REPORT COVER PAGE

Title: Brain Drain in Malaysia

Section: B02A
Group: Zest B02

ID

1141327346

Name

Choong Loy
Hon

1141327417

Wong Xia Huei

1141327448

Harold William
Howell

1132702621

Atiqah Shazlin
bt Abdul Malek

Total marks for

FB
participation

Total marks of
report

Total

Table of Contents

Introduction

1.0

Defining the Problem

2.0

Problem Analysis

2.1

5W1H

2.2

De Bonos Six Thinking Hats

3.0

Identifying the Best Solution

21

4.0

Choosing the Best Solution

34

5.0

References

38

6.0

Case Study

40

Introduction
For assignment 2, our group has selected the article titled Growing Malaysian Diaspora is
Weakening the Nation by Raphael Wong in The Heat Online as the main article. The url of the
main article is as follows,
http://theheatonline.asia/SOCIO-ECONOMICS/Growing-Malaysian-diaspora-is-weakening-thenation
Url of second main article used for expectation:
http://www.malaysiandigest.com/features/544895-spm-result-is-out-next-brain-drain-begins.html
Target: Malaysian Government

1.0

Defining the Problem

Expectation : The conscientious effort by the government to keep its best and brightest talents
in Malaysia since 2011 bear positive result. (Teh, 2015)

Reality : However, as at 2011, at least 800,000 and up to 1.4 million Malaysians were living
overseas and more than a third of them are over 25 years old (Wong, 2015).

Gap : The effort made by the Malaysian government is inadequate in bringing Malaysians back
from overseas.

Problem Statement : The conscientious effort by the government to keep its best and brightest
talents in Malaysia since 2011 bear positive result. However, as at 2011, at least 800,000 and up
to 1.4 million Malaysians were living overseas and more than a third of them are over 25 years
old and hence, the effort made by the Malaysian government is inadequate in bringing
Malaysians back from overseas.

2.0

Problem Analysis

2.1

5W1H

What is Brain Drain? (Harold William Howell)

Brain drain refers to the emigration of educated or talented individuals. Commonly, this situation
is known as the human capital flight whereby capital is defined as assets that can be used to
support or acquire other assets. Breaking down the term brain drain to be defined, the use of the
word Brain pertains to any skill, competency or attribute that is a potential asset. On the other
hand, the use of the word Drain implies that this rate of exit is at a greater level than normal or
than what might be desired. These groups of intelligent and well-educated people migrate
elsewhere for better pay or living conditions thus causing their places of origin to lose skilled
people, or brains. The brain drain dilemma is most often faced by poor and underdeveloped
countries. In some cases, youths who receive high scholastic scores in their place of origin are
often offered a place to study abroad. Upon completing their studies abroad, these youths are
enticed to stay in the countries where they were educated. There are even cases whereby
individuals acquire specific set of skills in their home countries but are lured away soon after.
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/brain_drain.asp
http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-brain-drain-in-economics-definition-causes-effectsexamples.html
Why Malaysian youths refuse to return to their homeland upon graduating ? (Harold
William Howell)
Malaysia is one of the countries most affected by brain drain in todays world. In February 2011,
the World Bank had conducted an online survey concerning to migrate or return-migrate issue
over in Malaysia in conjunction with the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Around 200 Malaysians participants living abroad were surveyed and as a result, three reasons
were highlighted as the most possible cause of brain drain in Malaysia. According to the report
by World Bank in the fourth issue of the Malaysia Economic Monitor, the major cause of brain
drain in Malaysia is due to the lack of career prospects as agreed by 66 percent of the
4

respondents. Meanwhile, 60 percent of the respondents feel that the social injustice in Malaysia
has caused major concern in whether they should return-migrate. Some even gave an insight on
the unequal opportunities among the younger generation within the non - Bumiputera
community, citing that there were unequal access to scholarships and also higher education.
Adding on, 54 percent agreed that the unattractive salaries and benefits played a part in the
Malaysian diaspora. In 2015, TalentCorp CEO, Johan Mahmood Merican said that the messy
socio political situation in Malaysia is creating a lack of confidence in the economy, has led
many young Malaysians to study or live abroad and to even consider staying put in foreign lands.
He also said that the vast opportunities for a diverse range of career experiences in the country
were lost.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/social-injustice-main-cause-of-countrysbrain-drain-says-world-bank
http://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/cs181/projects/2010-11/BrainDrain/Malaysia.html
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTMALAYSIA/Resources/3243921303882224029/malaysia_ec_monitor_apr2011_full.pdf
What initiatives have the government taken in averting the brain drain from continuously
happening? (Harold William Howell)

Under the Prime Ministers Department, Talent Corporation Malaysia Berhad (TalentCorp) was
established on 1st of January 2011. The purpose of the establishment of TalentCorp is to
formulate and facilitate initiatives to address the availability of talent in line with the needs of the
countrys economic transformation. TalentCorp collaborates closely with relevant government
agencies and employers in priority economic sectors to address the skill gaps that have been
obstructing Malaysias economic transformation being brain drain, the primary issue.
Throughout its four year in service to date, TalentCorp was first asked to improve the
effectiveness of the Returning Expert Programme (REP) which was first introduced in 2001. The
REP facilitates the return of Malaysian professionals from abroad to overcome the shortage of
professional and technical experts in the country, towards creating a world class workforce in
Malaysia. Attractive living and financial incentives were offered by the REP as an effort to
attract returning Malaysians to contribute to the workface in their homeland. Many incentives
under the REP programme were offered which included tax exemption of up to RM 150,000 for
cars, factoring in work experience gained locally and abroad, current salary earned abroad as
well as experience and expertise relevant to priority economic sectors or areas with critical skill
gap in Malaysia. Furthermore, TalentCorp had also initiated the Residence Pass Talent (RP T)
which is aimed to liberalize the entry and also to improve the retention of skilled foreign talent.
As proven by the World Bank, both these initiatives taken by TalentCorp have shown results.
Statistics have shown in one of its report entitled Improving the Effectiveness of TalentCorps
Initiatives that out of 5,600 applicants who have applied to return through the REP, an estimated
3,600 Malaysians have returned in the last four years. Regardless of its results, there were certain
recommendations made by the World Bank to improve both the REP and RP Ts effectiveness
such as to focus on connecting Malaysian professionals abroad to job opportunities, given the
Malaysians abroad are highly educated, professionally opportunistic and also well - networked
individuals who react positively to career opportunities. In addition, TalentCorp was also urged
to better meet the needs of applicants families, such as facilitating non - Malaysian spouses to
work and schooling for their children. Meanwhile, through the World Banks report, it was found
that the REP returnees earn 2.3 times and RP-T expatriates earn 4.3 times more than the wages of
comparable Malaysian professionals. Despite having shown results, TalentCorp said that they
have been struggling throughout these past 4 years as they have failed to convince majority of
them to come home. Until today, it has been revealed by the World Bank Report that almost a
6

million of the countrys professional workforce are reported to be working overseas. Higher
salaries, better professional opportunities and a comfortable life has wooed Malaysian
professionals to remain abroad. Since then, TalentCorp have been actively implementing
programmes with one of their programme established known as the Scholarship Talent Attraction
& Retention (STAR). STAR, a collaborative effort between the Public Service Department (JPA)
and TalentCorp itself allows the JPA scholars to serve their government bond at prominent
Malaysian companies that support Economic Transformation Programme as a way of
contributing back to the nation upon graduating.
Next, we take a look into our neighbour country, Singapore and its strategy in curbing its brain
drain. According to UNESCOs figures as shown in table 1, Singapore has been experiencing a
high rate of outbound degree mobility with around 1 in 10 higher education students currently

studying outside the country for several decades.

