of good knwoledge industry ecosystem, more and more local company facing problem getting people to do the work. To make things worst, many multinational turn key project just vacuum the people out of the country. Malaysia Ringgit just too weak to compete with first world company in the knowledge market, when come to Malaysia bureaucrat "instant noodle" type of mindset. Money might be a big factor, but it will reach an equilibrium. The lifestyle that partly cause by Malaysia government are contribute to create "money not enough" issues. When there is adequate SMI/SME, with less pressure lifestyle, it will reduce the brain drain, as some people will prefer to stay locally, at smaller company with more relax environment. While those chasing for big money and pressurize challenge, can go to MNC or FDI invested company. This explain why even with big brand name, SMI/SME knowledge industry still thrive in EU/US first world country. Less but not least, Malaysia federal government also help killing Malaysia own SMI/SME industry in someway : awards contract to inadequate party; contract to multinational consultation firm, hold back the e-government progress,etc.
If you want to get better information on the status of engineers in Malaysia, then you should try the Board of Engineers. Membership with IEM is voluntary and most E&E engineers opt not to join as IEM is dominated by engineers in the Civil, Mechanical and Electrical (Power) disciplines. On the subject of brain-gain, we have good foreign students graduating in Malaysia that we cannot employ. First they do not have experience. Second, there is a minimum salary of RM3000 for foreigners. This is real sad as they are already here in the country. What is the use of protecting our local graduates when many of them are unemployable!
I am a IT postgrad, in the UK. I faced discrimination at work, where I was offered less attractive terms for further study than my Malay colleagues when I was awarded a prestigious international scholarship. I left without taking up the discriminatory offer and have not returned since. My brother is a postgrad in Physics, whose bioinformatics postgrad Indian wife is reduced to travelling outside the country every few months just to get a visa to stay with her husband. His enquiries with the ministry concerned to secure a long term visa for his wife met with no success. He is fed up and now looking for a job abroad so they can live without this hassle and uncertainty. No matter what the PM's pronouncements are,the situation on the ground is highly prejudiced against non-Malays, and this will drive them to vote with their feet.
I am a IT postgrad, in the UK. I faced discrimination at work, where I was offered less attractive terms for further study than my Malay colleagues when I was awarded a prestigious international scholarship. I left without taking up the discriminatory offer and have not returned since. My brother is a postgrad in Physics, whose bioinformatics postgrad Indian wife is reduced to travelling outside the country every few months just to get a visa to stay with her husband. His enquiries with the ministry concerned to secure a long term visa for his wife met with no success. He is fed up and now looking for a job abroad so they can live without this hassle and uncertainty. No matter what the PM's pronouncements are,the situation on the ground is highly prejudiced against non-Malays, and this will drive them to vote with their feet.
Migration and emigration of human beings is a pre-requisite of human progress and development. Without migration, human beings would be doomed to an existence worse than that of animals. Even animals migrate to seek a better habitat. Patriotism is not a one-way thing, it is a two-way commitment. If one finds that one's loyalty and patriotism is not reciprocated as having to live with a corrupt government, discriminatory policies, inhumane and repressive laws etc, one has a right to review one's commitment and patriotism if one so chooses. Why would people stay if their talents are not recognised in their own country and they do not have the opportunities to develop their potential? Why remain when they can have these opportunities in another country? Indeed, it is very fortunate that we all live in this day and age of globalisation where we are free to live and work anywhere in the world as long as we have the skill and talent. There is much less reason now to put up with bad governments, or corrupt, oppressive and racist regimes, anywhere in the world. Of course the grass is never greener on the other side. You still need the same energy, enterprise and sometimes luck to make it. But there is no doubt in my mind and in those who have worked here and overseas - the playing field is more level abroad. Whilst, I may add that most lower middle-class Malaysian citizens and professionals are the main bulk of immigrants to countries abroad. They need to get settled first and have a few contacts to start life anew. To expect them to be millionaires in businesses will take a generation or more and we are beginning to see that now. If they had not emigrated, they would have been hard pressed to send their children abroad and everybody knows the quota system for universities, jobs, job opportunities and promotions back home. In Canada, we experience the best there is in life. Every citizen has equal rights. They have done well in every aspect of life. In the US, anyone whether black, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Mexican etc, has the right to run for president. There are no restrictions, one only needs to secure the votes. Nobody should operate under the assumption that migration is a bed of sweet, smelling roses. Roses have thorns. Certainly, migration is not a dirty word. In fact, migration is the reason for this multiethnic paradise I call home today. The question is, can Malaysia retain its talents? We are simply losing good people to the more developed countries, and this problem is also faced by other countries such as India and China. Singapore has been absorbing our talents regardless of the medium of instruction they have been taught in. Perhaps the biggest slap on our face is the fact that thousands and thousands of Malaysians have been recruited to bloom in the Lion City workforce, while our own industry leaders have done nothing to help the government keep these investments from going abroad. Many people leave the country for a variety of reasons. Some leave for economic reasons, some for better education, some over concerns for the climate of democracy in their home country. There is no reason to deride any migrant for their choices in life. Every human being is entitled to the right of physical, social and geographical mobility - you seek your place on earth and call it home. So leave if you must, go while you can, but don't give up on the march. That is a worthy sacrifice that requires courage. Congratulations to those who have found a better future in life.
