前不久，马来西亚首相署部长纳兹里（Nazri Aziz），对外强调马国政府未来会继续以55%对45%的比例，发放公共服务海外奖学金给土著及非土著。这个比例是在今年才推行，而在2000年至2007年，共有1万零485人获得公共服务海外奖学金，非土著只有23%。
纳兹里亦不认同之前的颁发比例：“非土著也是马来西亚人，因此我不认同土著及非土著的奖学金比例应是80%对20%”。然而，上述的做法引起一些马来团体和马来学者的不满，声称该决定侵蚀土著特权。这些不满人士，更要求马国最高元首能够出手干预此事。
吸引不到人才回国服务
从这件现象中可以看到，推行超过30年的新经济政策，固然大大提高了马来人在政、经的地位，但是亦导致部分马来人高度依赖政府。人才是一个国家的重要资源，因此培育人才应该不分族群，若以族群作为考量的重点，反而埋没许多未来的国之栋梁，并对国家的发展造成更大的负面影响。
目前世界许多先进国家都相当重视人才，马国却仍反其道而行，这将会把国内人才拱手让人，成为他国的重要人力资源。
分配式的政策，突显马国政府培育国内人才方面的偏差，因而导致人才的外流。据马国政府的透露，马国现有78万5000名专才在海外工作，主要分布在新、澳、纽、英、日、美、台等国家与地区工作。
为了吸引这些旅居海外的菁英，马国人力资源部在2001年推出了“鼓励国人回国服务计划”，但是其成效相当有限。
据马国人力资源部副部长诺莱妮（Noraini Ahmad）日前透露，该计划推行了七年，截止今年6月只有1156人提出申请(在1156人当中，人力资源部只批准了611人，这些人当中只有453人选择回到国内服务)。
从上述的数据可以窥探，该计划推行了七年，只有不到1%的人提出申请，可见该计划并没有吸引到这批海外的马国专才回流。另一方面，申请者的成功率只有52.85%，似乎也是令后来申请者却步的原因。
政策改革只能是个开始
马国政府在1970年代开始，采取了国内资源的重新分配制度，来扶植马来民族在各个领域的地位。马国政府的努力，确实有一定的成效，但是政策上的严重偏差换来的是某个族群的崛起和国内族群之间的表面和谐。
该政策带来了许多负面的问题：人才的外流，某些族群被边缘化，内部经济的发展趋缓等等。如今马国政府将2000份海外奖学金的45%发放给非土著优秀生，确实值得人民肯定。
该项政策应是马国政府改革的第一步，但是这并不代表这种55%对45%的比例颁授方式可以一直沿用下去。以族群作为颁发的指标，只会让一些奖学金“所颁非人”(不管是土著或非土著)，未来的颁授方式，应该以“能者居之”为终极目标。
马国政府长期的扶助政策，已经对特定族群形成了一种习惯，部分马来社群的反弹，突显政府照顾政策的后遗症。以巫统为首的马国政府若要继续迈开改革的步伐，必须勇敢面对族群内部的反对力量，逐步将一些不利国家的政策取消，让巫族可以自立自强，亦提供全国人民能在公平的大环境下进行竞争。
期盼马国的奖学金分配政策只是个开始，如果改革者无法有智慧地去处理排山倒海的压力，最终选择妥协的话，马国的未来将是一条暗淡的前路。
● 利亮时·作者是马来西亚学者
台湾高雄师范大学助理教授
Showing posts with label 人才. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 人才. Show all posts
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Monday, December 24, 2007
人才外流没有种族之分
一些朋友知道我姐姐搬到新加坡后，说了些难听的话。一个问我他们夫妻俩是靠什么关系在新加坡找到工作。我马上反驳：“那是新加坡，你要有才干才能找到工作。”
许多马来西亚人在国内有很好的发展。但据在我工作地点所看到的，和从朋友那所听到的，要谋求更好的工作，肯定有更好的出路。
12月真是多事之秋。这个月的头一个星期，就有好些让人难过的事。一些朋友离婚、分手了、一个家中好友不幸中风、为了更美好的未来，我姐姐一家人搬到新加坡，将来或者还会迁移到其他地方。
真不知道从何说起。我只能说，侄儿、侄女离开后，家里现在晚上变得很寂静。再也没有争看寰宇电视（Astro）的情形，Layla不会再拿我的化妆品来玩，我也不用把他们赶出我的房间。整个公寓感觉好空洞。
和我的一些堂、表兄弟姐妹一样，我姐姐和姐夫选择到国外工作和居住。
他们相信国外的生活会更好。专业人士可以在强调绩效的制度里获得应有的回报，孩子的智力和艺术天赋，在一个多元种族的环境和良好的教育体制里，也可以得到发挥。
我姐姐大概是昏了头了，因为她并没有佣人。但是她认为牺牲是值得的。
