Penang To Offer Full Scholarships To Tackle Country's Brain Drain
The scholarship will be open to all Malaysians regardless of race, religion, gender and geographical location, although priority will "naturally be given to Penangites."
By Sadho Ram — 31 May 2014, 01:20 PM — Updated over 10 years ago
In a bid to stem the outflow of talent, the Penang government is setting up a fund to provide full scholarships for bright Malaysians
The Penang government is setting up a fund to be financed by private donors and companies to provide full scholarships for bright Malaysians.
themalaysianinsider.com
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng noted that over two million Malaysians have left the country since Merdeka in 1957, driven not just by higher pay but also by policies in other countries that are centred on justice, human rights, democracy, integrity and rewarding hard work.
One of the conditions of the scholarship is that all sponsored students will be required to work for eight years in Penang either in the public or private sector
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng noted that over two million Malaysians have left the country since Merdeka in 1957, driven not just by higher pay but also by policies in other countries.
Image via themalaymailonline.comChief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the state executive council approved the setting up of the fund, called "Penang Future Foundation Fund", that would benefit all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, gender and state of residency. However, priority would be given to Penangites, he said.
yahoo.comLim pointed out that the state government does not have the financial resources to set up scholarship funds, and is currently looking to get more contribution from private businesses in and outside Penang.
themalaymailonline.com
"The Penang government has been troubled by Putrajaya’s failure to reverse or even arrest the brain drain problem," CM Lim said
"More than two million Malaysians have left the country since Merdeka in 1957, driven not just be higher pay but also attracted by more humane policies overseas that are centred on justice, human rights, democracy, integrity and just rewards for hard work."
"All these skilled and talented Malaysians are our best and brightest or else they would not have been accepted by foreign countries."
themalaymailonline.com
"The fund will provide full scholarships to assist all bright Malaysian students and it will retain human talent by requiring fully sponsored students to work for at least eight years in Penang," he said in a statement today.
yahoo.comLim, who is DAP secretary-general, said TalentCorp set up by the Federal Government had clearly failed in its task to woo some of the two million Malaysians home
"One of those who came home told me that many regretted relocating back to Malaysia because of the failed promises. For this reason, the Penang government feels that a concerted effort should be made to prevent them from leaving Malaysia in the first place, instead of trying to get them to return when they are already overseas," he said.
Lim said the state government had made tremendous efforts to provide job opportunities by growing, developing and deepening Penang's manufacturing and services sector, in areas like tourism.
yahoo.comThere has been a serious brain drain from Malaysia and the 'Penang Future Foundation Fund' is another of the state's effort towards retaining human talent within the state and Malaysia
Major pull factors have included better career opportunities abroad and compensation while major push factors included corruption, social inequality, and educational opportunities, and the government's Bumiputera affirmative action policies. As of 2011, Bernama has reported that there are a million talented Malaysians working overseas.
Recently the brain drain has increased in pace: 305,000 Malaysians migrated overseas between March 2008 and August 2009 compared to 140,000 in 2007
Non-Bumiputeras particularly Malaysian Indian and Malaysian Chinese were over-represented in these statistics. Popular destinations included Singapore, Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom. This has caused Malaysia's economic growth rate to fall to an average of 4.6% per annum in the 2000s compared to 7.2% in the 1990s.