King grants audience to KK Mart founder, does not want socks issue prolonged
His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, consented to grant an audience to KK Mart founder Datuk Seri Chai Kee Kan on Wednesday (April 3). His Majesty later issued a statement, saying that this is the last time he would have to stress on the socks issue involving the supermarket.
PETALING JAYA: His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, wants the controversial socks issue not to be prolonged.
His Majesty, who granted an audience to the founder and executive chairman of KK Supermart & Superstore Sdn Bhd, Datuk Seri Dr Chai Kee Kan, reiterated that no party should take advantage of this matter, including inciting others.
“I do not want this issue to be prolonged,” Sultan Ibrahim decreed to the Royal Press Office.
During the 15-minute audience at Istana Negara, Chai sought His Majesty’s forgiveness and apologised to the King over the sale of socks with the word “Allah” printed on them.
Chai also apologised to the Muslim community.
His Majesty also warned all parties, including KK Super Mart, to be more careful regarding products being sold, especially imported goods, to avoid the issue from recurring.
“All parties must be more responsible. This should not happen again. I hope this is the last time I have to stress on this,” His Majesty decreed.
The chain has been mired in controversy since March 13 after the controversial socks were discovered in the Bandar Sunway outlet.
Chai and his wife, Datin Seri Loh Siew Mui, have been charged with two counts of intentionally wounding the religious sensitivities of Muslims over the distribution and sale of the socks.
The couple had pleaded not guilty.
Anger towards KK Super Mart over the issue has led to three firebombing attempts on the convenience store’s outlets in Perak, Pahang and Sarawak.
Following the incident, the Prime Minister ordered the police not to compromise and for action to be taken against those who commit such acts.
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim also warned that racial and religious must not be used to disrupt order in the country.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain has vowed that stern action would be taken against those who vandalise KK Super Mart and that investigations were ongoing to identify the perpetrators, warning the public against taking matters into their own hands.
It has taken the slow but steady route while addressing an ethnic incongruity
. Kuala Lumpur's new landmark, Merdeka 118, is a symbol of the country's growing affluence. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Hiroki Endo and Reuters)
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim vows to focus on achieving faster growth.
KUALA LUMPUR -- Asia's megacities often undergo surprising metamorphoses in short amounts of time. Kuala Lumpur is one such example. When I visited the city in late October, I was amazed at how much it had modernized since I visited nine years ago.
Urban rail lines now crisscross the city, with new shopping malls sprouting everywhere. Particularly eye-catching was Merdeka 118, a 118-story skyscraper completed earlier this year. The 678-meter tower -- the world's second-tallest after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai -- is a symbol of the country's growing affluence. Its spire was designed to evoke the image of Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia's first prime minister, raising his hand as he proclaimed national independence in 1957.
Malaysia over the past few years has experienced a rapid turnover of prime ministers, though the political situation seems to have stabilized. On Dec. 5, about a year after the launch of his government, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim stressed his intention to push for faster economic growth. "It's time to focus on developing the economy," he said in an interview with a local broadcaster.
Anwar's government in July unveiled its 10-year Madani Economy plan and the National Energy Transition Roadmap. These were followed in September by the midterm review of the 12th Malaysia Plan and the New Industrial Master Plan 2030. In October, Anwar's government launched its Hydrogen Economy and Technology Roadmap.
"It is not clear how these relate to one another," a Japanese businessperson said. Still, it seems clear that the government's main goal is to achieve annual growth of over 5.5%, a target specified in the Madani plan.
Malaysia's gross domestic product grew 8.7% last year, the highest in 22 years, and growth for this year is estimated at 4%, despite the global slowdown. Given its relatively young population, domestic demand is expected to further expand. The country's semiconductor and other sectors are also attracting foreign direct investment as alternative supply chain bases amid mounting U.S.-China tensions.
The country's per capita gross national income was $11,780 in 2022. If the economy grows 5.5% per year and there is no sharp depreciation of the ringgit against the dollar, it could shed its middle-income status, as defined by the World Bank, in two or three years, joining the ranks of high-income nations.
Graduation has been a long time coming.
Malaysia became an upper-middle-income country in 1996, according to a working paper that Jesus Felipe, a professor at De La Salle University in the Philippines, wrote in 2012, when he was with the Asian Development Bank. Felipe reasons that upper-middle-income nations become ensnared in the middle-income trap if they are unable to move up for more than 15 years. Once trapped, countries suffer stagnant growth, sandwiched between technologically advanced developed nations and developing countries abundant in cheap labor. The description fits Malaysia's situation.