To address the brain drain issue in Singapore, the Singaporean government has made an effort in
improving its domestic study options. The cohort participation rate in publicly funded degree
programs has increased considerably over the past 30 years, from 5% in 1980 to 27% in 2012,
however still falling far short from its expectations. Since 1997, the government has been
actively encouraging prestigious foreign universities to offer programmes and establish centres in
the country. Singapores Global Schoolhouse initiative has initially targeted to attract 10 world 7

class foreign institutions within 10 years. To a surprise, Singapore quickly surpassed this goal
and by the year 2007, there were 15 such institutions from China, the United States, France,
Germany, India and the Netherlands. Private institutions in Singapore has also taken initiative to
partner with overseas universities in providing collaborative degree programmes. The largest
private institution, the Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) enrolls more students that the
National University of Singapore (NUS). Its partnerships with the University of London (the
United Kingdom) and RMIT University (Australia) have each been continuing for more than 25
years and each of these universities teaches more students in Singapore than there are
Singaporean students studying in all institutions in the United Kingdom or Australia. However,
these graduates tend to be paid less than graduates of public universities, which have tougher
entry standards. This raised the alarm of the insecurities of private institution graduates and
therefore the government has embarked on extensive measures to raise the standard of private
institutions. As a result of Singapores effort, the number of Singaporean students studying
overseas has declined since the late 1990s and has been flat, at around 20,00 since 2004. Table 2
shows a decline in the past decade across all levels of study through the enrollment Singaporean
students in Australia, with the largest reduction at the bachelor level, where there has been most
growth in Singapore.
Therefore, it is proven that improvements in educational quality and capacity in Singapore have
reduced outbound student numbers.
Sources :
http://www.malaysiandigest.com/features/544895-spm-result-is-out-next-brain-drain-begins.html
https://www.talentcorp.com.my/our-work/initiatives
http://www.academia.edu/10553643/Policy_Responses_to_Address_Student_Brain_Drain_An_
Assessment_of_Measures_Intended_to_Reduce_the_Emigration_of_Singaporean_International_
Students

https://dinmerican.wordpress.com/2014/04/09/attracting-malaysian-talent-home-is-tough-forjohan-merican/
What makes brain drain in Malaysia more likely? (Wong Xia Huei)
Human capital is the basis of the high earnings economy. As Malaysia prepares to cooperate with
the society of high earnings nations, it is set out upon a structural transformation of its economy
that depends on skill-intensive and innovation-led growth. Malaysia will need to develop, attract
and retain talent to meet the requirements of its new growth model. Brain drain poses a specific
challenge to against this backdrop. If indeed there has been a migration of talent as the quote
above suggests, the brain drain could well be a major fall down in Malaysias journey towards
high earnings. Indeed, the outflow of talent does not seem to equal with what is needed
nationally, a skilled, entrepreneurial and creative labor force that helps push value added. The
strongest relation with country population size is that countries with less population have higher
proportion of brain drain. Table 2 shows Malaysian Emigrant Population in 2013.

Malaysia is suffering from high brain drain intensity when more educated and talented
individuals are leaving the country because of political instability, lack of career opportunity, and
with low skilled of human capital. Decisions made by Malaysians on leaving to foreign countries
seem to be driven by lifestyle, better education, family considerations, and by career
development opportunities. As a result of leaving Malaysia to overseas, the remaining of
Malaysian youths are in an environment where they are talent hungry and losing top talent.

10

Sources :
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/sideviews/article/who-gains-and-sacrifices-in-brain-drainissue-penang-institute
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2015/03/06/disillusionment-with-localpolitics-causing-more-to-migrate/
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTMALAYSIA/Resources/3243921303882224029/malaysia_ec_monitor_apr2011_ch3.pdf
Who is affected by the brain drain in Malaysia? (Wong Xia Huei)
Students and Malaysians who are living abroad, as well as the youngsters in Malaysia nowadays
are all affected by ones perception on leaving Malaysia. More educated and talented people are
going for more wealthy countries seeking for higher salaries and better working circumstances.
Malaysia encounters constant brain drain has seen the number of talent and expertly skilled
individuals who migrated overseas increase hysterically each year.

Brain drain does not appear to have destroyed the number of graduates available nationally to the
Malaysian economy as universities have managed to replace the outflows. But it is expected to
have destroyed the quality of the human capital stock. As anywhere else around the world, brain
drain is sensitive to positive selection which is the best and brightest leave first. But given the
limited skills base in Malaysia this is exceptionally worrisome. The concern is also reversed on
the demand side of the skills which are firms in Malaysia increase the quality of the skills base as

11

a top concern, as subsequent investment ambience assessments have pointed out. While brain
drain is not the only cause of influencing quality, it has expected to be an important one.

Source:

http://www.malaysiandigest.com/features/544895-spm-result-is-out-next-brain-drain-

begins.html
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/state-of-politics-adding-to-malaysias-braindrain-says-talentcorp

How does brain drain affect the development of Malaysia? (Wong Xia Huei)
Brain drain in Malaysia happens when educated or talented individuals leave the country to work
for another causing Malaysia to lose highly-skilled workers and gain low-skilled ones in the
process. This is because the talented individuals have left and very few remain in the country
leads to slow or no growth. For example, the economy will get poorer as there are insufficient
businessmen and insufficient investors. Figure 1 below shows the major occupation groups
where brain drain occurs.

12

In addition, with more entrepreneurs taking their investments at foreign countries, developing
countries, like Malaysia is lack of an prospect of wealth production. Research and development
progress will also be slow, as these fields require professionals. Potential politicians may have
already left, resulting in the political instability. If the economy gets worse, crimes rate like

13

robbery may increase due to the peoples desperation for money, and this will affect the safety
and security of Malaysia. Also, as these educated and talented individuals work for other
countries, the other countries growth might also result in the slow development of the country as
they have smarter people that can contribute to their economy.
Source:

http://says.com/my/news/5-graphs-to-help-you-understand-malaysia-s-brain-drain-

problem

2.2

De Bonos Six Thinking Hats

2.2.1

White Hat (Choong Loy Hon)

14

White Hat thinking focuses on data, facts and information known or needed. White Hat separates
fact from speculation. White Hat thinking basically is very straightforward and without any false
information.
According to Malaysian Digest, there are approximately half of more than 300,000
Malaysians living overseas that had completed higher level of study. This is serious as Malaysia
is losing talents to neighbouring countries especially Singapore. In 2011, World Bank revealed
that Malaysians loses more than 145,000 to Singapore and that number is increasing by year.
After Singapore, following in second placing will be Australia and United Kingdom.

