EVERY few years, the issue of Malaysia’s “brain drain” will crop up, experts will talk about it, the media will cover it and ultimately, nothing will happen.
This phenomenon refers to the emigration of one country’s citizens from professional fields to another country, thus draining the former country of highly skilled or trained individuals.
For developing countries, such as Malaysia, this has profoundly adverse effects.
A tweet posted by @magmalaya on May 31 went viral, where he simply shared the front page of Sinar Harian dated the same day.
The page – practically yelling – stated: “500,000 experts are gone”. The rest of the story detailed who were some of the famous Malaysian professionals that left the country to pursue a better living overseas, such as Dr Nur Amalina Che Bakri.
Comments on the Tweet were overwhelmingly in support of those who had emigrated.
Some even pointed out the brain drain was not just in the professional sector.
“A lot of those working normal jobs have also chosen to emigrate. The closest example is Singapore. Thousands of Malaysians are there,” said another Twitter user.
On Reddit, the same image also went viral, with over 200 comments.
Many pointed out the discrepancy between salaries and the cost of living, with one user saying a fresh graduate’s salary is lower than the minimum wage in America.
A commonality between both Twitter and Reddit Malaysian users seems to be apathy towards the situation, and many think it can’t be reversed.
Others claim they too want to leave, but can’t afford to do so.
Do you agree with that sentiment? Are you in the camp that believes the brain drain can be stopped?
