TalentCorp

Retain Existing Talents From Leaving Too, Says Gerakan Chief

October 16, 2010 21:12 PM

Retain Existing Talents From Leaving Too, Says Gerakan Chief

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 16 (Bernama) -- The government must take proactive steps to retain existing Malaysian talents from leaving the country, Gerakan President Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon said Saturday.

While expressing the party's support for the proposed Talent Corporation which will start its mission next year to lure back Malaysian professionals overseas, he said those in the country must not be sidelined.

"We recruit and try to attract those overseas to come back. That is not an easy job. But let us not drive away the talents which we have now. Most importantly, we must retain them," he told a news conference after chairing Gerakan's central committee meeting at Menara PGRM, here.

In tabling Budget 2011 in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the government would establish a Talent Corporation early next year to increase the number of talented and quality workforce in the domestic market.

He said the government would undertake efforts to attract, motivate and retain talented human capital from within the country and abroad. Dr Koh, who is Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, said that besides the measures adopted by the Talent Corporation, there was a

need to create a more positive and conducive environment to give these professionals and talents a level playing field to contribute towards nation building.

"What I mean by a conducive environment is that the environment will give them fair opportunity and fair treatment so that they feel wanted, so that they feel they have the space and fair opportunity to express their views, and to contribute their knowledge and skills," he said. As for those who did not wish to return, Dr Koh proposed that the government find ways to rope them in and encourage them to contribute to the country indirectly, such as by promoting Malaysia as an investment destination to their networks.

"Let's be realistic. There may be some who do not wish to return. But we also need to look for ways to see how we can encourage them to contribute, for instance by helping to bring in business and investments to the country," he said.

On the government's plan to set up the National Wage Consultation Council, Koh said the government must engage the opinions of employers and the workforce from all industries so that the implementation of the minimum wage would bring about a positive outcome for the economy.

He said that while the intention of the council was to protect the Malaysian workforce, the acute shortage of labour must be addressed, especially in the construction, plantation, manufacturing and even services industries, which relied heavily on foreigners. "For instance, I was told that even if they doubled or tripled the pay, it will not attract Malaysians to work in construction. So we need to take into account all these factors and their implications to business," he said.

-- BERNAMA

No merit in talking without commitment

No merit in talking without commitment

IT was a day-long seminar in London aimed at bringing home talented Malaysians working in the United Kingdom or those who had made it their country of domicile. The list of speakers for last Wednesday’s event was impressive and it is a travesty that it drew just more than 50 participants – Malaysians or those who had links with Malaysia. Perhaps what was significant was that it did not draw the younger crowd, save for a handful of students who had just completed their post-graduate studies, curious to know what awaited them at home.

Speaker after speaker delivered glowing reports of Malaysia, most of which were factual. With winter approaching, the gloomy and rainy day prompted one (perhaps in jest) even to suggest that the hot weather and the culinary delights available round the clock in Malaysia should be a consideration. But as they spoke, more than 100 Malaysian bankers were just a few hundred metres away, doing their jobs, oblivious to the fact that the "talent hunters" were in town. They are no ordinary Joes – many of them in their twenties handle big portfolios and are involved in the personal banking and investments of the rich and famous. From one of the participants, I learnt that there are at "least 1,000 Malaysians working in that square mile".

That term refers to the financial district in central London which encompasses banks, financial institutions, stock brokers, accountancy firms and the lot. Unfortunately, the Asian Strategic & Leadership Institute and the Centre for Public Policy Studies, which enjoy a good following in the UK, did not manage to get their attention. Maybe they had not heard of the event or did not choose to apply for a day off from work or they could have viewed it as "We heard it all before. Can they tell us something new?"

Yes, the economy is flourishing and there are opportunities for talented Malaysians. But some young bankers I talked to earlier in the week had misgivings. They did not question what opportunities were available but what happens after they return and start working, especially in the government, its agencies or the government-linked-companies (GLCs)

Will they rise in the organisation, especially the locally-owned financial institutions or in GLCs? In London, they can aspire to become CEOs by sheer hard work and performance. No one cares about race, religion or creed or the prefixes before their fathers’ names. Connections are of no help and the answer to success is just produce more than what is expected. Unless these persons have the credentials and the competence, you don’t go anywhere. As long as they deliver, they get rewarded and move up the ladder and that many Malaysians are heading departments in international banks is testimony of their ability. So, having been in an environment where "the best man wins", can they adapt to a system alien to them?

In short, will they be judged on merit? Will meritocracy be the beacon of hope for so many thousands of Malaysians overseas who don’t want to return? Yes, they yearn for the love of their parents and families, who had made sacrifices to send them overseas for education, but without an "equal-opportunities" system, it is now for them to make the sacrifice for their own future.

The question of meritocracy was raised at the seminar but the issue was never addressed. Every speaker wanted to be politically correct and none wanted to commit himself. One went to name two senior officials in one GLC, but one swallow does not make a summer. There were assurances that "things can’t change overnight" and that "we are already seeing some changes" but no serious effort was made to deal with it. If concerted efforts are not made to address the issue, it will remain the biggest deterrent when attracting talent to Malaysia.