In Singapore alone, with data obtained from the Department of Statistics of Singapore,
about 691,000 Malaysians are residing in Singapore and with approximately of them have a
degree at least. It is very obvious that this is an intense brain drain problem, and according to
World Bank, Malaysias vision of achieving status of a developed country in the year 2020.
There are a lot of factors that is contributing to the brain drain problem in Malaysia, one
of it is the low wages, salary or the drop in currency. A managing director in Singapore can earn
up to 12,000 Singapore Dollar which is equivalent to around RM 32,588. In Malaysia, a
managing director cant even earn up to half of the RM 32,588 per month.
15

2.2.2

Black Hat (Choong Loy Hon)

Black Hat thinking explores ways that an idea may not fit the situation, problems we may need to
overcome, faults, or why something may not work.
Compared to other countries, Malaysia do not have a lot of opportunities. Unlike in the
United States or Singapore, they welcome talents from Malaysia and Malaysians are very happy
to go there as they have more choices and more opportunities overseas. They have a lot more
facilities there compared to here in Malaysia. More facilities signifies that more career prospects.
According to World Bank, one of the main factor contributing to brain drain in Malaysia is career
prospects. Malaysia do not have the enough facilities for these talents to expand their expertise.
Malaysia concentrates more on manufacturing and production instead of research and
development which makes Malaysia like propelling skilled job opportunities. In Singapore,
economy is booming but the inflow of high-skilled professionals is way more than the outflow.
In contrary, Malaysia has a high rate outflow of high-skilled professionals and a high rate inflow
of low-skilled migrants looking for work in the construction, plantation and manufacturing
sectors.
Other perspective of why brain drain is happening or why Malaysians are leaving
Malaysia, is that the country is going to go bankrupt soon. With the current state of Malaysian
currency, it is very appealing for Malaysians to actually head out overseas to make a living there.
Why earn RM 12,000 when oneself can earn 12,000 USD? This is the mindset that a lot of
Malaysians have according to Malaysian Insider. Hence university graduates have already aimed
to work in overseas even when they are still studying.
One of the reason is the unstable political state in Malaysia. It is no stranger that the
political state in Malaysia is quite messy. The messy socio-political situation in Malaysia is
creating a lack of confidence in economy, contributing to the fact that more young Malaysian
that is studying abroad will just stay put there to be excluded from the complication of the state
of politics. If a countrys political state is messy, investors would not want to invest and hence

16

opportunities will be less, leading to Malaysians migrating. All these factors are all interrelated
where one factor will lead to another and contributing to the probability of brain drain.
Sources:

http://theheatonline.asia/SOCIO-ECONOMICS/Growing-Malaysian-diaspora-is-

weakening-the-nation
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2015/07/15/is-malaysia-really-headed-forbankruptcy/
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/state-of-politics-adding-to-malaysias-braindrain-says-talentcorp
2.2.3

Yellow Hat (Atiqah Shazlin)

One way to look at this issue is by seeing it optimistically, from a positive point of view. Brain
drain in Malaysia may seem as if there is more damage coming from it than good, however, there
are a few benefits that Malaysia will gain from this occurrence.
One of the benefit of outflow of talents is it will bring us a step forward to globalization.
According to UNESCO, globalization is the process of connecting people from different regions,
continents or countries even closer than they used to be before. Globalization abolishes barriers
and boundaries between countries so the world, figuratively, becomes a smaller place. As an
example, former Petronass Chief Executive Officer, Tan Sri Mohd Hassan Merican, has been
appointed as director for several foreign energy firms and currently, he is the chairman for
SembCorp Marine, a company from Singapore, since 22 April 2014 (Sembcorp Marine, 2014).
With this, the barrier between Singapore and Malaysia is diminished as now a Malaysian can be
the chairperson of a Singaporean company. Gradually, what separates Singapore and Malaysia
will only be a thing of the past and both the countries can reap the benefit of globalization
together.
In conjunction to globalization, Malaysia can strengthen its relationship with other
countries as Malaysians now live in foreign lands which allows more cooperative businesses and
trade to take place. This is because the countries now are aware of Malaysia and the citizens
capabilities. Countries such as Singapore, Australia, and United Kingdom which houses
17

increasing number of Malaysians now have a bond that ties between them which are Malaysians
themselves. This gives our government the opportunity to work better and more closely with
these countries which may lead to an economic relationship. Other than that, this ties between
countries might prevent from the worst case scenario from happening to a country which is war.
A brain circulation, also known as knowledge transfer can occur with the outflow of
Malaysians from their homeland. This is because they will learn and develop themselves in a
different culture and environment which gives them a different outlook on work or even life. Just
like the saying by St. Augustus, the world is a book and those who do not travel read only one
page, they can gain even broader and more knowledge when you work in a new and an
unfamiliar place thus giving our professionals a diverse career background. Furthermore, as they
constantly meet new people, they will have a larger and more resourceful network. Nowadays,
networking has been more crucial than ever as we might not know when we might need the help
from someone which may be career-saving. Once they come back to Malaysia, even for a short
while, they can still share their knowledge with others so they can apply it in their life to
progress further. In order for a country to develop, we need to ensure that our bridge to
knowledge have multiple paths so we can flourish the minds of Malaysians.
http://mic.com/articles/6568/why-brain-drain-may-actually-be-a-good-thing
http://ftp.iza.org/dp4207.pdf
2.2.4

Green Hat (Atiqah Shazlin)

Another way to view this problem is by putting on the green hat or by thinking

creatively as a problem solver. Brain drain in Malaysia is now worrying and at a critical stage
which requires for an effective solution to be implemented to curb this problem before it goes out
of hand.
Most of Malaysians that work abroad chose to do so because of the income difference
that they are offered in Malaysia and another country. With the current economy state of
Malaysia, it is quite difficult to offer a better pay to the workers. So, instead of promising

18

something that is uncertain, the employers should offer a different thing. In this case, the local
employers should give something that employees have been demanding more recently which is
flexibility to work. This would rule out their complaints of an unconducive workplace, difficulty
to commute to work daily and having to pay for fuels and tolls. Employees should take
advantage of the technology age to benefit the workers and themselves.
Other than that, employers should give freedom of expression to employees as people
have an increasing to desire to improve and develop themselves as work only for money does not
necessarily means happiness. They should be able to voice out their opinion and give out ideas as
employers practice participative management. This, in turn, will lead to a better work experience
and a higher satisfaction of employees.
Next, instead of offering straight up a higher wage to employees monthly, employers
should practice incentive programmes to reward employees for their achievements. Afterall, an
increase in productivity means that the company will get a higher profit. This would be a more
sustainable method to give extra pay to the employees.
To balance out the influx of professionals, we should consider coming up with attractive
programmes to increase the influx of professional workers. This will also be a way for us to
achieve globalization. The two- way flow of talents will balance out our need for more talents.
The government can offer a bonded scholarship programme to foreign students so they need to
work in Malaysia for a period of time. Both countries can benefit from the exchange of
professionals as the countries can learn from each other and improve diplomatic relationship.
Curbing is not only the solution to the problem, instead we can also do the same by attracting
more foreign workers to work here.
Lastly, we can offer more workers benefits to the employees such as better healthcare
programme which is now a necessity to everyone. We can extend this benefit to the employees
families too. Employers should come up with agreements with the companies offering
beneficiary programmes for them to offer lower cost for the employees to pay. They can target
quantity to achieve more profit from this.

