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Jun 14, 2010
Return home to work in Malaysia?
YES: If economic and political conditions improve NO: Settled in here, started families and businesses in S'pore
By Francis Chan & Lee Yen Nee
MALAYSIANS living in Singapore are in two minds about plans to lure them home to plug the brain drain that has hampered economic progress across the Causeway. Some see the move as good for growth, but most are hedging their bets, waiting to see if economic and political conditions in Malaysia improve before they consider returning home. Controversial pro-Malay policies had prompted many Malaysians to study or work abroad, which stripped the country of much of the talent it needed.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak hopes to reverse the outflow with the 10th Malaysia Plan, a RM230 billion (S$98.4 billion) road map unveiled last Wednesday. Its aim is to help the country become a developed nation by 2020. Key to the plan are strategies to attract foreign talent, including Malaysians working and living overseas. 'While we are faced with the shortage of skilled manpower, there are more than 700,000 Malaysians currently working abroad,' Datuk Seri Najib said when presenting the plan to the Malaysian Parliament last week.
Singapore's Ministry of Manpower did not have the number of Malaysians working here, but an online edition of Malaysian newspaper The Star recently reported that about 350,000 Malaysians were working in Singapore as of February last year. Citing a United Nations Human Development Report from 2009, The Star also reported that more than 200,000 Malaysians were working in Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries, of whom almost half had attained tertiary education.
Singapore has long been a destination of choice for Malaysian students, workers and business owners. Many - like Jian Huang Construction founder Annie Gan, 39, who came to Singapore in 1992 to further her studies - have chosen to settle here, starting families and businesses. However, the new development plan and the recent show of resolve between Singapore and Malaysia to increase economic cooperation have made Ms Gan think again about going back. 'If Mr Najib does change the pro-bumiputera policies...I would return and perhaps also explore business opportunities there. After all, Malaysia is my home country,' she said in Mandarin.
Like Ms Gan, Mr Fann Rui Yang, a materials executive and graduate of Nanyang Technological University, hopes to see equal opportunities for all Malaysians. 'If competition is transparent, talents will be able to find a platform and various opportunities to contribute,' said Mr Fann, 25, who came to Singapore from Ipoh five years ago to study biological sciences. 'I think only when the conditions allow them to perform and be rewarded fairly will talents be willing to stay and contribute to the country.'
Q&M Dental Group chief executive Ng Chin Siau, a Kuala Lumpur native, feels Mr Najib has his work cut out for him if he wants to lure back Malaysians who have settled overseas. 'Bringing back talent would definitely be beneficial to Malaysia as a whole, but to convince people like us who have already settled elsewhere is not going to be easy for him,' said Dr Ng, 42, who has been in Singapore since 1979. Local companies that employ skilled Malaysians need not be overly concerned about an exodus of staff.
Economists such as Barclays Capital's Mr Leong Wai Ho do not expect Malaysia to draw from the talent pool here because the two nations have markedly different economic structures. 'It is a different spectrum that Malaysia is playing in - one that is actually complementary to ours because it is in other manufacturing industries that we don't participate in,' said Mr Leong. 'If anything, it will start with expatriates from elsewhere in the region...taking talent from Taiwan, the Philippines and India, before slowly moving up the ladder.'
Mr Leong added that a resurgent Malaysia in the long run should have a positive impact on Singapore, given the growing number of areas the two countries are now looking to cooperate in.
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[email protected]
Return home to work in Malaysia?
YES: If economic and political conditions improve NO: Settled in here, started families and businesses in S'pore
By Francis Chan & Lee Yen Nee
MALAYSIANS living in Singapore are in two minds about plans to lure them home to plug the brain drain that has hampered economic progress across the Causeway. Some see the move as good for growth, but most are hedging their bets, waiting to see if economic and political conditions in Malaysia improve before they consider returning home. Controversial pro-Malay policies had prompted many Malaysians to study or work abroad, which stripped the country of much of the talent it needed.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak hopes to reverse the outflow with the 10th Malaysia Plan, a RM230 billion (S$98.4 billion) road map unveiled last Wednesday. Its aim is to help the country become a developed nation by 2020. Key to the plan are strategies to attract foreign talent, including Malaysians working and living overseas. 'While we are faced with the shortage of skilled manpower, there are more than 700,000 Malaysians currently working abroad,' Datuk Seri Najib said when presenting the plan to the Malaysian Parliament last week.
Singapore's Ministry of Manpower did not have the number of Malaysians working here, but an online edition of Malaysian newspaper The Star recently reported that about 350,000 Malaysians were working in Singapore as of February last year. Citing a United Nations Human Development Report from 2009, The Star also reported that more than 200,000 Malaysians were working in Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries, of whom almost half had attained tertiary education.
Singapore has long been a destination of choice for Malaysian students, workers and business owners. Many - like Jian Huang Construction founder Annie Gan, 39, who came to Singapore in 1992 to further her studies - have chosen to settle here, starting families and businesses. However, the new development plan and the recent show of resolve between Singapore and Malaysia to increase economic cooperation have made Ms Gan think again about going back. 'If Mr Najib does change the pro-bumiputera policies...I would return and perhaps also explore business opportunities there. After all, Malaysia is my home country,' she said in Mandarin.
Like Ms Gan, Mr Fann Rui Yang, a materials executive and graduate of Nanyang Technological University, hopes to see equal opportunities for all Malaysians. 'If competition is transparent, talents will be able to find a platform and various opportunities to contribute,' said Mr Fann, 25, who came to Singapore from Ipoh five years ago to study biological sciences. 'I think only when the conditions allow them to perform and be rewarded fairly will talents be willing to stay and contribute to the country.'
Q&M Dental Group chief executive Ng Chin Siau, a Kuala Lumpur native, feels Mr Najib has his work cut out for him if he wants to lure back Malaysians who have settled overseas. 'Bringing back talent would definitely be beneficial to Malaysia as a whole, but to convince people like us who have already settled elsewhere is not going to be easy for him,' said Dr Ng, 42, who has been in Singapore since 1979. Local companies that employ skilled Malaysians need not be overly concerned about an exodus of staff.
Economists such as Barclays Capital's Mr Leong Wai Ho do not expect Malaysia to draw from the talent pool here because the two nations have markedly different economic structures. 'It is a different spectrum that Malaysia is playing in - one that is actually complementary to ours because it is in other manufacturing industries that we don't participate in,' said Mr Leong. 'If anything, it will start with expatriates from elsewhere in the region...taking talent from Taiwan, the Philippines and India, before slowly moving up the ladder.'
Mr Leong added that a resurgent Malaysia in the long run should have a positive impact on Singapore, given the growing number of areas the two countries are now looking to cooperate in.
[email protected]
[email protected]
