Brain drain: We have talent but why does it have to be lured home

Sent to Malay Mail on 5/10/2010 

Discovered through Google on 10/11/2010 

After the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) was first mooted in the mid-1990s, we now have other corridors such as SCORE and SDC; regions such as NCER, ECER and IDR; and growth areas with neighbouring countries, IMTGA and EAGA. 

The latest in the acronym bandwagon is Greater Kuala Lumpur (GKL), which is an octopus-shaped conurbation with the main tentacle stretching westwards from Kuala Lumpur to Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya, Shah Alam and Klang; southwards to Kajang, Putrajaya and Sepang; and northwards to Selayang and eastwards to Ampang Jaya. 

Giving a name to something will certainly help with identification and bring the subject matter into greater focus. 

However, the optimum growth of a corridor, region or area is a monumental task. 

Among other things, it requires massive human capital that has to be sourced both locally and abroad. 

The governments of some countries are smart enough to embrace and attract foreign talents and the ‘adopted’ foreigners have contributed immensely to their new nation’s rapid development. 

In our case, the opposite probably holds true. If all our best and the brightest are given every opportunity to participate fully in nation building, the additional wealth generated may be able to provide safety nets for large numbers of Malaysians who need help. 

As such, the setting up of Malaysia’s Talent Corporation to reverse the brain drain is indeed timely. However, it may prove harder to retain than luring back the Malaysian diaspora as they are used to universal best practices, an environment in which they have thrived. 

For starters, are we up to the challenge for greater transparency that would deny opportunities to those entrusted from continuing to feed on the nation’s fat? 

YS Chan 

Kuala Lumpur