19

http://www.bmj.com/rapid-response/2011/10/30/brain-drain-and-third-world-possible-solutionsintractable-problem
http://www.qurtuba.edu.pk/thedialogue/The
%20Dialogue/6_1/Dialogue_January_March2011_31-55.pdf
http://wwwwds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2014/01/06/000158349_2014
0106132715/Rendered/PDF/WPS6739.pdf
2.2.5

Blue Hat (Atiqah Shazlin)

To get a better view of the brain drain issue in Malaysia, we should consider this issue

from the blue hat outlook which is by seeing this problem through the eyes of a higher
perspective. We should consider who are at disadvantage and who are gaining benefits from this
situation.
The country that gets the advantage from the brain drain of Malaysia is the country that
our professionals chose to work at. This is because they will have our best brains working for
them. They can make use of their talents and potentials so they can reap the benefits later on.
With that, they can promote the growth and development of their country faster. This will
improve the countrys economic state. Thus, all the citizens will also gain from a more stable
economy.
Another party that will be at advantage from this situation is the professionals
themselves. They will get a higher pay working away from their homeland and improve their
current life. The benefits that they get from foreign employers are also better than the ones
offered in Malaysia. Other than that, they will have more job and career development
opportunities when they work abroad as there is a fairer opportunities for all.
The one that is taking the biggest hit from the brain drain is Malaysia. We are losing our
top talents that should help us to achieve Wawasan 2020. How would we achieve this if we are
lacking in the manpower to help us develop Malaysia? Malaysia faces a reduction in human
capital thus leading to fiscal losses. This will also induce occupational distortions.
20

http://wol.iza.org/articles/brain-drain-from-developing-countries.pdf
http://www.res.org.uk/details/mediabrief/2048949/Brain-Drain-has-Little-Negative-Impact-onHome-Economies---and-Huge-Benefits-for.html
http://www.economist.com/node/18741763
http://issues.org/23-1/d_hart/
2.2.6

Red Hat (Choong Loy Hon & Atiqah Shazlin)

TalentCorp a body introduced to reduce the outflow of Malaysian talents offers 15%

income tax which is lower than the normal tax rate which falls at 23-24%, Why would they get
this special treatment when they are the ones who chose to leave the country? If that is the case
those who work locally might as well pack their bags and work in Singapore and wait for
TalentCorp to approach them with a lower income tax privilege for 5 years upon reaching and
working in Malaysia. The special treatment is indeed unfair to others who still need to pay their
taxes at a normal rate. A better solution might be to reduce the income tax for all working
Malaysians so everyone can enjoy less burden equally.
From the perspective of those who chose to work in the foreign land at their own will
and choice, it is not fair to force them to come back to Malaysia when they only do so just to
improve their current life with a better financial security, job benefits and work environment. All
of these components are of an utmost importance for the survival of an individual what else a
family nowadays. It is also a valuable experience to live away from a familiar place, your
homeland, as it teaches you to be more responsible. This will also be a factor that contributes to
the development of ones character. So why say no to improvements?
https://www.talentcorp.com.my/
3.0 Identifying The Best Solutions
3.1

Solution 1: (Choong Loy Hon)

21

Improve and expand local facilities to attract and accommodate the rising Malaysian
talents overseas at the same time increasing the minimum wage of professionals
Supporting Arguments:
Malaysian government need to improve and expand the local facilities that we have, especially
those research and development facilities where Malaysia is lacking the most.
No doubt Malaysia is a developing country and has boomed ever since. However, with the
development going on in the country, it lacks one thing, research and development facilities.
Malaysia is concentrating on manufacturing and production sector which is more of a medium
and low skilled sector. The booming on manufacturing and production sector is attracting only
the medium and low skilled labours. According to a study done by Talent Corp, in the US alone,
most Malaysians are pursuing a career in the Professional sector followed by Manufacturing and
Finance. This proved that Malaysians actually have a lot of high skilled professionals overseas
but they chose not to serve their motherland. In the US the minimum wage for a Computer
Science graduate can go up to RM30,000 a month however in Malaysia its only RM 10,000 a
month.
Malaysia government should improve and expand the local research and development
facilities in order to accommodate the rising demand and the talents. The Malaysian government
should have a special unit to oversee the development of the R&D sector. TalentCorp alone is not
enough as this is more on developing sectors, urging private sectors to cooperate with the
Malaysian government to have more facilities. It is very important for the government to
cooperate with the private sector, without the cooperation, the country will not develop. For
example, research and development facilities on the medical sector can be run by the high
number of pharmaceuticals company in Malaysia. The Malaysian government can oversee the
progress and play their role in attracting and offering jobs to the students studying abroad. Even
better, offer jobs to the working individuals currently working abroad. With the new career
prospect in Malaysia, this itself can attract our Malaysian talents abroad to come back and serve
their homeland. With the setting of a minimum wage for overseas graduates, this can attract not
only fresh graduates, working individuals as well.

22

Assumptions:
From a perspective of an overseas graduate and overseas working individual, it is very important
for us to have more facilities in Malaysia so that we can expand and put our expertise to good
use. One of the reason we leave the country is that Malaysia do not have the facilities to contain
us. If Malaysia will work together with the private sector to form more R&D facilities, the talents
will definitely come back to Malaysia because most of the Malaysians working or studying
abroad are high skilled professionals. If Malaysia will set a minimum wage for overseas graduate
when we come back, why not? It is important for overseas graduates that when they are back in
their country, they will not have to decrease their living standards, like an assurance. It is very
important that the talents and expertise of overseas graduates to be appreciated by the
government and be put to use by our own country not others.

