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| Malaysia's Brain Drain |
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| Written by Mariam Mokhtar | |
| Thursday, 18 February 2010 | |
 It's Not Just Politics and Racial Discrimination.
Malaysia's brain drain appears to be picking up speed. According to a recent parliamentary report, 140,000 left the country, probably for good, in 2007. Between March 2008 and August 2009, that figure more than doubled to 305,000 as talented people pulled up stakes, apparently disillusioned by rising crime, a tainted judiciary, human rights abuses, an outmoded education system and other concerns. The general assumption is that Chinese and Indians form the majority of those abandoning the country of their birth because ethnic Malays consider them pendatang – aliens in a Malay land, regardless of how long they have been in the country. However, increasing numbers of Malays have already emigrated as well, or are seriously thinking it, dismayed by corrupt practices as well as the rigid confines of Islam and the rise of fundamentalism embodied in the revelation on Wednesday by Home Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein that three women had been caned in Kajang Prison in Selangor on Feb. 9 for having had illicit sex under shariah law. In 2000, according to figures compiled in 2007, 40 percent of Malaysian emigrants headed for Singapore – at the same time Singaporeans are headed somewhere else. By one estimate, (Singaporeans Seek Asylum Elsewhere, Asia Sentinel, Jan. 7) the number who put the Lion City behind them is as high as 15 percent of annual births. In 2006, the Transport Minister, Raymond Lim, expressed concern that 53 percent of Singaporean teens would consider emigration. One website survey put Singapore's average outflow at 26.11 migrants per 1,000 citizens, the second highest in the world - next only to East Timor (51.07). Of the other émigrés, 30 percent go to OECD countries (Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada and Britain) 20 percent to Asian countries (Brunei, Philippines, Indonesia) and the rest of the world (10 percent). Malaysian Employers Federation executive director, Shamsuddin Bardan, said in an interview that 785,000 Malaysians are working overseas. Unofficially, the figure is well over 1 million. Nor are people all that is leaving. Asia Sentinel reported on Jan.11 (Malaysia's Disastrous Capital Flight) that there has been an exodus of money from Malaysia on a scale which surpasses that which occurred during the Asian crisis. The decline is also reflected in a sudden decline in base money supply – even while, thanks to Bank Negara, broader M2 has continued to grow modestly. A major problem is the flight of graduates. As early as 2004, former Premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was becoming concerned, pointing out that as many as many as 30,000 thought to be working in foreign countries, many of whom had held scholarships in top universities from the Malaysian government but chose to stay overseas at the end of their studies. Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad demanded that other countries pay Malaysia for having seduced them to stay, " since, by right, the graduates' training and knowledge should be called intellectual property." The typical reasons are well-documented: improved employment and business prospects, higher salaries, better working environments, greater chances of promotion and a relatively superior quality of life. Three Malay women put a personal face on statistics in conversation with Asia Sentinel, sharing their decisions to emigrate. Two are graduates of overseas universities, the third is from a local school. Their decisions to leave were made, they say, after a lot of soul searching. But for these women, money and economic incentives were not the end-all. Their names have been changed to protect them. Anita claims to have left because of her sexuality. She graduated from a university in the United Kingdom but continued with a post-graduate degree course. At the end of her studies, she worked in a multinational corporation in London and is now a department head. She was recently married, in a civil ceremony, in the UK. A Malay, Anita is naturally Muslim. Her partner is another woman, Nadia, an Iraqi Jew. They met as undergraduates. For a decade, the two made the annual pilgrimage to Malaysia to visit Anita's ageing parents, Anita says. When in Kuala Lumpur, they are regular patrons of lesbian joints in Bangsar. After the Malaysian National Fatwa Council issued an edict banning lesbianism in 2008, Anita travelled alone. Nadia dislikes the risk of being 'caught,' The clues to their sexuality are their short cropped hair, Doc Marten shoes, preponderance of masculine clothes and, on closer inspection, their identical wedding rings with each other's names inscribed. Anita is in self-imposed exile because her partner will not be allowed to reside in Malaysia. Although male homosexuality is illegal in Malaysia and sodomy incurs a punishment of 20 years jail, Malaysia's civil code does not ban lesbianism. Malaysian men are just so big-headed that they cannot imagine any woman not wanting to sleep with a man. "It is unacceptable to see women who love the male lifestyle including dressing in the clothes men