Tackling the challenge of brain drain

Brain drain seems to be an obstacle in Malaysia’s development. Malaysians continue to leave their homes in search of greener pastures abroad.
I have a relative, a young man in his early 30s. He joined an e-commerce company after his graduation. With a master’s degree and as an information technology engineer, he worked at an office located in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. In 2015, his e-commerce company, despite achieving outstanding results, announced the relocation of its IT engineering department to Singapore, leaving only the operations of the marketing and sales departments in Malaysia.
It is learned that the company, seeking a greater scale of development and better prospects, decided to relocate to Singapore because it found the island-nation more suitable for expansion of digital business. The network environment in Malaysia was considered inadequate to support the company’s expansion plan. As the company’s plan matched his intention to seek greener pastures in Singapore, my relative decided to relocate.
Moves by such companies to relocate core departments to Singapore, taking away with them Malaysian talents, point to two types of brain-drain scenarios in Malaysia:
1 Corporate leaders opt to relocate capital, technology and experts to other countries after comparing the business environment, the economic situation and infrastructure with Singapore. The criteria in Malaysia is relatively unfavourable for business development.
2 People look for greener pastures. Malaysians used to think that there are better opportunities overseas. For the sake of better income and future, Malaysians are ready to pack up and work overseas any time.
Malaysian talents are found throughout the world, from members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to Singapore. 
Malaysians are found in almost every sector in Singapore – from information technology, medicine and research to business. Singapore has never stopped attracting the best expertise from various countries, including Malaysia.
Such a scenario is the norm in the era of globalisation. A big number of Malaysians are working and settling down overseas when compared with the country’s population. According to the World Bank’s 2014 report on Malaysia, 308,834 Malaysians with high technology skills migrated overseas in 2013, while Malaysia’s population is more than 30 million.
While capable and skilled Malaysians are leaving the country, higher numbers of foreign workers with low technology skills are being brought into the country to cater to the needs of various industries. Foreign workers are relied on to complete the “3D” tasks – dirty, dangerous and difficult.
Another issue is that when large-scale foreign funds are brought into Malaysia, they do not offer technology transfer or change the working culture in Malaysia. This is not commensurate in terms of contribution and reward. As a result, the inflow of foreign funds is not helping Malaysia extricate itself from the middle-income trap or achieve its goal of becoming a developed country.
Malaysians who leave the country are opportunists looking for a better salary package, fair promotion chances and a stable living environment. They retain their Malaysian citizenship. But after settling down overseas, the number of Malaysians giving up their citizenship seems to be on the rise.
The depreciation of the ringgit and the slide in crude oil prices have hit the Malaysian economy hard. Many Malaysians, including the rich, are leaving the country. There is some hope that the economy will recover this year. The ringgit may also rebound from its poor performance in 2016. However, all these are merely speculation. Unless they can see tangible change, Malaysians would still opt to work overseas.
Social and cultural factors are also leading young people to opt to work overseas. Many young people settle down abroad after their graduation. They enjoy the freedom and openness. The prospect of dealing with declining freedom in society, and religious and racial issues being politicised, makes them not want to return home.
The government is taking a serious view of the severity of brain drain. It has set up Talent Corp to attract talent and encourage them to return home. In the past four years, the agency successfully attracted 3,600 Malaysians to return home through its Returning Experts Programme. 
However, when compared with the number of Malaysians leaving the country, those returning home are just a drop in the ocean.
In the current economic and political environment, Talent Corp needs to offer a more convincing and attractive package in order for Malaysians overseas to return home.
However, instead of convincing those abroad to return, how about changing the approach by retaining Malaysians who are still studying and working in the country?
Some experts have said that as many universities from the United Kingdom, Australia and even China have set up branch campuses in Malaysia, such education opportunities could play a significant role in reversing the brain drain trend. Talent Corp should work on students in such branch campuses of foreign universities to retain them with sincerity. They should also include those foreigners who are currently studying or working in such universities.
It is time the Malaysian government paid more attention to university students in the country who will be graduating soon. By ensuring fairness in job-seeking opportunities and remuneration package, the government would be showing its genuine intent in securing their future. This would be more effective and spot on compared to various incentives offered by Talent Corp to attract those who have left the country due to disappointments.
Starting this year, the Najib administration has launched the 2050 Transformation Plan TN50, to encourage youth of all races in the country to shape Malaysia, with their outstanding thinking in the next 30 years.
The prospect of employment opportunities is included in the plan. It is believed that with the launch of the transformation plan, more young people would actively participate in nation building.
This would also help to attract more talent based overseas to return home while retaining bright locals and encouraging them to contribute to the country.