Advantages

Disadvantages

Moving one step closer to status of a

developed country

Government burdened with high cost

Attract more high skilled professionals rather

than low or medium skilled labour

Not enough local expertise to carry out

More platform for young Malaysian talents to

put their expertise to use

Private sectors burdened with high variable

cost

Attract not only Malaysians but foreigns

expertise as well

Local graduates feel unappreciated

Improve the relationship between the

government and private sector

Advantages:
i) Moving a step closer to a status of a developed country

23

When more research and development facilities are developed in Malaysia, we are
moving forward to our countrys vision of achieving the status of a developed country by the
year 2020.
ii) Attract more high skilled professionals rather than low or medium skilled labours
One thing that is lacking in Malaysia is high skilled professionals, in contrary, Malaysia
have too much of low and medium skilled labours. Most of our Malaysian high skilled
professionals are abroad.
iii) More platform for young Malaysian talents to put their expertises to use
When more R&D facilities are available, it is not only benefiting the overseas graduates,
it is also benefiting the local graduates that is in the professional field. In contrast, when more of
these R&D facilities are available, not only the high skilled professionals are benefiting, job
opportunities will also be available to the others.
iv) Attract not only Malaysians but foreigns expertise as well
When more job opportunities are available in the R&D sector, it will not only attract the
Malaysians, it will also attract high skilled professionals from all around the world as well.
Hence it will increase the competitiveness and increasing efficiency as well.
v) Improve the relationship between the government and private sector
With this solution being chosen, the relationship between the government and private
sector will be improved.

Disadvantages :
i) Government burdened with high cost
24

In the Malaysia Budget 2015, our Prime Minister has announced an allocation of RM1.3 billion
to the Ministry of Science and Technology alone for their research and development
programmes. The RM1.3 billion is only given to just one sector. In order to boost other
professional sectors research and development , how much more should the government spend?
Other than that, considering the current global economy, Malaysia is no exception in taking the
impact of the tough economy condition. Thus, raising the salary scale in Malaysia so it is at the
same range with the other countries would be unaffordable and costly at this rate.
ii) Not enough local expertise to carry out

According to the table above, the majority of Malaysians working locally is working in the
medium to low skilled jobs. This proves that Malaysia is lacking in high skilled workers to
conduct and develop research and development programmes in Malaysia. Developing a research
and development programme requires highly skilled personnels as it is an intricate task.

iii) Private sectors burdened with high variable cost

25

It may seem that the solution to the human capital flight situation in Malaysia is to pay higher
wage than what is currently being offered by local companies. However, this solution may not be
as simple as it looks as when money is involved, the impact will be severe. Raising the minimum
wage of professionals will burden the private sectors as it will directly cause a spike in the
variable cost of the company. Currently, on average, a person who holds a managerial position in
Malaysia earns one third of the wage rate of the same position in Singapore (Department of
Statistics Malaysia, Singapore, 2013). At this rate, Malaysia is still lagging behind in the wage
scale.
iv) Local graduates will feel underappreciated
This solution proposes a higher minimum wage to the overseas graduates compared to the local
graduates. Local graduates might feel belittled as they will receive lower wage while their fellow
overseas graduates will receive a special treatment as they will get paid higher upon graduation.
These might even raise another problem as it might cause more high school leavers to pursue
their tertiary education overseas or even in our neighbouring country just to receive the same
minimum wage as well.

3.2

Solution 2 : (Harold William Howell)

26

Equal opportunities to be given to all Malaysians regardless of their race, religion, gender
or status.
Supporting Argument :
Equal opportunity is defined as treating employees and others without discrimination, especially
on the basis of their sex, race or even age. In the context of the outflow of talent from Malaysia,
social injustice was one of the main reasons to why the Malaysians youths choose to settle down
overseas upon graduating. Malaysian is known to be a multinational and multicultural country
with a very diverse population. Malays and several indigenous groups make up 58 percent of the
population. Chinese, the second largest ethnic group makes up 26 percent and the Indian
descendants make up 7 percent of the population. Remaining 9 percent are made of of various
other ethnic groups. There has been an increase in racial divisions where the minorities do not
get the support and are particularly sidelined in job applications. Malaysia still practices a certain
form of ostracism whereby putting the needs of the economically challenged at the lowest tier
while a certain class of people are given all the facilities, a times well beyond their needs. We
truly believe that all Malaysians are equal despite the difference in their race, religion or status.
Regardless of the many state - sponsored plans, pro - Bumiputera policies have clearly failed in
distributing wealth equally, as wealth disparity among the Bumiputeras are too high. Such
policies induces a second - class citizen feeling among the non - Bumiputera thus causing a lot
of talents to leave the country in seeking for better opportunities overseas. Touching on the job
search criteria in Malaysia, the racial label is obvious whereby some companies indicates
specific race of an individual that they prefer to hire. Why include such racial label on
advertisements? Shouldnt we live by the concept of 1Malaysia whereby ethnic harmony and
national unity are emphasized? How would such a misfortune help in Malaysias quest to be on
par or even better than the Europeans, the Americans and also our upcoming neighbours, the
Singaporeans? To achieve success in achieving its developed nation status, Malaysia cannot
afford to be racist or even ethnically driven. By ensuring that all communities are treated equally
in general or even in terms of employment, it will definitely help in raising the countrys
economic status. This raise in the countrys economic status would attract the interest of our
fellow Malaysians abroad to return to their homeland and serve their country, therefore making
Malaysia a better place to live in.
27

Sources :
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/saying-all-malaysian-are-equal-studentgroup-pushes-for-end-to-pro-bumi-pol
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2013/01/30/needed-%E2%80%93-equalopportunity-legislation/
Reference to Authority :
During the United States President, Barack Obamas visit to Malaysia in 2014, he attended the
Young Southeast Asian Leadership Initiative town hall meeting at the University of Malaya in
Kuala Lumpur. In his speech in front of a 700 strong - crowd of youths and civil society
representatives, he mentioned that in order for Malaysia to prosper and succeed in becoming a
first world country in the future, the government must ensure that non - Muslims in the country
also have equal opportunities as its Muslim majority. In a response to answering a question from
a Myanmar youth on factors of cooperation that can ring Asean together given its diversity,
Obama said to cheers from the crowd that there shouldnt be any reason to discriminate the
different races or religions in the country. Adding on, he also urged and reminded the country
leaders that they are shouldered with a responsibility in bringing the people together rather than
driving them apart. One very interesting fact that was mentioned by Obama was that each and
every one of us have within us the biasness and also prejudices against people who are not like
us or people who arent raised in the same faith or come from different backgrounds, but
however the world is shrinking and getting smaller. Therefore, thinking this way with the
presence current technology such as the internet and even smartphones with the cultures all
colliding, no country will succeed if part of its population is sidelines or being discriminated
against. Ending his speech with a saying to spur the crowds thoughts, Obama said that almost
every religion teaches the basic principle of do unto others as you wants others to do unto you
which has the similar meaning as treat people the way you want to be treated.
Early 2010, the late Datuk Dr. Zainal Aznam Mohd Yusof, a National Economic Advisory
Council (NEAC) member has brought up the idea of Equal Opportunity Act to be included in
Part 1 of the New Economic Model to allow Malaysia in maximizing its human talent in order to
stop the flow of brain drain in the country. Supporting this idea was Malaysian Institute of
Corporate Governance President, Tan Sri Megat Najmuddin Megat Khas who said that such a
28

law would allow equal chances to all and therefore enabling the country to develop sustainable
economic policies. However, the commission was then excluded in Part 2 of the New Economic
Model due to the demands of certain parties. Datuk Dr. Zainal mentioned that in order for
Malaysia to not be left further behind other countries, the time has come to ensure that the
appointments of top positions are solely based on competency and integrity whereby no political
crony should be appointed just because he is well - connected in the country. Adding on, he
believes that there is no point in having the most competent person to lead given he is corrupted.
Similarly, there is no point in having the cleanest person if he or she isnt competent. Up to 2011,
around 2 million Malaysians who possess both qualities of competency and integrity have left
the country because they do not enjoy equal opportunities since Merdeka in 1957.
Sources :
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/malaysia-cannot-succeed-unless-equalopportunity-given-to-non-muslims-says
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/nik-nazmi-to-khairy-how-about-an-equalopportunities-act