wear," said Abdul Shukor Husin, the Fatwa Council chairman. Harussani Idris Zakaria, the mufti of Perak, says that the council's ruling was not legally binding as it had not been passed into law. He wants tomboys to be banned because their actions are immoral. "It doesn't matter if it's a law or not," he says, In 2000, Malaysia had around 80,000 official expatriates. By 2008, this figure had shrunk to 38,000 as the collapsing global economy cut into trade and thus trade and Malaysian exports. When Bibi worked in an electronics factory in north Perak, little did she foresee marrying her expatriate quality control engineer. After his conversion to Islam and their subsequent marriage, he attempted unsuccessfully to gain permanent residence. He claims to have spent a small fortune on lawyers, on 'proof' and photographs for the application process, and several trips to the immigration offices to be 'verified'. He claims that one low ranking government official even offered him a birth certificate for RM60,000, as a pre-cursor to a 'red' identity card, which would help facilitate the PR status. When Bibi's husband's work permit expired, he attempted to form a trading company. He travelled to the border every few months to renew his immigration-social visit pass, while he explored this avenue. He was ineligible for a sole proprietorship and although he could form a limited company with 51 percent bumiputra ownership, he found that for one reason or another, it was not viable. Local partners wanted maximum profits for little or no work. A Caucasian, he was seen as a cash cow, he says. In addition, the Perak town they lived in was very provincial. Had he lived in Kuala Lumpur or Penang, he could be anonymous, like the expatriates married to Malay women in these cities. As an expat convert in his local town, the Malays expected him to uphold Malay values and scrutinized his every move, right down to his religious obligations. He was disillusioned with living in a goldfish bowl and both he and Bibi left for Europe. According to one local daily, the number of Malaysian researchers, scientists and engineers working overseas exceeds 20,000 with 40 percent of them in the United States and 10 percent in Australia. When Ida graduated from Australia with a chemical engineering degree, she worked in a chemical plant in Selangor. Her friendship with a chemist blossomed into love, with talk of marriage. There was one problem - Anthony was a Catholic. He dutifully presented himself at the mosque for agama lessons in preparation for his conversion. The imam never appeared for their pre-arranged appointments. Frustrated with being let down repeatedly, he stopped going. His lucky break came when he was offered a job in a neighboring country. Ida joined him. She was free from parental and family pressures, he from the religious zealots. They married. He retained his faith, she remained a Muslim. They started a family and have since emigrated to New Zealand. Recently, she embraced Catholicism. Malaysian emigration has critical policy implications. There are questions over what will happen when overseas students receive employment offers in the country where they are studying, when skilled people leave Malaysia, when pensioners retire abroad (the silver economy) and the nation registers an increase in unskilled foreign workers but a decrease in skilled expatriates. The challenge for policymakers is to harness the economic and political potential of this largely ignored diaspora. There is no point pretending Malaysia does not have a serious problem. The incentives to reverse the brain drain and attract those who are abroad must be reviewed, as they are currently ineffective. For many like Anita, Bibi and Ida, it is not just politics and racial discrimination but also religious and social pressures that drive them away. Comments (26)
  written by Fox, February 18, 2010
A personal anecdote: In the mid-2000s Malaysia, caught in the moment of giddiness of the Biotech craze (also, partly by former prime minister Abdullah Badawi's emphasis on agricultural development), decided to fund thousands of students to Study Biomedicine, Biotechnology, anything that had the name attached to it. Once graduated, they found out that only a handful (15 at the moment of my graduation) reputable biotechnology firms operating in Malaysia, and worse still, they were informed that researchers here are the lowest paid in the region, with Singapore paying 3 times wage for the expertise. Most of my batchmates decided to work in an unrelated field (usually finance and banking) while others were lured by lucrative research grants offered overseas. I was among the fortunate few who managed to land a job with the government firms- RISDA in my case.
While the current socio-political climate is one of the factors people leave, it does not really hold as much sway as the severely lacking job market and economic trends. This happened before, during the K-economy buzz in the late 90s and early 2000s. If Malaysia wants to solve the brain drain, they should plan out where they should fund the brains in the first place 
written by hassan, February 18, 2010
How many of you seen the movie “Law Abiding Citizen”? If you haven’t, do it. It’s an awesome movie. That movie has the same sandiwara to Malaysia. So here is the scenario.