我妈妈曾说过这里的婚姻关系一团糟，人们结婚后最好搬离马来西亚。夫妻俩在国外时，会更努力地经营他们的婚姻。
一些朋友知道我姐姐搬到新加坡后，说了些难听的话。一个问我他们夫妻俩是靠什么关系在新加坡找到工作。
我马上反驳：“那是新加坡，你要有才干才能找到工作。”
如果你是外国人，情况更是如此。遗憾的是，这些人依然维持鄙视的态度，不断表示我们不应该遗弃祖国。
我也收到一个同家人住在欧洲的亲戚的电邮。她现在开心多了，同丈夫的关系也更牢固了。
“是的，我们在吉隆坡的朋友已经成为百万富翁了，我们却还在一个新的地方挣扎。但吉隆坡那里的人、生活方式就是有种让人厌恶的感觉，它不是个适合孩子成长的地方，”她在电邮里说。
“无论如何，我们在哪里都可以继续保留回教徒的生活，在哪里都可以祈祷，这里其实有很多回教徒！来看看我们吧，妳绝对会喜欢这里。书店？博物院？”
离开是选择更美好的将来
他们是不是非典型的马来西亚人，已经西化到不能在自己的国家里生活和呼吸？
答案是否定的。我的朋友和亲戚同一般马来西亚人没什么两样。他们喜欢印族回教徒的食物和夜市，还没有离开马来西亚前，也过着典型马来西亚人的生活。星期天是陪孩子的时间，基督教徒朋友会上教堂，马来人朋友和亲戚则上可兰经研习班和踢足球。
他们也有很好的工作。有自己的房子，一辆甚至两辆车子……
他们选择离开，是因为他们相信在国外居住和工作，会让他们和他们的家庭拥有更美好的将来。
他们知道同外国人、阿拉伯人、和新加坡人一起工作，必须面对适应不同文化的挑战，但也认为这样的环球化环境是绝佳的经验。
学校教导学生的方式已经越来越国际化，我的侄子除了回教课，也可以上武术和游泳课程。
还有另外一个诱因。一个事业有成的驻海外朋友曾告诉我：“如果我住在马来西亚，你想我会拥有这一切吗？或许我可以，但我却必须到处拍人家马屁。
我不是任何校友会的成员，也不打高尔夫球。我的成功是靠我的实力和表现。”
他是个精明的投资者，凭自己的能力取得成功，现在过着许多人向往的生活。
一个华族朋友听了我的话感到非常惊讶：“你是说你们马来人也跟我们这些“非的”有同样的感受？”
“非什么？”我问。
“非土著啊。”
“当然啦！”
“如果连你们都有这种感觉，那我们又如何呢？”
这种马来西亚人到国外寻求更美好未来的人才外流现象，并不局限于某个族群。
我不否认许多马来西亚人在国内也有很好的发展，但据我在工作地点所看到的，和从朋友那所听到的，要谋求更好的工作和生活，肯定有更好的出路。
如果这意味着人们必须离乡背井，那也没有办法。人们必须务实，过分重视感情只有在小说里才管用。
在这里祝国人佳节和新年快乐。
● Dina Zaman（迪娜·扎曼）
原载马来西亚《星报》网络版 - Brain drain is colour blind
叶琦保译
转载http://www.zaobao.com/yl/yl071224_503.shtml
（2007-12-24）
--------------------------------------------------------
Brain drain is colour blind
By DINA ZAMAN
Many have done very well on their own soil, but from where I sit and work, and being a friend and ears to a number of people, there must be a better way to make a living.
WHAT a December. In the first week itself, there were a few heartbreaks: divorces, a break-up, a family friend getting a stroke, and lastly, my sister and her family leaving for a better future in Singapore, and hopefully in the future, elsewhere.
I don’t even know where to begin; all I can say is that our home is much quieter in the evenings and nights without my nephew and niece. No more fighting over Astro, no more chasing them out of my room and catching Layla playing with my make-up. The apartment feels so empty.
