CULTURE CUL DE SAC
By JACQUELINE PEREIRA
Malaysians are heading abroad to seek brighter futures, but what does this spell for the future of our country?
WHEN family and friends get together, conversations tend to revolve around accomplishments, both personal and public.
Or it will be tales of avaricious in-laws, grasping second wives or delinquent grandchildren. Such sagas conferred in not-so-hushed voices, punctuated with sharp clicks of disapproving tongues.
Then conversation inevitably weaves its way to the latest political or corporate scandal and the 275th version of a cover-up, with input from all and sundry. The national pastime, after all, is to take jibes at the nation’s politics, ancillary antics and parliamentary goings-on.
However, these days another topic dominates such banter. Malaysians moving away to work abroad and families planning to emigrate. Which is not really such a bad thing in this era of mushrooming global villages and instant technological connectivity.
With advertisements for casino croupiers in Macau and accountants in Abu Dhabi, our local newspapers are peppered with invitations from international companies directly recruiting staff. What used to be the staple of head-hunters searching for bright sparks has now transformed into companies personally conscripting the best people for available jobs - and quickly.
Almost every conversation I have had recently with family and friends throws up yet another new case of a Malaysian abroad: students deciding not to return, individuals enlisting to work overseas and families planning to emigrate en masse.
The young cousin, brother or sister deciding to try his or her hand at a job in a foreign country, to garner experience, to pay off shackling student loans, or to explore and deploy newly acquired skills. Job applications are sent out even before they graduate, and by the time they fling their mortar boards into the clear, blue skies, they have an exciting new position to fill the following Monday.
To earn more money, just for a couple of years, young professionals head to the lands of plenty, the Middle East being particularly enticing. Despite the differences of culture, food, weather and public spaces, the enormous amount of cash banked in at the end of each month more than makes up for this change in lifestyle. And, usually, once they have been paid such inflated salaries, it becomes increasingly difficult for them to return home, having got used to the way of life this new luxury affords.
A family of professionals with two young children head Down Under to further enhance their specialist skills. Though the work is tough and infinitely demanding, the quality of education and community services for their children is not only enticing, but encouraging. The children are thrilled with their school, swimming in public pools, walking in well-tended parks nearby, even with the act of borrowing books from the local library. “Although the taxes are high, you actually feel as if you reap the returns from the excellent public services surrounding our temporary home. The kids don’t want to come back,” laments the mother.
It is only recently that so many cases have cropped up – people we know, or within the circle of family and friends planning to leave the country, if not for good, at least for some years. It did not seem this rampant a few years ago.
The collective experience gained will be immeasurable for this country’s future success. However, the all-important question is, with so many people leaving, who are replacing the brains drained out? We hardly hear of equally qualified foreigners seeking greener pastures in our country. Yet Singapore recently, rather proudly, reported that 875,400 of its 4.4 million population is foreign permanent residents. And they are attracting more.
We need to pay attention to who is taking the places of Malaysians who leave. Exodus is an issue that needs to be addressed now, not in the future.
While people are still talking about it. |
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