Nov 24, 2011
Raymond Woo
I barely have
time to sit down and contemplate about issues other than work nowadays, since
my team is (or should be) wrapping up a major project in the coming few weeks.
However, despite the hectic schedule, three different things piqued my
curiosity.
The first thing
is an interview with a director from the World Bank which I read in a local
online newspaper. The director said that, while Malaysia has one of the most
pro-business friendly regimes in the world, the main thing that is hindering us
from progressing further into a high-income nation is our lack of skills and
talent for high-level professional and technical jobs, and the resulting
mismatch between demand and supply in the labor market. Indeed, our
international rankings on business openness is pleasing: top 20 trading nation
in the world (last I read Malaysia was Number 17), Number 18 in the World
Bank’s Doing Business Index (a pretty good rank despite my grumblings in my
October 20, 2011 article), a slew of tax and other incentives to attract
foreign and local investment, a reasonably good record of the rule of law particularly
in property rights, and so on.
But no matter
how hard we try, we still lack the right people to man our growing and rapidly
diversifying economy!
The second thing
is related to the first issue, which is why (often extremely talented)
Malaysians choose to return from a comfortable life overseas and contribute to
our country. In my few months of being back from abroad, I have heard many
stories, often heartwarming, sometimes heartbreaking. Of course, some returned
due to ingrained idealism and confidence to help the country and community, and
idealism and confidence are commodities that are not particularly abundant in
this country. Others returned due to family commitments, while quite a few
returned due to the economic and employment crisis engulfing developed
economies. No matter what, these cosmopolitan Malaysians who have competed with
the best in the world and earned their stripes are back to feed Malaysia’s
growing appetite for advanced managerial and technical talent.
However, there
are still more than 1 million Malaysians abroad, and more than 2/3 of them have
at least an undergraduate degree. We all know that a lot is changing within the
Malaysian government, the economy, politics, culture and many other aspects of
life. The returning Malaysians I have met have often made tough decisions and
took great risks to return, and returned they did, because of their confidence
that Malaysia is changing for the better at an acceptable pace.
From the
consultant point of view, I do agree that both government and society, and
especially government, are changing for the better (often at a pace faster than
we expect), becoming more accountable with public funds and performance, and
becoming less tolerant of old diseases such as corruption and apathy. How else
are private-sector consultants in Malaysia able to clinch an increasing number
of jobs from the government such as PEMANDU and Khazanah Nasional Berhad?
Cynicism aside, a great number of people do believe that public policy in Malaysia
is far from moribund.
But, despite
positive changes that are unprecedented in decades, what is holding back the
return of the 1 million-plus Malaysians abroad, including the 60-70% of that
number who are in the little island state less than 1 km south of Johor Bahru?
The third thing
that struck my interest was of course, the victory of the Harimau Muda (Young
Tigers), the Under-23 Malaysian football team in the final SEA Games football
match with Indonesia just 2 days ago. Not since the days of legendary striker
Mokhtar Dahari in the 70’s and 80’s has the Malaysian team clinched a
back-to-back victory in SEA Games football, as the team was also champion in
the previous SEA Games 2 years ago. Letters to the press were full of
descriptions of tears flowing freely, or relieving the glory days of Malaysian
football, or believing that Malaysia’s time has come again.
Wow, quite a spike
in the level of confidence there, eh?
We know that
confidence is the bedrock of the economy (just ask Ben Bernanke about confidence
and the Great Depression, as he wrote his PhD thesis on it). At the same time,
we also cannot underestimate how national pride and cultural confidence can
lead someone to sacrifice a comfortable life for his country or community. Our
deepest memories and feelings are etched in the land of our birth and
upbringing. While memories and feelings cannot feed us, what can tip the
balance between considerations of financial stability/career opportunities, and
feelings of national pride/confidence in an overseas Malaysian’s
decision-making in staying put abroad or returning? How can we help capitalize
on such feelings through public policy to bring back our talents from abroad?
Perhaps, a
revival of Malaysian football, and increased national pride?
Too wishy-washy
and emotional a statement to be coming out from my mouth, isn’t it?
But, can there
be a relationship the upsurge of positive changes in the Malaysian government,
society and economy, and the upsurge of Malaysian football prowess? More importantly,
how can one capitalize on either upsurge (or both upsurges) to convince
overseas Malaysians that returning is not a bad idea?
Just some
rambling thoughts on Thursday evening.