Clyde: it’s you, the law abiding citizen Clyde’s wife & daughter that were murdered: our basic freedom & judiciary system The two killers: First one is umno pariah and the second is mamak Mahathir (half Indian keling pariah) Nick: Anwar Ibrahim Sarah: Zaid Ibrahim Judge Laura: Malaysia’s corrupted judges Major: Najib Razak Alright… here is my version of the story. Umno pariah murdered our basic freedom as a law abiding citizen of Malaysia. Mamak pariah mahathir raped and destroyed our judiciary system. You (Clyde) want justice. So you trusted Anwar (Nick) to bring changes. Anwar pawned your trust and brough in umno pariah trojan horses. Zaid (Sarah) who was with Anwar caught in between and questioned the loyalty of the trojan horses end up been disciplined (that is dumb and stupid). Najib (Major) would do anything to manipulate the system for his favor even by using c4 with the help of his fat mama (girl… you surely got weight problem… fatty fatty bom bom). Corrupted Malaysia judges (judge Laura) can be bought out with money and vacation. Patani (Darby’s lawyer), Malaysia attorney general (makes me sick of stomach to address that title to him) for the umno pariah criminals. So now when you see that movie put these people in place and it would be so much fun to watch. When Clyde was torturing the second killer (Darby), it was so gruesome. I couldn’t watch it at first. Then I imagined Darby was mamak pariah, it turned into a pleasure and joy. I was rooting for Clyde to do more and more. And same was when the first killer, Ames suffering at the death bed, I visualized the agony of umno pariah in losing the next election. You the law abiding citizen must now destroy the first killer (Ames)… that is umno pariah. They have taken away our basic freedom. Only way to destroy them is through election. We will watch them suffering as we bring them down. MALAYSIA’S LAW ABIDING CITIZEN… ARE YOU WITH ME?
written by HumanBeing, February 19, 2010
All human beings are one race and we help and support everyone irrespective of race. We respect people of every color and all malays dont have to feel you are less or more important or superior than anyone else. This thing about proving yourselves as a respected race does not apply anymore. Just be secure as you are. God loves everyone and ALLAH CHOOSES who is born to be Malay, Chinese or.....It is not our choice and therefore we have no right to be racist
written by Mavericko, February 19, 2010
No worries, umNO says indon maids and cobblers will fill the void!
1Malaysia crap.
written by Gone Malaysian, February 19, 2010
Yes, I am also one of those who left. I had no choice. I had the grades but the quote didnt allow me to pursue my studies locally. So I had to beg for a bank loan and pursue my studies.
To Mamakthir, you can have whatever meager stuff the government throws out to you. To Loyal Citizen, only low class citizens, who cant do much because their poor, stay behind. The high class, rich people all have PR in other countries so that when things go bad in Malaysia, they can just fly their family to safety. But the low class people like you, will stay and suffer.
written by Frank, February 19, 2010
Malaysia Chinese must be united. Then, they can have their voices heard.
In unity, there is power. One person's voice is weak. Do not forget there are 1.3 billion brothers and sisters not too far away from you. .
written by Raju, February 20, 2010
Be educated . . . .
http://dayakbaru.com/weblog08/2009/06/19/who-are-these-bumiputras/
written by captain blackbeard, February 20, 2010
The pirate chiefs running the country now are responsible for the mess the country is in. The political elite only think of themselves and of the interest of their race and religion which is Malay/Islam. They have no idea of Malaysian nationalism. They can only think of "ketuanan melayu/ketuanan islam". Their brains cannot think beyond that. Hence everything is done to marginalise the non malays, and for the Malays, everything is fast tracked and guarenteed. The Chinese are only useful to teach the Malays what they know and also for the Malays to milk for money and everything they want. For 50 years the Chinese have tolerated the nonsense of the Malay political elite. Now they are fed up of being milk cows. So anyone who can get out will do so. Will the Malays be able to run the country without the chinese/Indians? I hope so. But by the way things are going, the Malays do not have the capability to go further. All they can think of is that 30% for themselves. They have not imbibed the culture of honesty, honour, reliability, trustworthiness and most important of all, a work culture. They have arrived by the fast track and by guarenteed success. Now they realise that their "achievements" cannot do the work for them. Along the way, they have acquired the worst of qualities, eg corruption on a grand scale, incompetence on an unimagineable scale too, and an incomprehensible logic, acquired because they were not trained to think rationally. Happy day for old timers like me -because the pirates from the west are nothing compared to what you all have here. Cheers all you crooks and bastards - this is the best place for pirates. Great place for pirates to retire.
written by Sidhwho?, February 20, 2010
When will the Malays realize that Malaysian Government policies continue to insult the ability and intellect of the Malays themselves. Come on Bumis, don't be labeled as idiots and incapable by your own government, through their 'Ketuanan Melayu' and NEP camouflage. Your own leaders are telling you that you are useless and incapable of competing with other races, and bluffing you that you need them. Ha ha!
