Not So Good News …

This is actually old news.

“The Malaysian economy seems to be caught in a middle-income trap - unable to remain competitive as a high-volume, low-cost producer, yet unable to move up the value chain and achieve rapid growth by breaking into fast growing markets for knowledge and innovation-based products and services,” the World Bank said recently.

MEF executive director Haji Shamsuddin Bardan says that Malaysia is currently a net exporter of talent with outflows exceeding inflows. According to him, Malaysia has only about 38,000 expatriates as compared with seventy to eighty thousand in the 1990s. Whereas some 785,000 Malaysians are working abroad, two out of three of which are professionals. “Our ability to attract expatriates is quite challenged,” he said.

Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Razak wants to make Malaysia a better place to live and work in, to bring back its citizens who are residing overseas and also attract global talent to the country. “We will create more opportunities, more excitement and more buzz in Malaysia to attract the Malaysian diaspora and expatriates to the country,” said Najib.

There must be a reason why people prefer to work elsewhere and not in Malaysia. There must also be a reason why parents prefer their children to be educated in local private schools and in overseas tertiary institutions.

How do we make this country a better place to live and work in? There are so many things that we can do, I don’t know where to start.

Maybe we can start with public amenities, basic infrastructure, living conditions.

Our public transport system sucks. I can say that because I was until recently a user of public transport. It sucks because there is limited connectivity, limited service, limited frequency and frequent interruptions.

The condition of the public roads is far from satisfactory unless you happen to live in the choice neighbourhoods of Damansara Heights or Taman Tun Dr Ismail. The road around KLCC, which is supposed to be the prime-est area of the city, is in terrible condition.

What about the education system? A hot and dusty classroom packed with 45 seven year olds is not exactly the most conducive learning environment. Add a tired, overworked and underpaid teacher into the equation and we’ll get an academic calamity waiting to happen. Inconsistent education policy does not help either. It is fine to have changes, but only if it is for the better.

Piped water is sometimes brown in colour.

The local political scene needs to include elements of maturity, responsibility and accountability. We cannot afford to have racist politicians like Ibrahim Ali who is constantly inciting racial tension. Or rude politicians like Bung Mokhtar with his derogatory statements. We cannot allow our police force to be seen as lackeys of the ruling party. We must have an anti corruption agency (commission) which is truly independent and professional.

In this age of free information (and rumour) flow, we must have responsible and truthful media channels. The days of print and electronic media being the propaganda machinery for the ruling party is over. If news providers want to biased, I would prefer them to state it outright so people will know which side they are on. Don’t pretend to be balanced when it is so obvious that the reporting is skewed towards only one side.

Government policies are quite biased. Quota system, preferential treatment for certain groups is a big disincentive to remain in this country.

The Malaysian judiciary is constantly under attack.

We have a problem with corruption, whether it’s real or perceived or made up, I dare not comment.

Cars are so expensive. Cars are cheaper in almost every other country in the world. I love cars. I cannot afford good nice cars in Malaysia.

When the reasons are right, Malaysians will stay in Malaysia. Even foreigners (other than unskilled Indonesian, Vietnamese, and Nepalese etc.) might want to call Malaysia home.