Like a number of my cousins and friends, my sister and her husband have opted to work and live overseas. They believe life is much better abroad. The professional is compensated for his due diligence through meritocracy, and the children are exposed to different cultures and an education that challenges their intellect and artistic bent.
My sister is going nuts, of course, because there’s no domestic help. But for her the sacrifices are worth it.
In fact, my mother once said that it’s better for married couples to live out of Malaysia; marriages back home are so screwed up. When you’re in a foreign country, you work harder at a marriage.
There were a few snide remarks from acquaintances when they heard of the move. One asked me whose strings did they pull to get a job there?
I snapped back, “this is Singapore, you need the smarts to work there.” Even more so if you’re a foreigner. Unfortunately, this condescending git went on and on about how we should not forsake the motherland.
I also received an e-mail from a cousin who’s living with her family in Europe. She’s so much happier there now, and her relationship with her husband is stronger.
“True, Kak Dina, our friends in KL are millionaires now, and we’re struggling in a new land. But there’s something sick about KL. The people, the way we live, it’s not a place to bring up a family,” she wrote.
“Anyway, Kak Dina, Islam is a portable religion. You can practise it anywhere, you can pray anywhere, and there are many Muslims here! Jom lah, Kak D, duduk lah sini. You’ll love it here. Bookshops? museums?”
Are they the atypical Malaysians, so westernised that they cannot live and breathe in their own country?
No. My friends and relatives are just your normal Malaysians who love their mamak food, pasar malam; and when they lived here, led typical Malaysian lives. Sundays with the kids and church for my Christian friends, kelas ngaji and futsal for my Malay friends and cousins.
They were holding good jobs, too. They had a house, one or two cars...
They left because they believed that living and working abroad would afford them and their families a better future.
They knew they would be in for a few cultural challenges, working with Mat Sallehs, Arabs, Singaporeans, but they also felt the international exposure would be excellent for them.
Schools are increasingly more international in their approach: my nephew will be able to go for his Islamic classes as well as martial arts and swimming classes.
Another pull-factor. A very successful friend who’s based abroad once told me: “I live in Malaysia you think I’ll have all this? I could, but I’d have to brownnose everyone.
“I don’t belong to an old boys network and I don’t golf. I got to where I am because of what I can do and deliver.”
A shrewd investor, he is now leading that very life many aspire to, and he has done so on his own terms.
One of my Chinese friends was stunned to hear this. “You mean you Malays also go through the same thing as us Nons ah?”
“Hah? Apa itu ‘Non’?” I asked.
“Non-bumi lah, dol.”
“Of course lah!”
“Choy, choy, choy. If you guys feel that way, what about us?”
This brain-drain, Malaysians leaving for a better future abroad, is not confined to a particular race. I’m not denying the fact that many have done very well on their own soil, in their own country, which is Malaysia, but from where I sit and work, and being a friend and ears to a number of people, there must be a better way to make a living, and to live.