To see why Malaysia could not extricate itself from the trap for so long, one needs to look at its history.
Twelve years after the country gained its independence in 1957, a racial riot engulfed the capital. Malays accounted for nearly 70% of the population, but ethnic Chinese, who made up less than 30%, controlled the economy. The strain of this incongruity led to the clash, resulting in about 200 deaths.
To prevent a recurrence of the tragedy, the government began to address the economic disparity and in 1971 adopted a policy called Bumiputera (sons of the soil) -- a type of affirmative action for ethnic Malays. The policy treats Malays favorably in all aspects of life, including school admissions, employment and even stockholding.
The country's ethnic Chinese are traditionally considered to be strong in commerce and industrial activities. "If we recruit people by ability alone, many could be Chinese," an executive at a Japanese company said.
By trying to fix the racial imbalance artificially, Bumiputera is often cited as a source of inefficiency, but it has its merits.
"If the government had not provided elementary and secondary education to Malay villagers and helped them migrate to cities and find jobs in the commercial and industrial sectors, the country would have suffered a serious labor shortage in the early stage of economic development," said Satoru Kumagai, director of the economic geography studies group at the Institute of Developing Economies of the Japan External Trade Organization. It can be said that Bumiputera's goal is to strike an optimal balance between distribution and growth.
A shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia's Bumiputera policy has helped educate young Malay villagers and bring them to cities hungry for workers. (Photo by Toru Takahashi)
Mahathir Mohamad, who in 1981 became Malaysia's fourth prime minister, shifted the national focus to growth by adopting the Look East policy, which sought to emulate Japan's economic success. The country also began to actively attract more foreign capital. In 1991, Mahathir launched Vision 2020, the goal of which was to become a high-income country in 30 years.
"His greatest achievement was to set a goal of becoming a high-income country," said Abdul Razak Ahmad, founding director of Bait Al Amanah, a private think tank. He "thus changed the people's mindset, encouraging them to have a can-do attitude."
Malaysia enjoyed annual growth of nearly 10% for 10 years before the Asian financial crisis hit it hard in 1997. Afterward, its growth slowed to around 5% to 6%. Anwar, then the deputy prime minister and finance minister, clashed with Mahathir over how to cope with the crisis and was dismissed.
When Anwar this year announced the Madani plan, he said the country had been "caught in a vicious cycle of high costs, low wages, low profits and a lack of competitiveness" since the 1997 crisis. Anwar clearly sees the plan as a roadmap to push the country into the high-income category during his tenure -- something his old enemy could not achieve.
The reason for Malaysia's inability to pull itself out of the middle-income trap becomes clear when looking at the economic development of Taiwan and South Korea.
In terms of population, Taiwan and South Korea are not much different from Malaysia. Taiwan is home to 23 million, South Korea to 51 million and Malaysia to 33 million.
In 1981, when Mahathir became prime minister, the three were not far apart in per capita GDP. Taiwan's was at $2,691, South Korea's at $1,883 and Malaysia's at $1,920.
Taiwan became an upper-middle-income economy in 1986, followed by South Korea two years later, according to Felipe. Taiwan stepped up to high-income status in 1993, with South Korea following in 1995. It took just seven years for the two to move from upper-middle-income to high-income status.
Unlike Malaysia, they did not fall into the trap. Last year, Malaysia's per capita GDP was $12,465, far below Taiwan's $32,687 and South Korea's $32,418. Several factors were at play here.
First, Taiwan and South Korea do not have complex ethnic problems that cause them to pursue difficult socioeconomic policies. Second, the two had no choice but to industrialize as they are not blessed with natural resources like Malaysia, which is rich in petroleum, natural gas and palm oil.
Third, democratization in Taiwan and South Korea began shortly before the end of the Cold War in 1989, allowing them to catch the waves of globalization and information technology. Taiwan democratized in 1986 and South Korea in 1987.
Malaysia has held democratic elections since it gained independence, but the country was under a "developmental dictatorship" that prioritized economic development while restricting political freedom. Malaysians had to wait until 2018 for their government to hand power to another party for the first time.
Fourth, internationally competitive businesses like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Hyundai Motor and Samsung Electronics have driven growth in Taiwan and South Korea. Malaysia, meanwhile, has failed to nurture such companies with an economy that instead has been led by government-affiliated entities. Its automobile, electrical and electronics industries have depended on foreign businesses.
