KUALA LUMPUR: The government feels there is a need to develop a system to determine the number of Malaysians working abroad in the effort to overcome brain drain, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories), Dr Zaliha Mustafa said that currently, the country does not have official figures or percentages of Malaysians who have gone abroad for work.
Replying to a supplementary question from Roslan Hashim (PN-Kulim-Bandar Baharu), Dr Zaliha said the government has implemented several efforts to curb the brain drain issue, including announcing improvements to the remuneration system for civil servants.
“I agree that we need to curb the brain drain to other countries. We need to develop a better system to track down these individuals,” she said.
Roslan had asked whether the government considered the brain drain a win-win situation, as Malaysians working abroad return with more talent, experience, and skills.
On September 23 last year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had said that the government was examining methods to attract skilled Malaysians to return and contribute to the country as part of efforts to tackle the brain drain issue.
Anwar said that the relevant ministries, including the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI), the Ministry of Economy, and the Ministry of Higher Education, are engaging those who can contribute to return and be placed in specific fields of competence to help Malaysia.
Earlier, in response to the original question from Oscar Ling Chai Yew (PH-Sibu), Dr Zaliha informed that there has been no reduction in the choice of private higher education institutions (IPTS) offered scholarships by the Public Service Department (JPA) for Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) leavers (JPA-LSPM).
She said that the conditions set for applying for the JPA-LSPM scholarships include that an IPTS must be competitive and listed in the QS World University Rankings.
