Some Great Feedback

I guess this is following my posting on Foreign Labour and Koon Yew Yin 's article on Malaysia's brain drain issue. Reader "syakir" made some very valid points which I like to post up here for all to read. My comments in colour.

syakir said...

1) You mean, simply by labeling everybody Bumiputera, Malaysians earning RM2.5k/month will suddenly feel migrating to Singapore for the same job paying SGD6k is not attractive anymore? I think that's BS.

Syakir, you are right, all things being equal, many will go for greener pastures. What may be of concern is that people who emigrate, USUALLY do not do it solely for CAREER/WORK/PAY. It is never easy to uproot your family, leaving behind relatives, friends and your roots. The bumpitra status is a sense of belonging, when you are sometimes made to feel unwelcomed, all these things add up.

2) Political patronage, monopoly, over reliance on foreign workers, industries not moving up the value chain and wastage & leakage. These are the real problems that lead to brain drain. And, don't even argue that Bumi policies caused these problems. For instance, Ananda Krishnan holding a monopoly on subscription TV and government building a RM500 million airport for Vincent Tan in Tioman have nothing to do with Bumi policies. Yet these are the real problems with this country.

I would agree with Syakir that Bumi preferential policies will extend to all races if/when you are rich enough.

3) Argue against Bumiputera on the basis that it divides Malaysians. Yes. Argue that it cause some level of hardship to non Bumis. Yes. Argue that Bumi policies should be amended to give more assistance to poor non Bumis and restrict benefits for rich Bumis. Nice. However to argue that it is the root cause of all the woes of this country that leads to brain drain is just BS.

For me there is not one root cause, but many, for a country to lose so many productive people to emigration. There is the sense of belonging, the future that may not be as equal for the kids or even bleak for them, the enrichment of just the elite few, prevasiveness of corruption, the sliding independence of our judiciary and the police force, the religion thingee, the free speech thingee, the ISA thingee, the lack of transparency in awardment of contracts and the bidding process, and possibly most importantly ... the absolute wastage, leakage of our resources and funds. We should address the issue properly, soberly but bearing in mind the following:

a) Be realistic as to the make up of our country, I don't think we can purely go for a flat out meritocratic society like Singapore.

b) Simple things such as the bumi discount for houses, it should be in placed but not for properties costing over RM1m ... please.

c) Finally, my one all-cure solution to the brain drain issue. NO NEED TO CHANGE bumi quotas for education, civil service, GLCs appointments. Just accord BUMI status to all Malaysian citizens who were BORN IN THE COUNTRY after Merdeka - who wants to argue with that??? Najib, if you do that, I will wager my assets that you will get 2/3 majority.