When are you going to realize that you are just as capable any anyone in the world. Tyrants always use the strategy of divide, rule and suppress with ignorance. It is time Malaysia grow up and become Satu , Malaysia. Not tiga suku Malaysia. The economy does not make a 'people', it is the people that make an economy. Throw out your corrupt and lying government and free yourselves.
written by Sandwich, February 20, 2010
Oops!. the way the country is going, I didn't realize there were any brains left to drain!!!
written by hassan, February 23, 2010
I am so ashamed to be a muslim because that puts me the same level with umno pariahs. These umno pariahs along with saitan mamak keling half indian pariah mampus celaka anak haram pukima mahathir yang akan mampus cepat destroying Malaysia. I truly wish that mamak half indian pariah keling will mampus quick and that will end the misery Malaysia is undergoing. Sometime I wish I am Allah. I will and I mean that, I will bring justice quick. I will wipe out umno pariahs in heart beat. No I will torment them first then I burn thm in hell. I couldn't wait mamak pariah keling to be taken to hell.
Sometimes I wonder if Allah thing is true or something our prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w.) made it up so he can turn all of us, the muslims to be a terrorists. Don't you feel like that. Look at all muslim controlled nations. Fcuked up. They control their people with iron fist. They use Islam as a tool to suppress and depress the very own people even by murdering them. Look at the christian nations. My god... I envy them. I swear in the of name Allah and prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w.) that by end of this year, if Allah don't punish umno pariahs and mamak keling pariah, I will renounce, relinquish, repudiate, disown and reject Islam as my religion. I will convert to christianity and seek aslyum in great nations like America. Join their arm force and kill all these muslim terrorists. I have no remorse to these bastards. You kill them before the blow you off. They don't care. I could be flying with my family, and these motherfcukers will blow you, me and other innocent people along. So lets uprise against these muslim terrorists and take the law in our own hand.
written by Antares, February 24, 2010
It's undeniable that Malaysia is reeling from 22 years of self-serving arrogance, cynicism and hypocrisy under Mahathir - who is still trying to create a political dynasty by thrusting his none-too-bright son Mukhriz into the fray (taking a cue from George H.W. Bush, I reckon). However, he didn't accomplish the feat singlehandedly. He had the support of thousands of Bumoid Umoputras who rushed for the fool's gold of no-bid contracts and unrepayable loans. Slowly but surely, Mahathir got the sultans involved in big business and that's how he corrupted the lot of them. Although unbeatably cunning as a political chess-player, Mahathir has never shown even an iota of genuine vision or wisdom. Indeed, his is an entirely mediocre sort of neo-Darwinian intellect - honed for barefanged dogfights, dirty tricks and institutional roughhousing. For an entire generation Malaysia was operating on slogans and catchy taglines concocted by highly-paid spindoctors - and the sad thing was we began to believe our own propaganda. Now Najib has picked up where Mahathir left off by spending millions on a professional facelift - rather than looking in the mirror and realizing he has entered the game of Umno politics a bit too late and with far too much baggage. The party is long past its use-by date and cannot reinvent itself. It can only drag the country down to hell - unless we boot it out of power pretty damn quick.
written by Wil, February 25, 2010
I am a member of the Malaysian disapora currently working for the Australian government in a senior position, having been educated in Australia with a bachelors and two masters degrees.
Yes, an outdated education system, untendable crime rates, racial discrimination in all levels of society and the increasingly bigoted government are all factors why I've chosen not to return to Malaysia. Notice I did not mention money, standard of living (healthcare, housing affordability) etc. Neither am I talking about the opportunities Australia offers compared to Malaysia. This is simply because the PUSH factors from Malaysia are primary reason for the brain/people drain, not the PULL factors from other countries. I am close to giving up hope on the land of my birth.
written by WatAWaste, February 25, 2010
Indians & chinese pay tax (90%) but the kids can't secure scholarship.But Malays pay tax (i suspect) not even 10%,pe makan Pizza(US-Jews) punya takde tax,scholarship sure dapat(kalau tak dapat, masuk UITM(bodoh bodoh punya) lepai tu boleh enjoy sampai ke Manchaster,Leeds.Kalau belajar elok-elok kat Manchester,Leeds pun ok juga tapi in bukan..GAGAL untuk dapat cert tapi boleh balik jadi lecturer.Fuiyooo!.Negara mana yang ada keistimewaan ini.Hampa cina-india mesti syukur ada kat negara ini.Next stop the Malays with scholarship went to overseas.As a reference to the story above,diapa ni pe belajar kat overseas pakai duit tax cina/india juga.So apa beza dengan local local ini.Boleh pe dengan tiket taxpayer lepas to settle.Ingat hampa ni elok sangat kah...haiyooo...
