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Equal opportunity could bring Malaysians back

KUALA LUMPUR: Giving equal opportunity to all Malaysians in major areas related to health, education and jobs, may help in curbing brain-drain from Malaysia, two young Malaysians who have studied abroad told freemalaysiatoday.

Dentist Sabrina Tan said via email that one of the main reasons she stayed back in New Zealand after completing her studies is that she can opt to work anywhere she wants unlike here in Malaysia, where she would have to work in the government as compulsory service for the first three years. Furthermore, there is equal opportunity open to all job-seekers.


Sabrina who had been staying abroad for eight to nine years, said that the lifestyle in New Zealand is also more relaxing and the country is cleaner and greener. "The people here are also more accepting and friendly," she added, when asked why she opted to not come back to Malaysia.

She opined that people in general go abroad to study for lack of trust in the Malaysian tertiary education system and also because they do not believe that they will get equal opportunity back home.

Speaking on behalf of those in health profession, Sabrina said that removing compulsary government service for foreign educated health professionals may attract them to come back to Malaysia. "Many health professionals I know find it hard to go back to Malaysia because of this, especially if they have a family. Many chose to go to Singapore instead if they wanted to go back to the region," she said.

Blogger Nathaniel Tan, in his blog titled ‘Migration of Malaysians increase exponentially-What’s the real reason’, estimated that one third of his classmates have migrated, and most of them are professionals. He opined that although it’s part of a whole package, people do not just leave their family, home and everything familiar for money and better career prospect.

He added that he believes that most youngsters leave the country as they feel that the country is going nowhere. Discrimination also plays a part besides the perception that the country is so corrupt that there is no more place for honest people, he wrote.

He concluded that the way to bring Malaysians back is by giving hope of a cleaner Malaysia with genuine integrity and unity that goes beyond slogans.

Deputy Foreign Minister Senator A. Kohilan Pillay recently told Parilament that the number of Malaysians who have given up citizenship and also those who have migrated have almost doubled this year. He said that 3,800 Malaysians have given up citizenship to date and 304, 358 have been reported to have migrated.

FMT
07/12/09

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