Grab Holdings, whose ride-hailing superapp is now ubiquitous across Southeast Asia, was founded in Malaysia but quickly relocated its head office to Singapore to facilitate fund-raising and other benefits.
On the whole, Malaysia's lack of economic dynamism was to blame for its lower growth curve.
Still, it should be noted that Malaysia has avoided the so-called resource trap, in which the presence of abundant resources holds back a country's industrialization. Malaysia's leading exports are electrical and electronic products, which account for 40% of its total exports. It tops the U.S. and Japan in terms of exports of semiconductor-related products by value.
This trap can be seen in Saudi Arabia, which in 2016 drafted its Vision 2030 strategy to reduce its dependence on natural resources. Malaysia achieved 40 years ago the industrialization Saudi Arabia is now pursuing.
Said Kumagai: "Malaysia is different from East Asia's elite economies like Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, and from countries with unique strengths such as Singapore, Hong Kong and oil-producing Gulf states. If it achieves high-income status, it will be the first 'normal' country to do so."
Still, challenges abound. In chip manufacturing, Vietnam and India are catching up fast, making it imperative for Malaysia to boost investments in higher value-added upstream industries. Given the accelerating trend toward carbon neutrality, demand for its fossil fuels will likely decline.
Yet, while balancing growth and stability, the multiethnic country with an average age of 30 has succeeded in making slow but steady progress toward overcoming the middle-income trap. Its industrial success will certainly serve as a beacon for other emerging and developing countries in the Global South.
Umno has never been as vulnerable over the last 70-over years as it is today. It had been the only dominant and domineering political party Malaysia had experienced. Its hold over Malaysia and its power to rule as it wished and pleased used to be absolute and unchallenged.
Fortunately for Malaysia, all that has clearly changed for now. Umno only has 37 MPs out of the total of 222 or 16.7% of the august legislative chamber.
Glaringly, Umno’s grip on power is slipping. And it is desperate to cling on to power and reclaim its former eminence and dominance, come what may. It is so desperate that it has lost its balance, its rationality and its sanity; it is pushing for an early election that is vehemently opposed by all thinking and well-meaning Malaysians because the risks involved during the monsoon period can be horrendous.
Umno has thrived in creating fear among the Malays and planting suspicion in their minds that their future and fortune will be taken away by the non-Malays, especially the Chinese, if they don’t rally behind Umno. Another weapon it has used very effectively is religion. It has been drumming into the Malays that the Christians are about to Christianise Malaysia.
Umno has very successfully destroyed our unity and harmony that was the hallmark of our nation during the time of our beloved Tunku Abdul Rahman – the halcyon days of tolerance and accommodation.
All that goodwill and peace that united us in the past was destroyed and replaced with hatred, suspicion, greed, intolerance and selfishness. Peaceful Malaysia was buried, and a disunited and fractured Malaysia has been created in its place.
Umno is now determined to capture its former glory by assuming that an early election will reverse its misfortune and restore power in the hands of Umno.
Support the struggle to build a Malaysia based on Justice, Freedom, Solidarity:
Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr Jeffrey Cheah AOTan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr Jeffrey Cheah AO
Dear Malaysia - Wednesday, 31 Aug 2022
This year, we mark our 65th National Day and 59th Malaysia Day. I would like to take this opportunity to continue the conversation we started last year by penning some thoughts on our beloved nation.
We live in a time of extreme uncertainty. Even as Malaysia and the world transition into the endemic phase, Covid-19 still poses a threat. Tensions between the United States and China have escalated, while the war in Ukraine has disrupted global supply chains.
Inflation is soaring and the widening income inequality is reversing decades of hard-earned progress.
Given these global headwinds, it is even more pertinent that we as Malaysians get our act together, fast, if we are to overcome these challenges
We have to take a hard look at where we are today, where we want to go and how we intend to get there.
Let me highlight some positive developments that have happened over the past 12 months.
For example, the historic memorandum of understanding (MoU) that was signed by the Prime Minister and the Pakatan Harapan opposition coalition is beginning to bear fruit in terms of reforming our political system.
The anti-party hopping law has been gazetted. A political financing bill will soon be tabled. Parliament is growing in independence as it plays its check-and-balance role.
But even more crucial is the out-of-the-box thinking that led to the MoU and introduced the concept of “compete and collaborate” into our political system. It provided a sense of stability that greatly helped the governance of the country. We need more such ideas in order to move forward.
The government did well to cushion the harshest impact of the rising cost of living for Malaysians, especially for those in the B40 category.