(A) Advantages

(B) Disadvantages

1.Minorities would feel like they are a part of

Malaysia

1.Create dissatisfaction among certain groups

2. More talents available

3. Increases the efficiency and delivery of
employees
4. Growth in economy
5. Malaysia wont be looked down upon
anymore

Advantages :
1. Minorities would feel like they are a part of Malaysia
29

No one likes to feel sidelined and therefore, the addition of having equal rights lets the minorities
who are abroad and also in Malaysia to feel like a part of Malaysia whereby they can be proud to
refer to Malaysia as home without having certain limitations to what they have.
2. More talents available
The Malaysian youths abroad and even those who have settled down overseas will look forward
to return to Malaysia. As social injustice has sparkled the reason to why Malaysians choose to
leave or not return to the country, once equal opportunity is given, there will be more local
talents and also skillful Malaysians available to serve their country.
3. Increases the efficiency and delivery of employees
Once more talents are available in Malaysia, the efficiency and delivery of employees can be
increased. With the availability of more brains, more opinions and ideas are able to be
generated. In addition, employees are able to view not only from their own point of view
regarding a matter at work but also from the perspective of others. This enhances ones creative
thinking to think out of the box in solving problems at work. Not only that, employees are able to
be moulded in the right direction of being an effective employee.
4.

Growth in economy

Quoting William J. Clinton, It turns out that advancing equal opportunity and economic
empowerment is both morally right and good economics, because discrimination, poverty and
ignorance restrict growth, while investments in education, infrastructure and scientific and
technological research increase it, creating more good jobs and new wealth for all of us., equal
opportunity for everyone regardless of race, gender, status or religion will actually give a
positive impact to the growth of economy. Approximately or of the total growth in income
per worker in United States may be due to greater economic opportunities for everyone (Thoma,
2012). Logically, if everyone receives equal opportunity,there will be less dissatisfied people due
to discrimination which will make more people happier working thus increasing the overall
productivity level which in turn will help our economy.

30

http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2012/08/equal-opportunity-and-economicgrowth.html
5. Malaysia wont be looked down upon anymore (Atiqah Shazlin)
Malaysia is well known for its glorified harmony of its diverse race and culturally-rich citizens
living together. However, more and more racial related issued in Malaysia has been on the
headline of newspaper both locally and globally. This has tarnished Malaysias image in the eyes
of the world as racism is a heated and sensitive topic and has been socially and morally
unacceptable as the human race progresses. If Malaysia can truly embrace the concept of
equality, we wont be looked down anymore and will be seen as a progressing nation.
Disadvantage : (Atiqah Shazlin)
Create dissatisfaction among certain groups
As inequality hurts one group and benefits another, the latter group would feel as if their
privilege is taken away from there if everyone is going to be treated equally. Be it gender
inequality or racial inequality, if your benefits are taken away from you, sometimes you will feel
dissatisfied. It may only result in as a minor concern like disgruntled comments or it can even
escalate to the worst case scenario such as the disruption of the countrys harmony.
3.3

Solution 3 : (Wong Xia Huei)

Free education should be implemented to stem brain drain.

Definition : Free education refers to free and equal admission to high-quality studies for all,
despite of socio-economic background. Seeking free education seems rather far delivered in
todays world. It would even seem impolite to ask for. But it would also be quick to be aware of
that not providing education to a larger groups of students and a collapsing economy are a part of
a dangerous circle. Migrants and the higher pay or other advantages that might accumulate to
them along with potentially higher salaries at home arising from lack of skills allow an
encouragement for others to undertake education. Every country in this world has different
education system and it is crucial to use different methods to settle their own issue. As the
progress of education is an essential type of the societal progress standard, who should estimate
the burden in educational payment has brought into a heated debate.
31

Supporting Argument : In 2010, Malaysia diaspora which is a group of skilled and unskilled
Malaysian-born women, men, and children who are living in foreign countries are estimated
conservatively at 1 million worldwide according to Malaysia Economic Monitor. One third of
these brain drain with tertiary education are among the diaspora. This does not mean that others
are not brainy, but educational fulfillment is the only available alternative that is constantly
available beyond recipient countries. If Malaysian students are purely studying for the sake of
memorizing, scoring marks in examinations to excite parents, teachers, and finally scholarshipproviders and employers, the situation will remain unchanged. Undeniable, Malaysias education
system needs to be revised, with much attention placed on creative thinking, research and
innovation as compared to purely testing students memory skills on papers. Parents would not
need to work so hard for money to get their children enrolled in Western education systems if
Malaysia is skillful enough of producing an educational system that is comparable to that of the
West. Students and young talented individuals would think twice before seeking for education
and decide to stay abroad, and eventually, Malaysia would no longer be losing talent.

(A) ADVANTAGES
1)Effective

externalities

(B) DISADVANTAGES
of

higher 1) Spending.

education.
2) Greater equality.

2) Makes people do not value education.

3) Increased specialization of work.

4) Better governance.

Advantages : (Wong Xia Huei)

1)Effective externalities of higher education.

32

University education does offer some external advantages to society in general. Higher education
drives to a more educated and beneficial manpower. Countries with high rates of university
education basically have higher levels of modernization and profitability growth. Therefore,
there is a reason for the government to diminish higher education.
2) Greater equality.
There is also a strong argument that university education should be free to assure equality of
opportunity to study. If students have to pay for university education, this may discourage them.
Educated and talented individuals are not the strength of the wealthy alone. Free education gives
the opportunities to these talented people and this can assure that the talented and educated can
gain the affirmation of a better tomorrow through boosting their academic a capability. The
forecast of a better future should not be lost due to lack of equal opportunities for education.
3) Increased specialization of work.
To adapt with the global economy which has forced our country to specialize in high tech and
high value added to products and services produced in different fields, our country needs more
talented individuals that can contribute to these high-tech industries.
4) Better governance.
More educated people would mean better governance from the elementary to the national level.
Educated people would make better decisions in nominating their representatives and are better
set up question corruption and misuse of authority. Therefore, education is not only the antidote
for the uneven wealth, but also the antidote for the ills that affect our governments. By making
education free, we motivate our society towards the path of better governance.

Disadvantages : (Wong Xia Huei)

1)Spending.

