43pc of overseas Malaysians ‘not sure’ about coming back
By Lee Wei Lian, The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, April 29 — Some 43 per cent of Malaysians living abroad surveyed by the World Bank said they were unsure about returning to Malaysia for good, representing the largest chunk of the survey respondents.
The next largest group were those who said they intend to return to Malaysia at about 30 per cent while 26 per cent said they do not intend to return.
The survey findings were contained in the World Bank report “Malaysia Economic Monitor: Brain Drain” launched yesterday that said that the country’s brain drain is set to intensify and could further erode its narrow skills base and affect its ambitions to be a high-income nation.
With over 70 per cent unsure or willing to come back Talent Corp, which was established earlier this year to lure back talent to the country, will have to ensure that it reaches out effectively to this group to make sure it does not lose them while also communicating with the nearly 30 per cent which are unwilling to return to understand the reasons.
The survey had posed the question “I intend to return to Malaysia for good at some point in my life” and 65 of 149 had responded “Not sure” while 32 responded “Agree”, 13 responded “Strongly Agree”, 22 said they “Strongly Disagree” and 17 said they “Disagree”.
As part of the survey, overseas Malaysians were asked what policy initiatives could possibly entice migrants to return.
The top picks were a change in the country’s race-based policies and fundamental reforms in the public sector with “Paradigm shift away from race-based towards needs-based affirmative action” and “Evidence of fundamental and positive change in the government/public sector” receiving 87 and 82 per cent positive responses respectively.
While the Najib administration has mooted the idea of a flat 15 per cent income tax for those participating in the returning experts programme, the least popular option in the survey was “Favourable tax structure”, with only 17 per cent saying the policy would entice them back.
“(Lack of) Meritocracy and unequal access to scholarships are significant push factors and a deterrent to coming back,” said World Bank senior economist Philip Schellekens yesterday. “Non-Bumiputeras are over-represented in the brain drain.”
