A Good Ponder For Malaysia Day Name One Country That Exports Its Best Minds For Free

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MALAYSIA today is like a hospital with no doctors, a courtroom with no judges, and a national team where the goalkeeper absconded – not because he lacked skill but because someone decided he wasn’t the “right race” to play.
Meanwhile, countries like Singapore, Australia, Germany and Canada are busy vacuuming up the very talents we proudly push out. They roll out red carpets, dangle permanent residency, scholarships and even tax perks.
And here? We also roll out the red carpet – but only up to the airport departure gate.
Tragedy of the whisper
Parents spend their life savings sending children abroad to study. And what do they whisper at the airport?
“Don’t come back, sayang. Here, you’ll be treated like a second-class citizen. Stay there, where your brains are wanted, not wasted.”
It is not that Malaysians don’t love their homeland – it is that their homeland doesn’t love them back.

A monopoly on mediocrity
Back home, the civil service and GLCs (government-linked companies) look like (almost) one-race monopoly clubs. Instead of building progress, they build bureaucratic walls. Efficiency is choked, merit is mocked and promotions come by skin colour – not by skill.
Corruption thrives, patriotism withers and our services creak like rusty bicycles while the rest of the world zooms past in electric cars.
History twisted
Let’s not pretend. Some Chinese and Indian families have been here longer than many who now insist on calling themselves “original Malays” whose ancestors themselves came from Java, Sulawesi or Sumatra. In Indonesia, “Malay” is just one of hundreds of ethnic groups.
But here, it has been inflated into a supremacy card – one that trumps logic, merit and sometimes even common sense.
The silent exodus
The Youth: Many do not even bother returning after graduation. Why compete in a game where the referee already decided you will never score?The Professionals: Doctors, engineers, lawyers – many of them quietly pack up after years of being passed over, their skills dismissed. Abroad, they are hired, respected and promoted within years.The Established: Even CEOs, academics and researchers are saying “enough is enough”. They leave not for money alone but for dignity, fairness and quality of life.The result? A brain drain pipeline that starts at university level and ends with the country’s best talents fuelling someone else’s economy.

Who stays behind?
If this continues, Malaysia will be left with only two groups:

The too poor to leave.The too brainwashed to know better.Even many right-minded Malays quietly admit: “No thanks, I’d rather have functioning hospitals, competent courts and real equality than endless slogans about bangsa (race) and agama (religion).”
Love is a two-way street
Talent is not leaving because they do not love Malaysia. They are leaving because Malaysia does not love them back.
Until we fix our policies, our history books and our mindset, we will remain the world’s only nation proud of exporting our brightest citizens – absolutely free of charge.

And make no mistake – those who leave are not traitors. The real betrayal is by those who make them feel unwanted. 
Amarjeet Singh @ AJ is a seasoned marketing, public relations and business review consultant.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of  MMKtT.
- Focus Malaysia.

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