But it has come at a huge and, clearly, unsustainable cost: almost RM80bil in subsidies.
While these stop-gap measures have provided temporary aid, what we really need is a set of cohesive, coherent and coordinated long-term policies that can raise productivity levels and the rakyat’s income.
In the words of the late Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu, “There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they are falling in.”
However, like many of my fellow Malaysians, I worry that some in power appear to be more focused on politics, rather than policies.
We are all aware of the obstacles we face in trying to build a brighter, more progressive, more inclusive and more sustainable future for our country.
Let me share some of them. It is crucial that we acknowledge the pressing need to strengthen our national unity. Our diversity is a strength that enriches us as a nation, not something that divides us.
We must all do what we can to clean up the toxicity that influences our conversations on race, religion and culture.
And then, there is education. It is no secret that our education system needs a massive overhaul. Unless we urgently address this challenge, we will doom our children and our country to a future of poverty and misery.
In a globalised world, the competition our children face will come not just from the student at the next desk, but from far beyond our borders.
In this context, I am concerned to learn that the command of English among young Malaysians is on the decline.
Obviously, Bahasa Malaysia is our national language and we should know it, but we are a trading nation and English is the language of trade and commerce. A lack of fluency in English may well pose a major hurdle in our efforts to build a prosperous Malaysia.
In fact, the more languages we are fluent in, the more opportunities we can explore in this globalised world.
The perception is that corruption has now become endemic in this country. I do not need to go into specific details. You are all aware of the issues and the scandals. Unless we seriously root out corruption, we are in trouble.
Like how cancer attacks a body from within, corruption is a disease that can destroy a country and a society from the inside out.
Allowing corruption to go unchecked is like injecting poison into a body. Corruption is a two-way street involving a giver and a taker.
Battling it will require not only strong laws implemented without fear or favour, but also a change in mindset and culture among all of us. How exactly do we achieve this?
The recent decisions by the courts on corruption cases have sparked hope. The judiciary’s upholding of its institutional integrity is a huge step forward in this war against corruption.
Let us bear in mind that even as we address these political and socio-economic issues, we do so at a time when climate change threatens the very survival of humanity.
Implementing the sustainable development agenda is no longer an option, but an urgent imperative.
The path has already been charted for us. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, adopted by the United Nations in 2015, lay out a holistic and comprehensive roadmap.
But realising the 17 SDGs is not the role of governments alone.
It requires the commitment of every element of society – the private sector, academia, civil society and every single one of us.
We are all in this together.
Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr Jeffrey Cheah AO
As a third-generation Malaysian of Chinese heritage who was raised in Pusing, Perak, and an entrepreneur who owes a great debt of gratitude to my country for the opportunities it has given me, I would like to share some thoughts on building a more progressive, inclusive and sustainable future for all under the Malaysian sun.
We wake up today marking our 64th National Day and, soon, will mark our 58th Malaysia Day on Sept 16.
Notice that I said “mark” and not “celebrate.” The reason is obvious: more than 15,000 Malaysian lives lost to Covid-19; more than 1.6 million of our Malaysian family infected; millions more reeling from the impact to their livelihoods; a rising number of Malaysians taking their own lives due largely to factors associated with the pandemic; schools closed; and lockdowns, masks and physical distancing.
And to add to our troubles, a political crisis that has witnessed Malaysia having three prime ministers in three years.
I do not need to dwell on the details. We are all only too aware of the grim reality.
Malaysia is at a tipping point, which some may even liken to what happened on May 13, 1969. However, while May 13 posed a threat to the very existence of what was a much younger Malaysia, the crisis sparked by the pandemic is of a very different nature.
The only similarity, in my view, is that once again it is up to us to decide on how we overcome the challenge – an opportunity to take a hard look at where we are today as a nation, where we want to go, and how we get there. In short, we need to have a national conversation within our Malaysian family based on civility and mutual respect.
My fellow MalaysiansLet’s begin with a discussion on how we can eradicate the virus of racism in our society. Let us acknowledge that Malaysia’s rich diversity of races, ethnicities, cultures, religions and even cuisines is a strength for us to leverage, not a barrier that divides us. Let us break down these walls between us.
In this respect, the one silver lining that gives me hope amidst these dark days is witnessing how Malaysians are rising above race and religious lines to help not just their neighbours but even total strangers in their time of need.That this outreach is driven largely by civil society groups comprising young people of all races indicates to me that perhaps the current generation is moving beyond the “us-versus-them” mentality that has dominated much of our lives over the past four decades or so.
