Human Capital - the war of talent

Recent years we've been hearing the 'brain drain' dilemma faced by Malaysia. Why? And it has been persistent, year after year. What are the triggers, the main drivers for these talented individuals leaving the country where they were born and bred.

There must be a clear answer, of which most people, especially locals try to contemplate with.

The most popular reasons for people willing to migrate are:


1 Higher pay in other markets

2 Not conducive for professional development

3 Not a suitable place to raise a family

4 Education level has dropped

5 Too many corruption in the country

6 Can’t compete in a fair manner

I would agree with most of the reasons above, I used to be a migrant myself. In fact, I used to live and work abroad for a good 7 years. The experience and exposure gained are invaluable.

Perhaps the most important reasons, out of the 6 that were listed above, if you were to ask me, would be reason no 4. By having a low level, or not "on par" level of education, we basically hampering the future of our country. We are unable to produce competent individuals that will contribute to the advancement of the nation. Plus, the gap between the rich and poor will widen.

Quality education should be provided to all, not to the few privileged individuals or family. By having a level playing field, everyone could compete in the same environment.

Government need to spend more time on structuring or perhaps re-structuring our education system in order to suit current landscape. This is to ensure a more competent society to be produced and compete at the global scale.

Education must not be viewed only at the “classroom” type of education, as practical and vocational educations are also seen as important in the current environment.

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To be (developed) or not to be.

Question of whether Malaysia has the ability to gain a developed status has been lingering for quite sometime. Are we, as a nation, or more importantly, as a society, ready to mobilise ourselves into the next level of country's status.

I've always admired Japan, the inventiveness, creativity, artistic nature of it society, and most of all, politeness. I would call that a developed society. As opposed to HK, it is materially developed, but culturally, not as developed as Japan.

"Developed" is somewhat a subjective term when we are talking about a society. Malaysia as a whole, we do have the required infrastructure, only to be matched by the inability, or incompetency of the people to utilise them.

You wont see a badly vandalised public phone in the UK, but in Malaysia, it is a norm. UK is a knowledge society, where people crave new ideas frequently.That explains the reason they're having some of the most inventive and prestiguous academic institution.

Then come to the point where we are arguing the function of our academic institutions. Are they no different from factories that produced large amount of graduates, just for the sake of employment?

Consumerism

'Consumerism' ataupun ada masa dalam bahasa melayu kita panggil konsumerisme adalah sikap atau gaya hidup yg berasaskan pembelian yg ada masa leh jadi extreme.

Kalau tengok dalam facebook, berapa ramai orang2 yg kita kenal, atau kita sendiri, suka post status2 yg tunjuk apa kita beli, rumah baru, kereta baru, ipad baru, kamera baru...semata mata nak cakap kat kenalan lain yg kita beli/consume apa.

Kengkadang, aku pun tertanya gak, apa yg mendorong depa nak tunjuk menda apa yg dibeli ehh......mesti ada sesuatu yg menarik, atau perasaan yg syok kalau tunjuk kot. Unfortunately aku lum dapat rasa perasaan tu.

Leh kata tiap2 hari, menda yg ditunjuk dari semahal2 barang hingga yg murah. So mungkin bukan sebab harga, tapi lebih kepada syok nak expose kat orang lifestyle dia kot.

gi jalan mana, berapa banyak Ipad nak beli, baju apa yg nak pakai, perghhhh, syok kot. Mungkin sebab aku ni introvert, perasaan syok tu belum aku rasa. Manalah tau esok2 aku pun nak post menda2 menarik kat wall aku, hotel mana aku gi makan, berapa ratus aku habis nak beli baju sehelai. Bag tangan apa aku beli untuk wife aku, perghhhhhhh.

Ataupun, mungkin manusia nih dah terkeliru yg consumerism nih leh lead to happiness.....well....

Sedara kahwin

It's here folks, the school holiday season, and that can only mean 1 thing among others............wedding season. My nephew's reception was held yesterday in Melaka. Such a great event, lots of relatives attended, and of course lot of food and calories consumed.

Melaka was bloody hot, no rain at all. On the way back, there was a slight congenstion at Seremban area. Arrived home at 10.20pm.

After shower, the neighbour who stays opposite our unit invited me and wifey to their place. Chatted bout their Hajj experience. Haha, as usual, words bout Tabung Haji (TH) incompetence was the popular topic of the session.

Start to wonder, that I need to register for Hajj with TH. Maybe this wednesday, since I'm on leave. Wifey's birthday, just around the corner.....

Rainy season.....

It has been raining, or rather pouring for the past few days....or maybe weeks, my memory is failing me. But i do love rain. Been bz with jobs, projects, deadlines and all craps associated with it.

So how does the econ looks lately. I was hoping for a drop in car prices. Nah, it wont materialised. But I'm not a car person. I rather take public transport, and reserve driving for weekends. Maybe, once I've got kids of my own, the idea of driving will change.

Election....hmmm, heard bout it a few times...oh yes, Obama won yesterday. I prefer him to Romney btw. US econs in not a very good shape. Obama has been struggling to fix the damage done by his predecessors.

Life has been good lately, but my age has taken toll on my fitness. Feel dizzy whenever i slept past midnight. Gosh, wish i could stay young forever.

I've got a few nieces and nephew graduating and recently graduated. Of all the talks that our econ is doing well, it seems to be getting harder and harder for current graduate to secure the job of their dream.

Just 2 weeks ago, a newspaper reported that our pilot grads are mostly unemployed.....Gosh.

Blame it on the song 'I blieve i can fly'......

Or, now everyone can fly, but not the pilots?