written by Mark Carter, February 26, 2010
There are so many reasons why Malaysian's choose to leave and live abroad. One thing is for sure - those in power seem absolutely oblivious to the truths that they face. They are content to try to grab a bigger slice of an ever smaller pie ... very sad.
written by mamat tongkang, March 05, 2010
Malaysian Government does not want clever people to remain in Malaysia. These people are a problem. The country needs to have village idiots remaining so that these current crowd can continue to rape the coffers of the country.
written by leaving, April 12, 2010
as title, where does the pie comes from?
written by daboss, May 26, 2010
If you think the govt is worried of this brain drain, you are dead wrong. This is the scenario the ultra extremist Malay want to see. they want to see a "bloodless" racial cleansing, whereby the country is rid of Chinese and Indian so that they can have the cake to themselves.
written by UMNO spokesman, June 04, 2010
Umno spokesman:We want our county to be Malay Supermacy!
* Eh, mcm mane nak spell County, tu bahasa inggeris untuk negara dan mcm mane spell supermacy...bahasa orang asing untuk ketuanan.
written by yezdi, January 25, 2011
"... they cannot imagine any woman not wanting to sleep with a man."
Will the local terrorists take up the challenge and pass more laws to govern the bedroom? " 'It doesn't matter if it's a law or not...' " I rest my case. "The challenge for policymakers..." Just use more of the prefixes "i-" (e.g. iCity), "e-" (e.g. e-policy) and "1" (the most common of late). Get consultants to help you with other buzzwords like "k-economy", "think outside the box", "win-win situation".
written by A Singaporean, May 05, 2011
I'm a Singaporean that just came back from traveling to KL.
When I was in Malaysia, I realized the state of chaos and ineffectiveness in Malaysia due to it's politics. I have never heard of any developed countries having political drama where a "Datuk X" wearing a mask invites reporters to a hotel to show a scandalous video of "Anwar" doing some funky stuff in a hotel room. This reflects the level of sophistication that is ingrained within Malaysia's political system. Politics in Malaysia seem more concerned about who is sleeping with another person, rather than the important core aspects of addressing rising inflation in Malaysia as well as what this thread is about - Malaysia's appalling brain drain that will ensure that Malaysia can never transit from a Developing Country to a truly 1st World Nation. Malaysia's lack of talent leads to a lack of good quality human capital, which would leave Malaysia uncompetitive on a global stage due not being able to move up the value chain. If Malaysia tries to increase wages, it further increases Malaysia's uncompetitiveness, resulting in rising unemployment and job losses to bigger players in the region. Malaysia's fate is sealed with the lack of quality human capital, and will only remain where you are - never transiting into a developed, first world nation. Walking outside Maybank at Bukit Bintang, the "most powerful district in the most prosperous city in the whole of Malaysia", I saw protests saying that Maybank encourages "Gangsterism" in the company. To this I can only say, Malaysia tak boleh. Understand that the Government's dream of having only Bumiputras as the "Superior Race" of Malaysia is just a dream, wake up and take a look around, treat the West and the Minority Races of Chinese and Indians better, if not Bumiputras will just be big fishes in a small pond, while all the big players in the world will continue fishing in the vast ocean living you guys to live in your own imaginary small pond by yourselves.
written by Jordan, June 08, 2011
This is damn straight, I'm a Malaysian-Chinese, and even though I'm only 14, I keep myself updated with all stuff that's happening right now in the country. Including the politics. New form of entertainment? Dewan Rakyat. Politicians are just comedians to me.
Anyway, I'm leaving when I get the chance. The situation in this country is just so bad; the social injustice, corruption, sudden outbreaks of intense violence in schools, racism, and most importantly, the freedom of speech. One little mistake, and you die in jail. Unless, there's a f**king miracle, and you get out of this stupid country. Either way, you stay here, the government only wants you to work for them, not to pursue your dreams. And I'm not the only one wanting to leave; all my friends wanna leave, and half of them hate this country. There's propaganda here, corruption there; I've already lost hope and faith here. Oh, wait, I'm still living here? I should get a life, then. Wake up, and open your eyes and look here. A 14 year old and thousands of other kids hating on this country. This country has succeeded in making even children hate it. That's one of the reasons why this country is experiencing brain drain.
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Now after the 'canning' incident Umno has virtually opened the doors for cooperation from PAS at the Federal & State level. Believe me the Exodus (by those who can) will begin very soon.
svmbanu