33

Recently, our country is facing huge deficit and everyone has to cut down their spending on
things that are not necessary. Since our country is struggling with financial issue, government
might still considering to offer free education to the people.
2) Makes people do not value education.
Students would value education more if they have to pay to go to university. They will not take
their studies seriously and end up failing in the exams due to free education encourages them to
relax instead of having the sense of urgency to complete their studies.
Sources:
http://free-education.info/what-do-we-mean/
http://blogs.worldbank.org/eastasiapacific/whither-malaysia-s-brain-drain
http://www.therakyatpost.com/allsides/2013/12/30/brain-drain-a-detour-with-no-return/
http://benefitof.net/benefits-of-free-education/

4.0

Deciding the Best Solution

34

After weighing in the advantages and disadvantages of all the proposed solution and the effect
that the solutions might cause if it is implemented, we would like to choose Solution 1 as the
best solution which is to improve and expand local facilities to attract and accommodate
the rising Malaysian talents overseas at the same time increasing the minimum wage of
professionals. This solution is supported by supporting arguments and assumptions.
Supporting Arguments:
Malaysian government needs to improve and expand the local facilities that we have, especially
those research and development facilities where Malaysia is lacking the most.
No doubt Malaysia is a developing country and has boomed ever since. However, with the
development going on in the country, it lacks one thing, research and development facilities.
Malaysia is concentrating on manufacturing and production sector which is more of a medium
and low skilled sector. The booming on manufacturing and production sector is attracting only
the medium and low skilled labours. According to a study done by Talent Corp, in the US alone,
most Malaysians are pursuing a career in the Professional sector followed by Manufacturing and
Finance. This proved that Malaysians actually have a lot of high skilled professionals overseas
but they chose not to serve their motherland. In the US the minimum wage for a Computer
Science graduate can go up to RM30,000 a month however in Malaysia its only RM 10,000 a
month.
Malaysia government should improve and expand the local research and development facilities
in order to accommodate the rising demand and the talents. The Malaysian government should
have a special unit to oversee the development of the R&D sector. TalentCorp alone is not
enough as this is more on developing sectors, urging private sectors to cooperate with the
Malaysian government to have more facilities. It is very important for the government to
cooperate with the private sector, without the cooperation, the country will not develop. For
example, research and development facilities on the medical sector can be run by the high
number of pharmaceuticals company in Malaysia. The Malaysian government can oversee the
progress and play their role in attracting and offering jobs to the students studying abroad. Even
better, offer jobs to the working individuals currently working abroad. With the new career
prospect in Malaysia, this itself can attract our Malaysian talents abroad to come back and serve

35

their homeland. With the setting of a minimum wage for overseas graduates, this can attract not
only fresh graduates, working individuals as well.
Assumptions:
From a perspective of an overseas graduate and overseas working individual, it is very important
for us to have more facilities in Malaysia so that we can expand and put our expertise to good
use. One of the reason we leave the country is that Malaysia do not have the facilities to contain
us. If Malaysia were to work together with the private sector to form more R&D facilities, the
talents will definitely come back to Malaysia because most of the Malaysians working or
studying abroad are high skilled professionals. If Malaysia will set a minimum wage for overseas
graduate when we come back, why not? It is important for overseas graduates that when they are
back in their country, they will not have to decrease their living standards, like an assurance. It is
very important that the talents and expertise of overseas graduates to be appreciated by the
government and be put to use by our own country not others.
A few advantages has been acknowledged through this solution. The first one is that Malaysia
can move a step closer in achieving the status of a developed country. When more research and
development facilities are developed in Malaysia, we are moving forward to our countrys vision
of achieving the status of a developed country by the year 2020. Another advantage of expanding
and improving the local facilities is the ability to attract more high skilled professionals rather
than low or medium skilled labours. Currently, Malaysia is lacking of high skilled professionals
whereby most of Malaysias talent comprising of both youth and the experience have left the
country to work abroad due to the better opportunities offered. In contrary, the existence of low
and medium skilled labors has increased in numbers over the years. Adding to its advantage
count, young Malaysian talents have more platform to put their expertise into use. When more
R&D facilities are available, it is not only benefiting the graduates overseas, in fact it also
benefits the local graduates that are in the professional field. In contrast, when more of these not
only the high skilled professionals are benefiting from this as a variety of job opportunities will
also be available to the others whether they are of the low or medium skilled class. Through the
development of local facilities, Malaysia will be able to attract not only the locals but also
foreign expertise as well. When more job opportunities are available in the R&D sector, it will
36

not only attract the Malaysians, it will also attract high skilled professionals from all around the
world. Hence, it will increase the competitiveness and thus increasing work efficiency as well.
Fostering a good relationship between the government and private sector is the final advantage of
improving its local facilities. Once a good relationship has been fostered, business - friendly
governments would generally perform better than countries where this relationship has suffered.
In addition, having business - friendly public - private sector relationships allows Malaysia to
respond more positively to pro - growth policy reforms.
Despite all its advantages, implementing this solution also has its drawbacks. Firstly, the
government will be burdened with additional cost. In the 2015 Malaysian Budget, our Prime
Minister has announced an allocation of RM1.3 billion to the Ministry of Science and
Technology for their research and development programmes alone. The RM1.3 billion is only
given to just one sector. In order to boost other professional sectors research and development ,
how much more should the government spend? Other than that, considering the current global
economy, Malaysia is no exception in taking the impact of the tough economy condition. Thus,
raising the salary scale in Malaysia so it is at the same range with the other countries would be
unaffordable and costly at this rate. Another setback in implementing this solution is that
Malaysia does not have enough manpower whereby most of our local expertise arent around to
assist in conducting the research and development programme as it requires highly skilled
personnels as it is an intricate task. The majority of Malaysians working locally are working in
the low to medium skilled jobs and this shows that Malaysia definitely lacking of high skilled
workers. Morever, private sectors would also be burdened with high variable cost. It may seem
that the solution to the human capital flight situation in Malaysia is to pay higher wage than what
is currently being offered by local companies. However, this solution may not be as simple as it
looks as when money is involved, the impact will be severe. Raising the minimum wage of
professionals will burden the private sectors as it will directly cause a spike in the variable cost
of the company. Currently, on average, a person who holds a managerial position in Malaysia
earns one third of the wage rate of the same position in Singapore (Department of Statistics
Malaysia, Singapore, 2013). At this rate, Malaysia is still lagging behind in the wage scale.
Lastly, local graduates will feel underappreciated as this solution proposes a higher minimum
wage for those who have graduated overseas than compared to those that graduated locally.
37

Local graduates might feel belittled as they will receive lower wages while their fellow
compatriots who have earned a degree overseas will receive special treatment as they will be
paid higher upon graduation. These might even raise another problem as it might cause more
high school leavers to pursue their tertiary education overseas or even in our neighbouring
country just to receive a higher minimum wage as well.
In conclusion, this solution was chosen mainly because the main factors of Malaysians leaving to
overseas are the career prospects and monetary issues.

