Essay Writing Draft 1

The movement of people from places to places is commonly seen in the world today. Human migration has brought several advantages to the society such as opening doors to many new fields of education and career opportunities. However, it has also impacted countries negatively. Brain drain issue in Malaysia has impacted them economically and socially as many talents are migrating to foreign countries. Hence, the Government came up with measures to address this issue by retaining their migrated locals back and also inviting foreign talents to work in Malaysia. However, the overall rate of outflows is still higher than the rate of inflows, and this shows that more should be done to salvage the problem. This brain drain issue, therefore, is a serious threat to Malaysia as it will continue to affect its economy and society, hence, the current measures have to be revised and there should be new solutions. This essay will then discuss the brain drain issue and its impact on Malaysia. Also, the current measures will be evaluated and new solutions are recommended to revert brain drain to brain gain.

The brain drain issue stirred up from human migration is commonly seen in Malaysia, where more highly-skilled Malaysian leave their homeland for overseas incentives such as better quality of life. These foreign countries, usually richer, are able to provide better incentives to attract talents over as compared to Malaysia (Schellekens, 2011). Besides foreign incentives, another cause of brain drain is due to social injustice. The Malays in Malaysia are given special privileges in areas such as entrepreneurship and education where this is an unfair treatment towards the Chinese in Malaysia (Schellekens, 2011). For instance, the Chinese are given limited entries to good schools in Malaysia due to racial quotas, thus, forcing them to study in foreign countries (Schellekens, 2011). However, this issue has caused negative impacts on Malaysia, such as slow economy growth and social issues, in the long run. This is because as more highly-skilled Malaysian departs, there will be fewer talents managing and contributing to the development of the country, thus resulting in slow economy growth. The Government tried to salvage this impact by bringing in foreign talents to contribute instead, however, this has caused social issues among the people. These foreign talents have taken job opportunities from the locals, thus they are seen as a threat in the workforce. Therefore, the impact of brain drain is serious and it has to be resolve effectively.

One of the current measures implemented by the Malaysia Government is the Returning Expert Programme (REP), where the purpose is to retain migrated Malaysians back and use their skill sets and experiences gained abroad in Malaysia (TalentCorp, 2015). The REP provides attractive benefits to returning Malaysian in response for their future contributions towards the development of Malaysia (TalentCorp, 2015). This measure is especially beneficial to Malaysian who are temporary migrated or currently being ill-treated in overseas. However, it is still not enough to retain them back as the loss of income due to returning is not covered. Therefore, the RET is only attractive and applicable to a small group of migrated Malaysia since the incentives are still not attractive enough.

Another current measure implemented is Resident Pass-Talent (RP-T) where the purpose is to attract highly-qualified foreigners to remain and continue working in Malaysia, where they can help to contribute to the economic development of Malaysia (TalentCorp, 2015). This can also compensate the losses the country faced in brain drain. This measure is able to keep some of the foreign talents to stay and contribute as they will be given attractive job incentives. However, it has led to tough competition in the workforce as some locals lose their jobs to the foreign talents. This has resulted in arising social issues where the locals do not welcome these foreign talents and may force even more Malaysian to migrate.

It is vivid to see that providing incentives are no longer effective to retain migrated Malaysian back due to the fact that foreign countries provide better incentives than Malaysia. Therefore, Malaysia should use another approach to minimize brain drain. Firstly, they should reduce social injustice in Malaysia by improving inequality to the Chinese. Secondly, they have to improve their education and workforce sectors through making long-term investment. They have to improve the standards of their schools to build a reputable education system where this will then reduce the number of Malaysian migrating overseas to study. Malaysia can also allies with foreign countries where this can create more job opportunities for their locals. Moreover, Malaysia should come up with cultural measures to form strong connections between the citizens and their roots, such as implementing more culture events for the nation and ingraining this connection from young. This measure can reach out to a larger group of migrated Malaysian to stay connected to their roots. Thus, once brain drain turns to brain gain, fewer foreign talents are needed and this will reduce social issues.

In conclusion, brain drain issue in Malaysia can be minimized through the implementation of new approaches to tackle the issue. This essay has discussed the causes of brain drain issues and its impact on Malaysia’s economy and society. Despite the Government’s efforts, the current measures implemented to resolve the issue are still not effective enough to retain their talents back. This shows that Malaysia should change their approach to resolve the issue since incentives measures will not be as attractive as compared to foreign countries. They could improve their infrastructure such as modifying their racial policies, enhancing their education and workforce sectors, and reconnecting to their own people. The impact of brain drain is serious in the long return, thus, new approaches have to be executed to address this issue in Malaysia effectively.

