Wed, 2 Dec 2009 10:57 pm
Malaysia will be exporting maids in 20 years
2030: We Were Warned The signs are grim and gloomy for a country run (riot) by politicians:
The nation’s mismanagement of talent could have serious repercussions not only on its ambitions to become a high income economy on par with that of developed nations but could also lead it to fall further behind even its counterparts in the region.
Head of research at Corston-Smith Asset Management, Lim Tze Cheng, recently did a tour of South East Asian countries and came away sufficiently impressed that he feels Malaysia may soon be found lagging behind its neighbours that it was once ahead of.
He cited a recent visit to the Philippines, a current major supplier of maids, where he visited a company, International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI) and he drew comparisons to local port champions Westport and Port of Tanjung Pelepas.
He said that ICTS now draws 50 per cent of its revenue from eight profitable ports outside the Philippines, and noted that no Malaysian port company can boast of similar achievements.
“I give it a 70 per cent chance that Malaysia will be exporting maids in 20 years. I wouldn’t be surprised if that happens unless we get our act together,” he said.
Lim says that the issues plaguing Malaysia includes its “problematic” education system and distressingly low ability to retain talent. What are the distressing trends? 1) We are hosting more than 3 million unskilled labour. Less than 40k are skilled foreign labour. Expatriates are finding it very difficult to get a working visa to work in Malaysia. Most of them were given 6 months to 1 year visas which are cumbersome. How many expatriates are still working in KL? Most of Mont Kiara high end condominiums are half empty. KL is NOT a regional city, not even close to Singapore, Jakarta and Bangkok. 2) Malaysia is one of the prime targets for human trafficking. But skilled foreign spouses find it so difficult to obtain a permanent residency in Malaysia which allows them to work. 3) Malaysia's brain drain has accelerated in the last decade since the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Malaysia has exported more than 1 million talents in the last decades. The emergence of dynamic regional economies such as China, Vietnam, India, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and soon Indonesia are going to attract more talents away especially in construction, telecommunications, ICT, medicine, health care, finance and accounting. 4) Other countries are busy attracting young, dynamic and skilled foreign talents but Malaysia's MM2H programme is attracting the retirees. This speaks volume of our knowledge economy direction. 5) Other non-English speaking countries are spending billions to pick up proficiency in English, our deputy minister of education finds it weird to use the language in the private sector. 6) Other countries promote efficiency, innovation and creativity, we are promoting and condoning a "I don't care" (tidak apa) attitude. Malaysia continues to depend on oil revenue. DAP Tony Pua highlighted that crony privatisation is on the prowl again. We should be thankful to have a sharp member of parliament like him. Yes, these people/politicians are not stupid. They should be the ones to sense a sinking ship. Just like in the 2012 movie, this government has its fingers on the pulse and almost all documents in the administration. The public do not get an access to them because of the silly and undemocratic OSA. Maybe they think its time to rape the country's resources - for whatever that are left - and abort this sinking ship when the time comes. Malaysians, we were warned - 2030, or maybe earlier. The future of this country depends on the majority. Yes, the Malay Malaysians. This ship is under your stewardship. It is time to show some leadership. No point blaming the minorities. We are not a threat but are willing partners to help steer this ship away from the dangerous glacier in front of us. For goodness sake, wake up and do something.http://khookaypeng.blogspot.com/
botak, the big chunk of wealth has been brought out by those migrated or by heavy taxation by the government on the medium and high earning citizens which mostly are not the majority.
how long can they dig into the medium and high earning citizens because the medium and high earning citizens have started to feel the pinch of high cost of living.
i am wondering now how are they going to pay those farmers who lost their crops due to flood or those who sit at home waiting for money to fall from the sky?
