LONDON: Malaysia has urged its “best brains” working abroad to return home and help drive the country’s new economic model.
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said more talented people were required for the country’s new approach that would be launched next month.
Muhyiddin, also chairman of the Cabinet Committee on Human Resources, said human capital and resources were needed to help boost development.
“We need very well-trained, innovative and creative Malay-sians to fulfil the needs of the new economic model,” he said in reply to a question during a dialogue with more than 200 Malaysian students on Tuesday.
Present were Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, Kota Belud MP Datuk Rahman Dahlan, Batang Sadong MP Nancy Shukri, Ledang MP Hamim Samuri and Malaysian High Commissioner to Britain Datuk Abdul Aziz Mohamad.
Muhyiddin hoped that Malaysians abroad who were trained and experienced could come home and serve the country.
He said people sometimes looked at the issue of brain drain the other way around, that “we’ve got brains to export”.
“In a sense, you can’t control people (from working overseas). But we do recognise that we need brains for development,” he added.
“We need people capable of running the country as we don’t want foreigners to come in and tell us what to do.”
To another question, Muhyiddin said the ranking of the country’s top 20 schools did not mean they were given better treatment than others.
He said the top schools had moved up due to the initiatives and leadership of the principals who were creative not only in terms of academic excellence but in other areas as well.
“We treat all schools equally. We don’t discriminate against certain schools just because they are located in certain places,” he added.
Muhyiddin, who is also the Education Minister, hoped the ranking system would spur other schools to strive harder to achieve certain standards and move up the ladder. They must be able to sustain their performances to avoid sliding down the rankings.
He also touched on the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST), saying it would not be a burden to the people.
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