If it means uprooting, then so be it. One must be practical. Sentimentality only works in fiction.
The writer would like to wish all Malaysians happy holidays and a Happy New Year.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/12/20/focus/19820231&sec=focus
许多马来西亚人在国内有很好的发展。但据在我工作地点所看到的，和从朋友那所听到的，要谋求更好的工作，肯定有更好的出路。
12月真是多事之秋。这个月的头一个星期，就有好些让人难过的事。一些朋友离婚、分手了、一个家中好友不幸中风、为了更美好的未来，我姐姐一家人搬到新加坡，将来或者还会迁移到其他地方。
真不知道从何说起。我只能说，侄儿、侄女离开后，家里现在晚上变得很寂静。再也没有争看寰宇电视（Astro）的情形，Layla不会再拿我的化妆品来玩，我也不用把他们赶出我的房间。整个公寓感觉好空洞。
和我的一些堂、表兄弟姐妹一样，我姐姐和姐夫选择到国外工作和居住。
他们相信国外的生活会更好。专业人士可以在强调绩效的制度里获得应有的回报，孩子的智力和艺术天赋，在一个多元种族的环境和良好的教育体制里，也可以得到发挥。
我姐姐大概是昏了头了，因为她并没有佣人。但是她认为牺牲是值得的。
我妈妈曾说过这里的婚姻关系一团糟，人们结婚后最好搬离马来西亚。夫妻俩在国外时，会更努力地经营他们的婚姻。
一些朋友知道我姐姐搬到新加坡后，说了些难听的话。一个问我他们夫妻俩是靠什么关系在新加坡找到工作。
我马上反驳：“那是新加坡，你要有才干才能找到工作。”
如果你是外国人，情况更是如此。遗憾的是，这些人依然维持鄙视的态度，不断表示我们不应该遗弃祖国。
我也收到一个同家人住在欧洲的亲戚的电邮。她现在开心多了，同丈夫的关系也更牢固了。
“是的，我们在吉隆坡的朋友已经成为百万富翁了，我们却还在一个新的地方挣扎。但吉隆坡那里的人、生活方式就是有种让人厌恶的感觉，它不是个适合孩子成长的地方，”她在电邮里说。
“无论如何，我们在哪里都可以继续保留回教徒的生活，在哪里都可以祈祷，这里其实有很多回教徒！来看看我们吧，妳绝对会喜欢这里。书店？博物院？”
离开是选择更美好的将来
他们是不是非典型的马来西亚人，已经西化到不能在自己的国家里生活和呼吸？
答案是否定的。我的朋友和亲戚同一般马来西亚人没什么两样。他们喜欢印族回教徒的食物和夜市，还没有离开马来西亚前，也过着典型马来西亚人的生活。星期天是陪孩子的时间，基督教徒朋友会上教堂，马来人朋友和亲戚则上可兰经研习班和踢足球。
他们也有很好的工作。有自己的房子，一辆甚至两辆车子……
他们选择离开，是因为他们相信在国外居住和工作，会让他们和他们的家庭拥有更美好的将来。
他们知道同外国人、阿拉伯人、和新加坡人一起工作，必须面对适应不同文化的挑战，但也认为这样的环球化环境是绝佳的经验。
学校教导学生的方式已经越来越国际化，我的侄子除了回教课，也可以上武术和游泳课程。
还有另外一个诱因。一个事业有成的驻海外朋友曾告诉我：“如果我住在马来西亚，你想我会拥有这一切吗？或许我可以，但我却必须到处拍人家马屁。
我不是任何校友会的成员，也不打高尔夫球。我的成功是靠我的实力和表现。”
他是个精明的投资者，凭自己的能力取得成功，现在过着许多人向往的生活。
一个华族朋友听了我的话感到非常惊讶：“你是说你们马来人也跟我们这些“非的”有同样的感受？”
“非什么？”我问。
“非土著啊。”
“当然啦！”
“如果连你们都有这种感觉，那我们又如何呢？”
这种马来西亚人到国外寻求更美好未来的人才外流现象，并不局限于某个族群。
我不否认许多马来西亚人在国内也有很好的发展，但据我在工作地点所看到的，和从朋友那所听到的，要谋求更好的工作和生活，肯定有更好的出路。
如果这意味着人们必须离乡背井，那也没有办法。人们必须务实，过分重视感情只有在小说里才管用。
在这里祝国人佳节和新年快乐。
● Dina Zaman（迪娜·扎曼）
原载马来西亚《星报》网络版 - Brain drain is colour blind
叶琦保译
转载http://www.zaobao.com/yl/yl071224_503.shtml
（2007-12-24）
--------------------------------------------------------
Brain drain is colour blind
By DINA ZAMAN
Many have done very well on their own soil, but from where I sit and work, and being a friend and ears to a number of people, there must be a better way to make a living.
WHAT a December. In the first week itself, there were a few heartbreaks: divorces, a break-up, a family friend getting a stroke, and lastly, my sister and her family leaving for a better future in Singapore, and hopefully in the future, elsewhere.
I don’t even know where to begin; all I can say is that our home is much quieter in the evenings and nights without my nephew and niece. No more fighting over Astro, no more chasing them out of my room and catching Layla playing with my make-up. The apartment feels so empty.
Like a number of my cousins and friends, my sister and her husband have opted to work and live overseas. They believe life is much better abroad. The professional is compensated for his due diligence through meritocracy, and the children are exposed to different cultures and an education that challenges their intellect and artistic bent.
My sister is going nuts, of course, because there’s no domestic help. But for her the sacrifices are worth it.
In fact, my mother once said that it’s better for married couples to live out of Malaysia; marriages back home are so screwed up. When you’re in a foreign country, you work harder at a marriage.
There were a few snide remarks from acquaintances when they heard of the move. One asked me whose strings did they pull to get a job there?