A young woman I met at the seminar had this to stay: "After graduation, I worked in KL for two years and got nowhere. I moved to Singapore and worked for two years during which time I was head-hunted and offered a job in London." If there were equal opportunities, Malaysia would not have lost her. She now works in a private securities company and heads the Asian desk.

In a knowledge-based economy, we need everyone on board. However, the system that has evolved and entrenched itself over the past few decades is now our biggest adversary. Changing mind-set and perception can only see success if we make a commitment and see it through to rectify past anomalies.

R. Nadeswaran has always championed meritocracy because it is the key to bigger economic success – look at Singapore. Comments:citizen-nades@thesundaily.com

Updated: 10:09PM Sun, 10 Oct 2010

Talents deserve full recognition

The Star

Saturday October 9, 2010

Talents deserve full recognition

WE laud the call made by our Prime Minister to bring back talented professionals from overseas.

However, this is nothing new as several calls had been made before and as a result, a few of them did come back and after some years, quite a number of them had left to join the private sector or moved to neighbouring countries.

The problems should be studied by the Government whether is it the incentives or the facilities that do not match their talents. Or is it the bureaucracy.

I feel that one of the problems in retaining the best brains in the professional sector lies in the various professional bodies.

It is a pity that foreign graduates as well as those who graduated from the twinning or franchised local campuses are not recognised by these bodies although the courses are recognised by the government accreditation bodies.

The professional bodies like those in the legal, accountancy, engineering and medical professions block these graduates from joining them directly.

They need to sit for a local examination to satisfy local requirements whereas local graduates, even those from universities with lower MQA Rating than the local private universities, are exempted.

The irony is that although these professionals may have obtained membership from foreign professional bodies, they still need to clear the local hurdle to obtain membership from the local bodies.

Just bear in mind that a majority of our local professors are graduates from foreign universities and the syllabus are mostly from foreign universities.

Furthermore, those foreign universities are listed among the best universities in the world whereas our local universities are not even in the list and yet our professional bodies discriminate against our foreign professionals.

So one can see why quite a number of our talented professionals want to remain overseas or work in the private sector (as they are not qualified to join government services), or work in neighbouring countries.

CONCERNED CITIZEN,

Subang Jaya.

Malaysian Awarded First Singapore Youth Olympic Scholarship

August 14th, 2010 |

Author: Your Correspondent

Bernama, 13 August 2010

Malaysia’s 12-year-old promising table tennis player Angeline Tang An Qi is among six young athletes worldwide awarded with the first Singapore Youth Olympics scholarships.

Singapore’s Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew presented the scholarships here Friday as a legacy of the first-ever Youth Olympic Games which the country is hosting this week, and as part of its commitment to the Olympic Movement.

For the record, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) had selected Angeline Tang as one of the most promising junior players worldwide for the ITTF Hopes Team 2010.

She was also the women’s singles champion at the 2010 Penang Open Championships and 3rd in the Under-13 singles at the 22nd Milo Malaysia Hopes Table Tennis Championships.

The six fully-funded scholarships to the Singapore Sports School aim to encourage the pursuit of excellence and forging of friendships.

The other five recipients are Ebineng Seabe Beryl (Botswana, swimming), Jevina Raydon Sampson (Guyana, athletics), Nieto Herrera Janina Sofia (Peru, table tennis), Ang Wan Qi (Singapore, table tennis) and Phiangkhwan Pawapotako (Thailand, swimming).

Thirty national Olympic committees submitted a total of 54 applications for the scholarships between February and April this year.

In May and June, short-listed candidates were invited to Singapore for interviews and the recipients were informed of their selection in July.

The scholarships are funded by the republic’s Community Development, Youth and Sports Ministry, with operational support from the Singapore Sports School, Singapore National Olympic Council, the Olympic Solidarity and the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee.

Source: Bernama

Talent Corp will ensure `brain gain' for Malaysia

Comments | New Straits Times, Jun 16, 2010 | by Presenna Nambiar

TALENT Corp, an initiative recently announced under the 10th Malaysia Plan, will work very much like Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) in drawing the best brains to Malaysia, says Minister in Prime Minister's Department Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop.

"Talent Corp will be a holistic operation under the Prime Minister's office, which will work across various agencies.

"It will work very much like how Mida does, in getting financial capital into the country.

"It will be the Mida for human capital," Nor Mohamed said at a press conference after the launch of the Sunway REIT Prospectus Caymans in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, yesterday.

Mida as the promoter of manufacturing and service industry in Malaysia, besides providing information on opportunities for investments also comes up with incentive schemes for companies that want to invest in Malaysia.

The incentives are given on a case by case basis, rather than a one size fits all solution. Talent Corp, to be set up under the Prime Ministers' Department in 2011, will source for top talent globally, including from among the Malaysian diaspora.

More than 700,000 Malaysians are estimated to be living and working abroad.

Nor Mohamed was responding to a question on how Talent Corp will be different from earlier programmes initiated by the Government, such as the Brain Gain and Returning Expert programmes, which have largely failed to meet its objectives.