Let us also use this opportunity to discuss the reforms we need to put in place to build the Malaysia that each and everyone of us wants. The post-May 13 blueprint may have served its purpose back then, although my personal opinion is that while the policies were drawn up with good intentions, the implementation went somewhat off-track soon after.
But that was a different time. We cannot overcome the challenges of the Digital Age using analogue mind-sets. We now have an opportunity to thoroughly re-examine the various factors that define our daily lives.
Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr Jeffrey Cheah AO
They include, for instance, the economy: How do we promote an economy based on innovation, digital tools, competition and meritocracy, one where “know-how” matters more than “know who”?
Then there is education. It is obvious that our current education system is failing our children. We need to urgently re-examine how we teach, what we teach and even where we teach. In a globalised world, our children face competition not just from the student at the next desk, but from those far beyond our borders. If we do not prepare them correctly, we doom them and our country to a bleak and poverty-ridden future.
Let’s move on next to governance. Restoring the integrity of our institutions is of fundamental importance. I do not want to sound like an old uncle always talking about how much better it was in the old days. But the fact remains that there was a time when Malaysia was held in high esteem internationally for a judiciary noted for its independence and integrity, the efficiency of our civil service, the provision of public healthcare and a Parliament that sought to play its role as a check and balance on the Executive.
And then there is the issue of corruption. Need I say more? Unless we seriously root out corruption, we are in trouble. I am not naive enough to believe that we can eradicate corruption completely. No country has done so. But we must, at the very least, reduce it from a cancer in society to just a sore thumb.
Corruption, of course, is a two-way street involving a giver and a taker. Battling it will require not only strong laws implemented without fear or favour, but also a change in mind-set and culture among all of us. How exactly do we achieve this?
The recent accord reached between our Prime Minister and leaders of the Pakatan Harapan opposition on these issues, if followed through, offers hope that we may once again restore pride in our institutions and progress as a nation.
My fellow Malaysians
We began our journey in 1957 with hopes and aspirations. We suffered the tragedy of May 13 even before Malaysia had reached its teens. The nation matured in its adulthood in the years that followed. The country is now past its middle age – a time when hard-earned experience and wisdom can be our guide.
I believe that all of us as individuals must have a higher purpose in life. For me, that higher purpose is a commitment to nation-building and to giving back to society.
An optimist by nature, I have a deep faith this higher purpose is also shared by all of you and that together, we can overcome the challenges we face and build a Malaysia that our children can be proud of.
In this effort, we should all be guided by our Rukun Negara, which represents the soul of our nation.
As it says on our national motto: Bersekutu Bertambah Mutu. Loosely translated as “Unity is Strength.”
We are all in this together.
Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr Jeffrey Cheah AO
Malaysian pride: Tan, who is from Muar, was appointed to the most senior technology position at Nasa recently. – nasa.gov
NASA Engineer Florence Tan presented a Maniac Lecture entitled, "From Malaysia to Mars." Florence talked about her journey from Malaysia to NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, where she has been working on planetary mass spectrometers, which is characterized by challenges, frustration, excitement, and rewards.
Only with the application of inclusiveness will retain our best workforce.
EVERY time we read about Malaysians making a mark globally in their respective fields, pride and joy course through our veins knowing these people have elevated our country’s standing.
Recently, that proverbial uplifting news featured six young Malaysians acquiring seats in the prestigious Harvard University for the class of 2026.
The students received offers of admission amidst stiff competition from a global applicant pool of 61,220 students, it was reported.
Last week, another piece of good news surfaced. A Malaysian from Muar, Johor, Florence Tan, was appointed Deputy Chief Technologist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) – the most senior technology position.
She had left Malaysia at 18 to study in the United States, and then started to work with Nasa, beginning as an intern at one of its research centres.
When I read those two stories, I couldn’t help pondering if the six Harvard students would return to Malaysia someday, perhaps after gaining experience in the US and other countries.
And what can Tan really do in Malaysia, even if she chose to return home? After all, we can’t cater to her expertise, experience and skill in
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But more and more, when we read of these high achievers, the media is compelled to refer to them as “Malaysia-born,” which is a euphemism for Malaysians who have emigrated overseas and are not nationals of our country any longer.
At least we’re sure that two legendary Malaysians of global repute, Hollywood actress Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh and shoe designer Datuk Jimmy Choo are hanging on to their Malaysian passports.
Unfortunately, Malaysia is one of the countries most affected by brain drain, as it faces a major problem in not only being incapable of delivering the required talent, but also in failing to retain the current local talent or attracting foreign ones, as a report in cs.stanford.edu put it.