I snapped back, “this is Singapore, you need the smarts to work there.” Even more so if you’re a foreigner. Unfortunately, this condescending git went on and on about how we should not forsake the motherland.
I also received an e-mail from a cousin who’s living with her family in Europe. She’s so much happier there now, and her relationship with her husband is stronger.
“True, Kak Dina, our friends in KL are millionaires now, and we’re struggling in a new land. But there’s something sick about KL. The people, the way we live, it’s not a place to bring up a family,” she wrote.
“Anyway, Kak Dina, Islam is a portable religion. You can practise it anywhere, you can pray anywhere, and there are many Muslims here! Jom lah, Kak D, duduk lah sini. You’ll love it here. Bookshops? museums?”
Are they the atypical Malaysians, so westernised that they cannot live and breathe in their own country?
No. My friends and relatives are just your normal Malaysians who love their mamak food, pasar malam; and when they lived here, led typical Malaysian lives. Sundays with the kids and church for my Christian friends, kelas ngaji and futsal for my Malay friends and cousins.
They were holding good jobs, too. They had a house, one or two cars...
They left because they believed that living and working abroad would afford them and their families a better future.
They knew they would be in for a few cultural challenges, working with Mat Sallehs, Arabs, Singaporeans, but they also felt the international exposure would be excellent for them.
Schools are increasingly more international in their approach: my nephew will be able to go for his Islamic classes as well as martial arts and swimming classes.
Another pull-factor. A very successful friend who’s based abroad once told me: “I live in Malaysia you think I’ll have all this? I could, but I’d have to brownnose everyone.
“I don’t belong to an old boys network and I don’t golf. I got to where I am because of what I can do and deliver.”
A shrewd investor, he is now leading that very life many aspire to, and he has done so on his own terms.
One of my Chinese friends was stunned to hear this. “You mean you Malays also go through the same thing as us Nons ah?”
“Hah? Apa itu ‘Non’?” I asked.
“Non-bumi lah, dol.”
“Of course lah!”
“Choy, choy, choy. If you guys feel that way, what about us?”
This brain-drain, Malaysians leaving for a better future abroad, is not confined to a particular race. I’m not denying the fact that many have done very well on their own soil, in their own country, which is Malaysia, but from where I sit and work, and being a friend and ears to a number of people, there must be a better way to make a living, and to live.
If it means uprooting, then so be it. One must be practical. Sentimentality only works in fiction.
The writer would like to wish all Malaysians happy holidays and a Happy New Year.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/12/20/focus/19820231&sec=focus
Thursday, October 11, 2007
李光耀如是说
“马来西亚在1965年将新加坡逐出时，就认定新加坡会失败，最终得依照他们的条件重回马来西亚。新马之间的问题不仅是国与国之间的问题，而是对种族、宗教、文化持有不同心态。我们证明了如果他们改变作风，能有哪些成就。马来西亚拥有所有的资源，如果为华族和印度族人民提供教育，善用这些人民，它将能够媲美或超越新加坡的成就，新加坡也将会很乐意重新加入。”
2007年9月底接受美国著名时事专栏作者普雷特访问时,李光耀是这么说的。
新闻来源：李光耀：新加坡仍面临生存危机
======================================
我常在想：“
马来西亚地理位置得天独厚，终年四季如夏，雨量充足，没有水源短缺，甚至可以考虑出口地下水赚外汇，天然资源丰富，没有地震之虞，大自然的风光明媚，有世界著名的原始热带雨林，遐迩闻名的西巴丹（Sipadan）潜水天堂，旅游胜地热浪岛，独具一格的灰石洞...
若再加上任人唯贤的管理制度，多元种族相处融洽，哇赛，简直就是人间净土，世外桃源。”
可为什么还是有那么多的子民魂萦梦牵，前仆后继的往国外淘金，移民，终生漂泊异乡？
看不见未来，该是其中一个原因吧。
新加坡什么都没有，仅靠人才和制度，尚且能走到今时今日的成就。先天条件让人嫉妒的马来西亚就宛如一个纨绔子弟，不思进取，迟早败家。
多可惜。
2007年9月底接受美国著名时事专栏作者普雷特访问时,李光耀是这么说的。
新闻来源：李光耀：新加坡仍面临生存危机
======================================
我常在想：“
马来西亚地理位置得天独厚，终年四季如夏，雨量充足，没有水源短缺，甚至可以考虑出口地下水赚外汇，天然资源丰富，没有地震之虞，大自然的风光明媚，有世界著名的原始热带雨林，遐迩闻名的西巴丹（Sipadan）潜水天堂，旅游胜地热浪岛，独具一格的灰石洞...
