Najis and Sultan of Selangor make this bum a millionaire doing nothing

Malaysia struggles to woo Malaysian experts home due to ‘better life’ abroad

TalentCorp CEO Johan Mahmood Merican says the agency has several incentives to make it easier for overseas Malaysians to come home, including tax exemptions on their cars. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Najjua Zulkefli, April 8, 2014.Higher salaries, better professional opportunities and a comfortable life – these are the main reasons Malaysian professionals living abroad are reluctant to return to Malaysia, TalentCorp said.

According to its statistics, TalentCorp managed to bring back 2,500 Malaysians working abroad, but the figure is small when compared with a 2011 World Bank estimate that almost a million Malaysians are working outside the country.

TalentCorp has received almost 4,000 applications in the three years since it was established in 2011 to address the brain drain in the country.

"It is a combination of several factors. First, the quality of life is related to salaries, secondly, professional opportunities and third, a comfortable life, " TalentCorp chief executive officer Johan Mahmood Merican told The Malaysian Insider recently.

However, the gap in quality of life is not too big when Malaysia is compared with other countries, he said.

"For example, the salaries in London are definitely high but we must increase their awareness about the quality of life after living costs are taken into account. Sometimes, the gap is not that big," he added.

In terms of professional opportunities, Johan said Malaysia was still capable of offering the best opportunities as the country's economic position was still good.

"In many other developing countries in the world, their economies are relatively slow but Malaysia's is steadily progressing," he said.

"The third factor, there are a lot of reasons for that. It's true that there are some Malaysians who are worried about education, crime and the political scenario in the country," he added.

The country which has the highest number of Malaysians wanting to come home is Singapore, followed by the United Kingdom, China, Australia and the Middle East.

According to a World Bank report, Malaysia's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was US$303.53 billion (RM995.43 billion) in 2012.

Malaysia's GDP represents 0.49% of the world's economy.

"When they have been out of the country for too long, it will be hard for them to come home. At least, we appreciate their efforts by giving them incentives."

The administration of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has targetted Malaysia to become a high-income nation by 2020 through Vision 2020, which was introduced by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

As part of efforts to achieve the goal, Najib also introduced fiscal steps to reduce the country's deficit, but that have affected the inflation rate.

Up till 2013, TalentCorp was allocated RM65 million, but it has received criticism over the huge allocation as it did not reflect in the number of talents brought home.

"TalentCorp is not only about bringing workers from overseas, we also have other programmes such as graduate employability and helping foreign talents," Johan said.

The area in which most talents have decided to come back to is the business service sector, followed by oil and gas, finance, electronics, information technology and health.

"We support the Economic Transformational Programme (ETP) and not just overseas programmes.

"We help drive the ETP," he said, adding that TalentCorp was in line with the government's goal of achieving a high-income nation by 2020.

Johan also said that TalentCorp does not take on the role of a "recruitment agency" for the talents brought home.

"We do not operate like a recruitment agency because we are a government agency. We do not look for jobs for them; it is up to them to find jobs.

"However, we realise that Malaysians who have worked overseas for too long will not necessarily be used to the local professional culture so we are prepared to help them to get in touch with recruitment agencies or executives," he said.

Realising that the move to bring back talent is not easy, Johan said TalentCorp has prepared several incentives to make it easier for them to return to Malaysia.

"When they have been out of the country for too long, it will be hard for them to come home. At least, we appreciate their efforts by giving them incentives."

Among the incentives are tax exemptions on cars the applicants would like to bring back to Malaysia under the Return Expertise Programme (REP).

Johan said it was not fair for others to judge TalentCorp's work just based on allocations to the agency, as there were other activities that they take on.

"You cannot take a whole amount of allocation and divide it by one activity... we have other different activities.

"Maybe our activities hardly get any coverage, but we are managing talents in a different aspect," he said.

In 2011, a World Bank Report revealed that Malaysia was experiencing a huge brain drain to other countries, with almost a million of the country's professional workforce reported to be working overseas.

According to the report, the migration is caused by the imbalances of the New Economic Policy (NEP), with Indians and Chinese making the highest numbers.

The World Bank warned that if the situation was not addressed as soon as possible, it would slow down the economy and halt the country's development.

Following the report, Putrajaya set up TalentCorp and introduced programmes to lure Malaysian talents from overseas. – April 8, 2014.

By Md Izwan

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Face up to real reasons Malaysians not returning home, DAP tells TalentCorp

TalentCorp has failed in its mission to lure Malaysians working abroad to return as it only managed to attract 2,500 returnees since 2011, despite an allocation of RM65 million, an opposition lawmaker said today.

Seputeh MP Teresa Kok (pic) deemed it a “failed mission” despite being allocated such a huge sum, as the agency only managed to lure back 2,500 against the one million Malaysian professionals reportedly working overseas.

TalentCorp chief executive officer Johan Mahmood Merican told The Malaysian Insider recently that higher salaries, better professional opportunities and a comfortable life were the main reasons local professionals living abroad were reluctant to return to Malaysia.

But Kok questioned if these were the only reasons for them not wanting to come home. 

"I believe that there are two other key reasons, namely, the social justice and Malaysia’s international image," she said.

Kok, citing the 2011 World Bank report titled “Malaysia Economic Monitor: Brain Drain” which stated that career prospects, compensation and social justice were three drivers of the brain drain, said that Malaysia has been suffering from this problem for years.

She also cited World Bank senior economist Philip Schellekens, who said lack of meritocracy and unequal access to scholarships were significant push factors and a deterrent for Malaysians abroad to return.

Kok also said that since the May 5 2013 general election, there have been numerous occasions of racial extremism, adding that Malaysia was often displayed in the global media for “all the wrong reasons”.

"How much has the government done to address the issue of social injustice?

"The government has clearly no political will to deal with extremists," she added.

Kok said that Malaysia's international image as a moderate nation was shaken by recent incidents, such as the seizure of Malay and Iban Bibles from the Bibles Society of Malaysia, the ban on the use of the word Allah by non-Muslims and the oppression of opposition politicians.

"Can Johan deny that this is a factor that has affected Talent Corp’s efforts to lure Malaysians back?

"If it wants to succeed, it must be brave enough to tell the prime minister all the key factors which have hampered its efforts," she said in reference to the TalentCorp CEO.

Kok said that unless Putrajaya addressed key factors related to social injustices in the country, TalentCorp would continue to fail in its mission.

According to the a World Bank report in 2011, the migration in Malaysia is caused by the imbalances of the New Economic Policy (NEP), with Indians and Chinese making the highest numbers.

The World Bank warned that if the situation was not addressed as soon as possible, it would slow down the economy and halt the country's development.

Following the report, Putrajaya set up TalentCorp and introduced programmes to lure Malaysian talents from overseas.  – April 9, 2014.

LIKE FATHER LIKE SON.

HOW LONG MORE DO WE ALLOW SUCH KIND OF BREEDING?