Reversing brain drain easier said than done

TS,Wednesday 6 October, 2010 

After the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) which was first mooted in the mid-90s, we now have other corridors such as SCORE and SDC; regions such as NCER, ECER and IDR; and growth areas with neighbouring countries such as IMTGA and EAGA. 

The latest to join the bandwagon is Greater Kuala Lumpur (GKL), which is an octopus-shaped conurbation with the main tentacles stretching westward from Kuala Lumpur to Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya, Shah Alam and Klang; another southward to Kajang, Putrajaya and Sepang while others are northward to Selayang and eastward to Ampang Jaya. 

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

However, striving for 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 they have contributed immensely to the 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 number of Malaysians that need help. 

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