The World Bank defines brain drain as the migration of talent across borders, which has an impact on Malaysia’s aspiration to become a high-income nation.
“Human capital is the bedrock of the high-income economy. Sustained and skill-intensive growth will require talent going forward.
“For Malaysia to be successful in its journey to high income, it will need to develop, attract, and retain talent. Brain drain does not appear to square with this objective: Malaysia needs talent, but talent seems to be leaving.
“Brain drain is a subject of intense debate and controversy, but surprisingly few studies have characterised the phenomenon in the Malaysian context – be it in terms of magnitude, impact, or policy response.
“What complicates matters further are the statistical discrepancies that limit the quality, availability, timeliness, and comparability of international migration data,” wrote its senior economic advisor Philip Schellekens.
He quoted the World Bank’s Malaysia Economic Monitor saying that the Malaysian diaspora – the group of skilled and unskilled Malaysia-born women, men and children living overseas – is estimated conservatively at one million worldwide as of 2010.
“A third among these represent brain drain – those with tertiary education among the diasporas. This is not to suggest that others are not ‘brainy’, but educational attainment is the only available proxy that is consistently available across recipient countries.
“To put the numbers in perspective, two factors are important: the size of the skills base and the profile of immigration.
“Because of the narrow skills base, brain drain is intense in Malaysia and is further aggravated by positive selection effects, as the best and brightest leave first.
“Further, brain drain is not alleviated by compensating inflows, since migration into Malaysia is mainly low-skilled with some 60% with primary education or less and the number of high-skilled expats has fallen by a quarter since 2004.”
As of 2019, there are 952,261 Malaysians or Singaporeans of partial or full Malaysian origin residing in Singapore. And including the permanent population in the country, about 350,000 Malaysians cross the Johor-Singapore Causeway daily to commute to work or school.
Australia is another popular choice for Malaysians, with 177,460 people living there in 2020, according to a report, while the 2016 census from the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveals that 138,364 Malaysians became permanent residents or citizens.
There’s nothing wrong with us continuing to look for low-skilled labour for our oil palm estates, restaurants and homes – many West Asian countries are in the same predicament. However, Malaysia needs to embrace the global mobility of talent, too.
For a start, we must admit that the biggest criteria are the differences in earnings, career prospects, opportunities, professional exposure and quality of life.
The elephant in the room for many Malaysians is the discontent with our country’s affirmative policies, particularly among the non-bumiputras who see their chances of climbing up the ladder hampered by their ethnic origin.
The painful truth is, many talented non-bumiputras, especially the Chinese, make up the bulk of the diaspora.
In all fairness, the government, via Talent Corporation Malaysia, has developed many initiatives to encourage Malaysians to return, but a better carrot needs to be dangled.
Singapore, one of the best-run countries, has the same problem as it faces a challenge to retain quality citizens because the country’s brain drain rate is higher than the global average with six in 10 Singa-poreans willing to leave the country in pursuit of a better job, according to a Randstad Workmonitor research report.
The study revealed that the brain drain rate in the Lion City is higher than the global average of 50%. It’s also higher than Hong Kong’s 56%, but slightly lower than Malaysia’s 66%.
It said 68% of Singaporean workers, aged between 18 and 34 years old, are willing to pack up and leave their country.
In many ways, ethnic Chinese, like their forefathers, are a migratory race, regardless of their nationalities, with many selecting Canada and Australia as their choices during the last 20 years, according to statista.com
In 2013, the United States and Canada became the countries with the highest immigration rate of millionaires from China, according to Hurun Research Institute.
China is reportedly one of the world’s largest emigration countries as well as the country with the biggest outflow of high net worth individuals between 2003 and 2013. Likewise for many Hong Kongers and Taiwanese.
Our politicians love to use the term “world class” when they talk about Malaysia, but we need to really walk the talk or else it remains hollow and unconvincing. If we’re indeed top of the heap, we should be getting top notch workers queueing up to work here.
Wong Chun Wai began his career as a journalist in Penang, and has served The Star for over 35 years in various capacities
and roles. He is now group editorial and corporate affairs adviser to the group, after having served as group managing director/chief
executive officer.On The Beat made its debut on Feb 23 1997 and Chun Wai has penned the column weekly without a break, except for the occasional press holiday when the paper was not published. In May 2011, a compilation of selected articles of On The Beat was published as a book and launched in conjunction with his 50th birthday. Chun Wai also comments on current issues in The Star.
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