若再加上任人唯贤的管理制度，多元种族相处融洽，哇赛，简直就是人间净土，世外桃源。”
可为什么还是有那么多的子民魂萦梦牵，前仆后继的往国外淘金，移民，终生漂泊异乡？
看不见未来，该是其中一个原因吧。
新加坡什么都没有，仅靠人才和制度，尚且能走到今时今日的成就。先天条件让人嫉妒的马来西亚就宛如一个纨绔子弟，不思进取，迟早败家。
多可惜。
Friday, May 04, 2007
人力资本是发展关键
● 潘俭伟 /Tony Pua
我热衷于研究经济，人们常问我：“什么是决定经济体大小的因素？”是扬升的橡胶和油棕价格？我们的石油和天然气储藏量？还是国家的面积和人口？马来西亚拥有肥沃的土地、大片的锡矿和高素质的石油储存。
我们南端的邻居新加坡就没有我们幸运了。它只是一个小岛，比我们小480倍，既不适合进行农业活动，也缺乏天然资源。新加坡目前的约400万人口，扣除了外来劳动力，也只是马来西亚的1/6。
如果经济总量是取决于上述的可耕地和天然资源等因素，那马来西亚的经济总量应该大于新加坡数倍。然而，事实却并非如此。马来西亚的经济总量是美元1300亿，只是比新加坡的1170亿多出约11％。如果两国目前的增长率在接下来的10年保持不变，新加坡这个小邻居的经济总量将超越马来西亚。
顶尖人才最集中的地方
一个土地面积小又没有资源的国家，怎会有这样出色的表现？一个在80年代经济总量还不及马来西亚一半的国家，是怎么在短时间内迎头赶上的呢？这里头只有一个简单的原因：人力资本。新加坡不遗余力的发展人力资本，不但大力栽培本地人，也从海外吸引最佳的人才，使新加坡成为本区域，如果不是全球的话，以每平方英尺来计算，顶尖人才最集中的地方。
新加坡每年都以亚细安奖学金的名义，为数以百计的不同年级马来西亚学生提供经济奖励，吸引他们到新加坡一些最好的学校就读。我本身在峇株巴辖读完小学后，便幸运的获得一份亚细安奖学金。和我不同的是，许多同样获得奖学金到新加坡求学的同侪，后来选择在新加坡工作甚至在那里定居。这对马来西亚来说是种损失。
我在小学最要好的朋友，在中三后获得同样的奖学金。后来他还获得世界最大的船务公司之一，海皇轮船集团的奖学金，考取牛津大学的学位。他现在为海皇服务，是公司派驻越南的外籍经理。
另一个后来则获得新加坡航空公司的奖学金，毕业于伦敦经济学院。才36岁的他，在今年3月被委任为新航集团属下的胜安航空的总裁，真让人钦佩。
今年，在家乡同窗农历新年年度聚会上，我很伤心的听到一名在新加坡高等学府任教的旧同学，刚选择放弃马来西亚公民权，成为新加坡人。
我还有很多其他的例子，有才华出众的朋友的人也不只我一个。一名本地法律系高级讲师最近说，马来亚大学法律系缺乏高素质的师资，这是因为新加坡国立大学的法律系讲师，有约40％是马来西亚人。
马航在过去10年一直面对困境，累积了超过马币10亿的亏损。在1972脱离马航的新航，却取得耀眼的成就，是全球盈利最高的航空公司之一。讽刺的是，领导新航连续31年取得利润并度过艰难时期，在2003年才退休的张松光博士，却是一名曾在马来亚大学任教的杰出马来西亚人。
所以，当首相阿都拉宣布了强调人力资本的第九个五年发展计划时，我感到相当雀跃。计划有一整章同发展人力资本有关。政府的政策是设立“世界级的大学和确保高等学府可以满足雇主的需求”，还有“培养讲求创新、具备丰富科学和技术能力、并有能力学习和使用知识的社会”等。然而，对将由科学、工艺与革新部推动的吸引人才的计划，却着墨不多。
留住和吸引人才的关键
在保留本地和吸引外来人才这个关键课题上，也没有任何讨论。政府必须了解，发展人力资本在本质上，同吸引外来人才和防止本地人才外流是息息相关的。一个有效的人力资本发展政策，不只是建立更多学校和大学，或者聘请更多教师和讲师。
新加坡的大学和人口的比例只是我们的一半。然而，它三所大学中的两所，却名列世界顶尖50所大学内。
在招聘最佳的教育工作者，和制定一个奖赏严谨的学术研究，和具批判及分析性的思维这些至关重要的素质时，政府必须深思熟虑。没有这样的政策和根深蒂固的文化，年青有为的马来西亚人选择到“无国界”的全球化学术环境中，寻找可以发挥所长的机会，也就不足为奇了。
我们目前的教育政策，需要一个具竞争力的经济环境来配合，让人才可以获得公平和平等的机会在各自的领域成长，对经济做出贡献并获得应有的报酬——这样才能留住人才。
我们的竞争者能够提供世界级的教育，和有利的经济环境来吸引年青马来西亚人。我们已经失去许多人才。我那些在海外有优异成就的朋友，在马来西亚是不太可能有同样的机会的。
政府理解也凸出了人力资本对经济和国家发展的重要性，这是值得表扬的。然而，如果政府是认真的想要提升人力资本的素质，就必须作出更多努力，建立一个全面的机制，对马来西亚的教育学府做出诚实和严格的评估。
对机会不平等、晋升受不公平限制、和单凭能力只能获得有限擢升这些不论是否确实存在于我们的“商业”机构的问题，我们也必须探讨根本的原因。我们拥有丰富的天然资源，如果我们的大量人才能够被留住并充分发挥所长，我们毫无疑问的可以领先我们的竞争者、更早消除贫穷、和在2020年成为真正的发达国家。
·作者是马来西亚民主行动党秘书长林冠英的经济顾问。原载4月30日马来西亚《新海峡时报》。叶琦保译。
·作者的部落格：
http://educationmalaysia.blogspot.com/
http://tonypua.blogspot.com/
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
英文原文：
Human capital the key to growth
AS an economics enthusiast, I’ve often been asked, "What determines the size of an economy?"
Is it dependent on rubber and high oil palm prices? Or the size of our oil and gas resources? Or instead, is it dependent on land area and population?
Malaysia is extremely well endowed with fertile land, large tracts of tin mines as well as some of the highest quality petroleum reserves in the world. Singapore, our neighbour down south, however, is not as fortunate.