it's not only the issue of better pay that deters Malaysians abroad from coming back, it's the lifestyle and governance that are factored into as well. i don't see how the government has introduced the "brain gain" program where in fact they have recently increased the number of yrs health professionals have to do government service in the public hospitals. 3-4 yrs out of a young person's life is just a big commitment for most. to most professionals overseas, why would they have to go through 3-4 yrs of public service when they could have a better life/ pay abroad?? how many people are true patriots that they are willing to sacrifice all the comforts in the name of the country? some would just because of family reasons.
its normal lah brother,even you yourself have yet to show your readers an audited detail on how you've spent the thousands of donated moolahs from your 'Jeff Ooi for Malaysia MP campaign!' think again....
all those pendatang can leave le
Is it safe to assume, we have seen the end of days for JeffOoi.com?
a like read your blog,and i no comont you have information now,am sorry. I want the leav is normaly,in indonesia and malaysia eqvalency.
A higher salary overseas is undeniably a factor in Malaysians who choose to stay abroad upon graduating but for a lot of people, it is hardly the main factor. Many of us have families and friends back home and would gladly accept less pay to be at home if it wasn't for the overtly discriminatory policies which have remained unchanged and probably will continue on in the forseeable future. I am a fresh medical graduate working in the UK and I will openly admit that under today's circumstances I would not consider working back home even if the salary is similar or higher, even. Besides, if I'm going to be treated as a foreigner in my own country why not be a foreigner elsewhere and earn better pay while at it? A no-brainer, really.
Why don't everyone be honest. People leave malaysia bcos of the race policies of the govt. Every other reason is minor.Self delusions of -"hope, things will change"- have cost many dearly. My advice to the govt is not to shed crocodile tears. In time all in malaysia will wallow in filth.
I agree with many posters here that money is not the only reason why skilled talents want to leave Malaysia, especially with the government and system going to the dogs as it is today. Unless and only unless the Pakatan Rakyat is voted into power and changes things will it be possible for the situation change and Malaysia be attractive for talented people to return or to stay.
I wonder why are we only focus on the E&E pool from Penang? I bet there is some way to attract engineers from all over Malaysia. Furthermore, there is no restriction for non Penangites to be working in Penang, don't we?
Personally, I felt that this particular company is not too serious about investing in Penang. For a company who is willing to invest multi-billions of dollars, I supposed they would have hired some consultants to study the geography in detail on all aspects, weight in the "bonus" they'll be enjoying from the government and commit to it long term. It is in their interest to carry out the interview themselves to hire talents who possess critical skills for their respective industry and share the same value so that everyone is successful. It is hard to believe that one would rely on the govt to guarantee that. It sound more like outsourcing than investing. Secondly, by merely relying on IEM's number on population of E&E in the country may not be sufficient as unlike civil engineers who are required to register themselves, most E&Es are not obligated to register themselves in order to pursue their profession. We ought to have a more accurate and up-to-date numbers for all disciplines while advertising ourselves internationally. Should we also include our graduating engineers from our nation-wide university system and don't forget the private institutions. This is just my 2 cents. I hope Malaysia will continue to improve its competitive edge.
Experienced engineer that come cheap? Fresh graduated maybe, but not them - just my 2sen
I don't understand why the same issues get played up and then I read the same type of comments over and over again. So your has become fat, old and ugly with age and not the beauty she once was when she gave birth to you. She is still your mother. So what you do? You keep complaining that she is fat, old and ugly and then go look for a new step-mother that is younger and sweeter? If the government of the day is not doing enough, overthrow the government. The progress any developed country enjoyed today was paid for with blood. Malaysian wankers just want to take it easy and waiting for the durian to drop, open up and have their Indonesian maids stuff it into their mouths. Do your part, no freeloading. And stop whining.
I felt that this particular company is not too serious about investing in Penang. For a company who is willing to invest multi-billions of dollars, I supposed they would have hired some consultants to study the geography in detail on all aspects, weight in the "bonus" they'll be enjoying from the government and commit to it long term.Tiffany Jewellery tiffany jewellery
Keep positive thinking and be smart when you're facing the issues
Hello, Earth calling moon...anyone home? No comments about 20,000RM per month?? I would say more like 5,000RM per month! http://www.payscale.com/research/MY/Country=Malaysia/Salary
Yes, the RM20,000 monthly salary quote is hardly realistic. I am very skeptical about the numbers presented here.
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1. something very wrong when you have labourer worker from indonesia getting PR status in short time whereas white professional expats who are here after marrying local gal are refused PR status time after time again. just take a look during public holidays when all these foreign labour is out in force at our malls, parks ,etc etc. scary picture in 10 yrs time... 2. of course pay overseas is much better. i am one who used to work overseas and came back due family reasons. but am already looking for a way out. as one reader put it, if i am second class here, what's the difference being second class overseas but get paid well. think about it folks. cheers...
The maiden budget speech of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's administration has been winning praise all round and even opposition MP Liew Chin Tong is saying it is the "best budget speech in years".
Brain drain? R u kidding! 4 Umno it;s trouble drain.
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No, it doesn't all boil down to salaries. Act on the problem, don't just report, for heaven's sake.
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