References

Schellekens, P. (2015, September 22). http://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/cs181/projects/2010-11/BrainDrain/Malaysia.html. Retrieved from http://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/cs181/projects/2010-11/BrainDrain/index.html: http://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/cs181/projects/2010-11/BrainDrain/Malaysia.html

TalentCorp. (2015, September 22). Residence Pass-Talent - Initiatives - Our Work - TalentCorp Malaysia. Retrieved from TalentCorp Malaysia: https://www.talentcorp.com.my/our-work/initiatives/residence-pass-talent

TalentCorp. (2015, September 22). Returning Expert Programme - Initiatives - Our Work - TalentCorp Malaysia. Retrieved from TalentCorp Malaysia: https://www.talentcorp.com.my/our-work/initiatives/returning-expert-programme

Reader Response Final Draft

In the article, “Solve brain drain problem”, Clement Hii (2007) explains that Malaysia is unable to stop their talent pool from migrating. Hii claims that there is a rapid increase in the number of highly-skilled Malaysians departing the country due to attractive incentives provided by foreign countries. The loss of this talent pool has led to Malaysia being more reliant on foreign employment. Hii states that although the ministries have introduced new measures to attract their talent pool back, however the outcomes are unsuccessful. Hii concludes that there is still a huge gap between the salary of their graduates and foreign graduates, thus leading to the problem to be unsolved and there has to be someone to seek for solutions. I agree that this problem is tough to tackle because Malaysia will not be able to provide better incentives than foreign countries and the comparison between salaries is unfair.

Hii states that highly-skilled Malaysian are migrating due to the attractive incentives provided by foreign countries, such as better quality of life (Hii, 2007). These foreign countries, like Australia, are usually much well-off as compared to Malaysia (Numbeo, 2015). Malaysia has tried to come up with new incentives, however, they were unsuccessful. For instance, according to Opalyn Mok's article (2014), 15% tax incentive measure implemented has pushed even more highly-skilled Malaysian away. This shows that Malaysia is unable to provide better incentives than richer foreign countries. Therefore, it would be advisable for Malaysia to change their approach. Personally, I feel that it is essential to build strong reconnections between a Malaysian and his roots again, as if they love their country, there will be a lower probability that they will leave. For instance, Malaysia can organise more national events to bring its people together, besides on National Day or festive seasons only. These migrated Malaysians may miss their traditional food and culture, or their family members who stayed behind, thus, looking at these areas, Malaysia should try to recapture their hearts to their roots again.

Hii asserts that there is a huge gap between the salaries of a Malaysian and a Singaporean (Hii, 2007). However, this figure-to-figure comparison is not accurate as there are other areas to consider as well such as the cost of living. Singaporeans have a lower purchasing power, as compared to Malaysia, due to the high cost of living, therefore, higher salaries are required to afford higher cost (Numbeo, 2015). Thus, this is not a good factor to support the problem.

In conclusion, I agree with Hii that it is not easy to find an effective solution to handle this problem. It is because richer foreign countries can provide better incentives which will attract highly-skilled Malaysian over. Furthermore, it is a tedious process to solve this problem as many policies have to be changed or introduced to bring their talent pool back. Lastly, one possible suggestion in improving the problem would be to reconnect and retain the migrated Malaysian to their culture and roots again.

References

Hii. (2015, September 3). Archives | The Star Online. Retrieved from The Star Online | Malaysia, Business, Sports, Lifestyle and Video News: http://www.thestar.com.my/story/?file=/2007/11/4/nation/19088058&sec=nation

Mok, O. (2015, September 3). Malaysia’s returning expert programme driving out more talent, economist says | Malaysia | Malay Mail Online. Retrieved from Malay Mail Online: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/malaysias-returning-expert-programme-driving-out-more-talent-economist-says

Numbeo. (2015, September 6). Cost Of Living Comparison Between Malaysia And Singapore. Retrieved from Numbeo - The biggest Internet Database about Cost of Living, Housing Indicators and many other informations about cities and countries!: http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_countries_result.jsp?country1=Malaysia&country2=Singapore

Reader Response Draft 1

In the article, “Solve brain drain problem”, Datuk Clement Hii (2007) explains that Malaysia is unable to resolve the problem which is to stop their talent pool from migrating. Datuk claims that there is a rapid increase in the number of highly skilled Malaysians departing the country due to attractive incentives provided by foreign countries. The loss of these talent pool has led to Malaysia being more reliant on foreign employment. Datuk states that the ministries have introduced new plans to attract their talent pool back, however the outcome is that these plans are not sufficient enough to bring them back. Datuk concludes that there is still a huge gap between the salary of their graduates and foreign graduates, thus leading to the problem to be unsolved and there has to be someone seeking for solutions. 

Datuk makes an accurate report in explaining the problem faced in Malaysia is transparent but yet to be solved. I agree that it is difficult in seeking solutions to such a problem as it is hard for a less developed country to provide better incentives than a more developed country. However, if this problem is left unsolved and more educated Malaysian left the country, overtime, the country will face severe loss and it will be harder for the country to prosper economically without this group of talents.

