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Saturday July 25, 2009

Malaysia needs you back

At Your Service by DATIN MADINAH MOHAMAD


STUDYING overseas has always been a dream for many schoolchildren. The number of students sent overseas by the Govern-ment has increased significantly.

One of them was Jamilah, a very bright student. On returning home, she found that jobs did not abound in Malaysia.

Frustrated, she sought ways to return to Britain to further her studies. There were a number of scholarships she could take advantage of. She secured a scholarship and pursued a Master’s degree. She left for Britain and did not return home.

Twenty years on, she is still working in Britain. She has since moved to other companies over the years and is now heavily involved in research and development. She returns home for her yearly pilgrimage to visit her aging parents and family.

Married with children, she even gave up her Malaysian citizenship to enable her to receive all that Britain could offer. But she now wants to return to Malaysia.

This story can be repeated with David, Jane, Muthu, Zamani and many more who leave our shores for better opportunities and quality of life.

This is the classic cycle of how brain drain starts – the quest for better employment, better salaries, better working environment and generally, a better quality of life.

The majority of the Malaysian diaspora reside in Singapore, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Britain and Canada.

The Government needs Malaysians living abroad back in Malaysia. They can contribute immensely in building up Malaysia for the 21st century and beyond.

The Science, Technology and Inno-vation Ministry has put together several initiatives to encourage Malay-sians living and working abroad to return home.

This is to ensure that the skills they have acquired from their years of living and working abroad are used to enhance domestic technology capability and the market.

Gaps in skills and expertise at home can be filled by Malaysian scientists and researchers residing abroad. The country requires this for its next stage of growth and development.

The ministry has introduced flexibility to the Brain Gain programme. They can return for short-stint assignments from two weeks to one year per visit. They will not need to physically uproot their families and relocate back to Malaysia.

What is of importance ultimately, is the transfer of knowledge and technology from Malaysians back to Malaysia. We need our scientists and researchers to come back home.

Those who meet a minimum requirement of five or more years of research experience in any science, technology and engineering discipline are eligible to apply. The quality and innovativeness of their research proposals are equally crucial.

The ministry also gives priority to scientists and researchers who wish to undertake research and development in emerging technologies that serve national needs.

This would include areas like climate change technologies, bioinformatics, alternative or renewal energy, biotechnology (food production), biomass, nanotechnology and cyber security.

Those who return can consider various roles – collaborator, consultant, or adviser – offering their skills and expertise. They can collaborate with local institutions of higher learning, research institutes or industries. They can identify their own collaborators or seek the help of the ministry if they do not have one.

For their contributions to the country, the programme offers them attractive incentives such as sustenance, return airfare, accommodation and medical insurance during their stay in Malaysia.

Furthermore, to enable them to undertake research and development with local researchers, the programme also provides some “top-up” of research expenses.

The main challenge in the implementation of the programme, is the lack of a database on Malaysian scientists and researchers residing abroad.

We have scant data on who and where these brains of ours are located although we know that the majority of them reside in Singapore, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Britain and Canada.

We have sought the assistance of Malaysian missions overseas to locate and promote the programme to these scientists. In addition, we also seek the assistance of the Malaysian community associations abroad.

Malaysia is on its path to growth as a developed nation. For those who have resided abroad, there is much that you can do in sharing your experience and years overseas, in building your homeland.

The programme is a start. It will not be the only programme. As we bring people back, this programme can be improvised further to serve the needs of our talent abroad. Where there are weaknesses in the programme, we will strengthen further with their assistance.

In the final analyss, you are the ones who will make the next phase of Malaysia. Malaysia gains when its brains from abroad return.

Datin Madinah Mohamad is the secretary-general of the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry and she is keen to get in touch with those who are living abroad. So contact her at madinah@mosti.gov.my.

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