5.0

References
38

http://theheatonline.asia/SOCIO-ECONOMICS/Growing-Malaysian-diaspora-is-weakening-thenation
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/brain_drain.asp
http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-brain-drain-in-economics-definition-causes-effectsexamples.html
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/social-injustice-main-cause-of-countrysbrain-drain-says-world-bank
http://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/cs181/projects/2010-11/BrainDrain/Malaysia.html
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTMALAYSIA/Resources/3243921303882224029/malaysia_ec_monitor_apr2011_full.pdf
https://www.talentcorp.com.my/our-work/initiatives
http://www.academia.edu/10553643/Policy_Responses_to_Address_Student_Brain_Drain_An_
Assessment_of_Measures_Intended_to_Reduce_the_Emigration_of_Singaporean_International_
Students
https://dinmerican.wordpress.com/2014/04/09/attracting-malaysian-talent-home-is-tough-forjohan-merican/
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/sideviews/article/who-gains-and-sacrifices-in-brain-drainissue-penang-institute
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2015/03/06/disillusionment-with-localpolitics-causing-more-to-migrate/
http://www.malaysiandigest.com/features/544895-spm-result-is-out-next-brain-drain-begins.html
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/state-of-politics-adding-to-malaysias-braindrain-says-talentcorp
http://says.com/my/news/5-graphs-to-help-you-understand-malaysia-s-brain-drain-problem
http://theheatonline.asia/SOCIO-ECONOMICS/Growing-Malaysian-diaspora-is-weakening-thenation
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2015/07/15/is-malaysia-really-headed-forbankruptcy/
http://mic.com/articles/6568/why-brain-drain-may-actually-be-a-good-thing
http://ftp.iza.org/dp4207.pdf

39

http://www.bmj.com/rapid-response/2011/10/30/brain-drain-and-third-world-possible-solutionsintractable-problem
http://www.qurtuba.edu.pk/thedialogue/The
%20Dialogue/6_1/Dialogue_January_March2011_31-55.pdf
http://wwwwds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2014/01/06/000158349_2014
0106132715/Rendered/PDF/WPS6739.pdf
http://wol.iza.org/articles/brain-drain-from-developing-countries.pdf
http://www.res.org.uk/details/mediabrief/2048949/Brain-Drain-has-Little-Negative-Impact-onHome-Economies---and-Huge-Benefits-for.html
http://www.economist.com/node/18741763
http://issues.org/23-1/d_hart/
https://www.talentcorp.com.my/
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/saying-all-malaysian-are-equal-studentgroup-pushes-for-end-to-pro-bumi-pol
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2013/01/30/needed-%E2%80%93-equalopportunity-legislation/
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/malaysia-cannot-succeed-unless-equalopportunity-given-to-non-muslims-says
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/nik-nazmi-to-khairy-how-about-an-equalopportunities-act
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2012/08/equal-opportunity-and-economicgrowth.html
http://free-education.info/what-do-we-mean/
http://blogs.worldbank.org/eastasiapacific/whither-malaysia-s-brain-drain
http://www.therakyatpost.com/allsides/2013/12/30/brain-drain-a-detour-with-no-return/
http://benefitof.net/benefits-of-free-education/

40

6.0 Case Study

Malaysians have seen a lot of changes since the 13th general election in 2013. The heating up of
the political climate is accompanied by evolving social and economic trends. Many issues have
contributed to these changes such as the dispute over the use of the word Allah as well as the
introduction of the Goods and Services Tax this April.
These uncertainties are clearly reflected in a Merdeka Centres poll conducted in March last year,
where 49% of the 1,005 respondents felt that the country was heading in the wrong direction as
opposed to 38% who thought we were on the right path.
According to the poll, the main worry of the public is related to the economy with 61% of
respondents of the view that it was the main issue. Second was issues concerning crime (11%)
while racial issues and politics stood equally at 5%.
Among the economic issues cited for the country heading in the wrong direction were the high
cost of living and inflation as well as the unfavourable economic conditions in general. The other
issues included poor national administration, political instability corruption issues and poor
economic management. The unhappiness over these issues resulted in Malaysians seeking
greener pastures elsewhere.
According a report by an Australian journal, one of the major beneficiaries of the increasing
number of highly skilled professionals leaving Malaysia is Australia. Over 100,000 Malaysians
had migrated to that country in 2000. Australia is home to the second largest Malaysian
expatriate community in the world with New Zealand and the UK catching up as well. Singapore
has the largest. The exodus of Malaysians has even prompted the World Bank to publish a
detailed report in 2011 on the diaspora and brain drain from Malaysia. The World Bank stated
that while it was extremely difficult to keep track of the current Malaysian diaspora that had been
widely spread out, it used previous data and took into account the most recent trends. From
these, it estimated that at least 800,000 and up to 1.4 million Malaysians were living overseas.
More than a third of them are over 25 years old, which the World Bank termed as Malaysian
citizens who were contributing to countries other than their own.
Due to its close proximity, it is no surprise that Singapore houses the most Malaysians abroad.
According to the Malaysian Association in Singapore, the numbers run into the hundreds of
thousands residing, working or studying in the island republic. Add to that list the number of
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people of Malaysian origins who have laid down roots permanently in Singapore, the total is
even more substantial, it said. The World Banks report corroborates this. Data obtained from
the Department of Statistics of Singapore show that there are about 691,000 Malaysians residing
in Singapore five years ago, with approximately a fifth of them having tertiary education
qualifications.
However, data are not available on the countrys 1.3 million non-residents or migrants in
Singapore, many of whom are presumably Malaysian. Since Singapore is the main destination
for Malaysian migrants, it is difficult to provide a complete picture of the skilled Malaysian
diaspora at this time. The three main reasons for the brain drain identified by the World Bank are
career prospects, social injustice as well as salary and benefits. Calling this an intense brain
drain problem, the World Bank said it could hurt Malaysias ambition of becoming a highincome economy by 2020. The outflow of high-skilled professionals is instead replaced with an
influx of low-skilled migrants looking for work in the construction, plantation and manufacturing
sectors.
A 45-year-old managing director of an F&B chain in Singapore tells The Heat Online that
despite the hectic lifestyle, the island republic has become his home. Born and raised in Ipoh, he
left his hometown at the age of 19. He draws a monthly salary of S$12,000 (RM32,588)
currently. I have contemplated coming back to the country to work but the highest offer I
received wasnt even half of what I am being paid now. So it really doesnt make sense for me to
come back, he says. Malaysians residing in Singapore are helping to strengthen the Singapore
dollar against the ringgit. Over the last 10 years, the Singapore dollar has increased by 20% from
RM2.28 in June 2005 to RM2.72 on June 2, 2015. If the issues raised by the Merdeka Centres
poll stay unaddressed by the current administration, the Malaysian diaspora will continue to
grow. The estimated 6.7 million foreign workers, majority of whom are illegal, entering the
country would not be able to make up for the number of Malaysians leaving the country.
This article first appeared in The Heat Online on June 3rd, 2015

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