Datuk states that the incentives provided by foreign countries have attracted educated Malaysian to work in their country (Hii, 2007). Personally, I feel that it is part of human nature where people desire to acquire better quality of life and they have the right to choose what is best for them, in this case, migrating overseas is a better choice. This situation is also commonly seen in Singapore, for instance, Singaporeans migrate to foreign land for work opportunities and overseas experience (Phang, 2014).

Datuk claims that there is a huge gap between the salaries of a Malaysian and a Singaporean (Hii, 2007). According to Opalyn Mok’s article (2014), Malaysia bachelor's degree has a salary of RM20,000 as compared to RM429,100 more in Singapore. Despite Singapore having a much higher salary than Malaysia, the overall cost of living is also higher in Singapore. The things are more expensive in Singapore, therefore, a higher salary would be necessary to afford higher cost of living (Numbeo, 2015).

Datuk reports that measures implemented to attract migrated Malaysian back are not effective enough (Hii, 2015). This can be supported by Opalyn Mok's article (2014) where it claims that the 15% tax incentive measure implemented has push more talent pool away. Therefore, it shows the difficulty in finding an effective solution to convince this group of people back to their homeland. Instead of thinking of local incentives to attract them back, I feel that making them connect to their local roots again would make them come home. For instance, they may miss their traditional food and culture, or their family members who stayed behind, using these to bring them back.

In conclusion to the article, I agree with Datuk that it is not easy to find effective solutions to solve this problem. It is because richer foreign countries can always provide better incentives which will attract Malaysian talent pool over. Furthermore, it would be a tedious process to solve this problem as many policies have to be changed or introduced to bring this group of people back to their roots.

References

Hii. (2015, September 3). Archives | The Star Online. Retrieved from The Star Online | Malaysia, Business, Sports, Lifestyle and Video News: http://www.thestar.com.my/story/?file=/2007/11/4/nation/19088058&sec=nation

Numbeo. (2015, September 6). Cost Of Living Comparison Between Malaysia And Singapore. Retrieved from Numbeo - The biggest Internet Database about Cost of Living, Housing Indicators and many other informations about cities and countries!: http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_countries_result.jsp?country1=Malaysia&country2=Singapore

Mok, O. (2015, September 3). Malaysia’s returning expert programme driving out more talent, economist says | Malaysia | Malay Mail Online. Retrieved from Malay Mail Online: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/malaysias-returning-expert-programme-driving-out-more-talent-economist-says

Phang, R. (2015, September 3). The Singapore Brain Drain: not funny when you think about it. — Medium. Retrieved from Medium: https://medium.com/@royphang/the-singapore-brain-drain-not-funny-when-you-think-about-it-ab92b13d8f5f

Reader Response on Rohingya Migrants Article

According to BBC News (2015) “Why are so many Rohingya migrants stranded at sea?” article, many Rohingya migrants running away from Myanmar are stranded in unsteady boats near the coast of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. The Burmese Rohningya Organisation UK states that Myanmar government does not acknowledge the Rohingyas as a Muslim ethnic group and has announced policies to suppress them, leading them to be not recognized as a citizen of any country. BBC News reports that the neighbouring countries of Myanmar are not providing any aid to the Rohingyas. BBC News concludes that this problem can be resolved if Myanmar is push by the international community to help enhance the lives of the Rohingya community.

BBC News briefly describes the reason behind why the Rohingyas are stateless. Based on my research, another reason why the Rohingya are stateless may be due to racism. Myanmar has a large population who practice Buddhism, and they do not recognise the Muslim ethnic group as their citizens. Some Buddhist fear that the Rohingyas will cause severe changes and negative impacts to the country, as well as the risk of terrorism (Tharoor, 2015). Therefore, the act of racism has caused this group of people to be abandon and left stranded.

Moreover, the Rohingyas are unfortunate as they are not accepted in Thailand, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Indonesia, a point highlighted by BBC News. This has resulted the Rohingyas to have nowhere to go. I can understand why the neighbouring countries are not providing aid to them, one of the reasons would be that they are afraid of creating conflicts with Myanmar since Myanmar had forgotten their existence. I feel that all countries should provide help the Rohingyas to be not stranded at sea any longer, especially the neighbouring countries. After all, they are still humans like us, and we should always lend a helping hand within our means.

BBC News briefly explains the scenario of events that happened and the reasons to why the Rohingya are stateless. There are other reasons to why Myanmar does not acknowledge them as citizens, as well as why the neighbouring countries did not provide help. The racism and lack of actions has caused the problem to be worse and more Rohingyas have suffered as a result. Therefore, the international community should come together and push Myanmar, as well as the neighbouring countries, to solve the problem quickly and minimize as much damage as possible.

References

BBC News. (2015, August 31). Why are so many Rohingya migrants stranded at sea? - BBC News. Retrieved from BBC - Homepage: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32740637

Tharoor, I. (2015, September 3). Why does this Buddhist-majority nation hate these Muslims so much? - The Washington Post. Retrieved from Washington Post: Breaking News, World, US, DC News & Analysis - The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/02/13/why-does-this-buddhist-majority-nation-hate-these-muslims-so-much/