To put it bluntly, it is a tiny island, 480 times smaller than us, completely unsuitable for commercial plantation and lacking any natural resources. Even its population today of some four million, excluding migrant workers, is one-sixth of Malaysia’s population.
If the size of an economy is dependent on the factors highlighted above, such as arable land and natural resources, Malaysia’s economy should be many times the size of Singapore’s. However, reality paints a very different picture.
While Malaysia’s economy of US$130 billion (RM444 billion) is still larger than Singapore’s US$117 billion, the latter is only smaller by some 11 per cent. And if the rate of growth currently experienced in both countries persists for the next decade, then our tiny neighbour could soon boast a larger economy than Malaysia.
How is it even possible for a country with a sheer lack of resources and land mass to do so well? How did a country that was barely half our economic size in the early 1980s catch up within such a short period of time?
Through a simple exercise of elimination, it all boils down to a simple single factor — human capital.
Singapore’s near compulsive obsession with human capital, both in terms of enhancing its local citizenry as well as attracting the best foreign talent, has probably resulted in the highest concentration of top brains per square foot in the region, if not the world.
Every year, for example, Singapore provides financial incentives in the guise of the Asean Scholarship to hundreds of Malaysian students at all levels — post-UPSR, post-PMR, post-SPM and post-STPM — to study in some of the best schools on the island.
I was a fortunate beneficiary of such a scholarship after completing my primary school education in Batu Pahat. Unlike me, however, and unfortunately for Malaysia, most of my peers have chosen to work or even settle permanently in the island nation.
My best friend in primary school, who received the same scholarship after Form Three, went on to pursue his degree at Oxford University on a Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) scholarship. He now works for them, one of the largest shipping companies in the world, as an expatriate country manager in Vietnam.
Another fellow scholar graduated from London School of Economics (LSE) on a scholarship from Singapore Airlines (SIA). Most impressively, at the young age of 36, he has been appointed the chief executive officer of SIA’s subsidiary airline, SilkAir, as of March this year.
And when I had my annual Chinese New Year reunion with my home town classmates this year, I was heartbroken to hear that one of them, who is an academic with one of Singapore’s institutions of higher learning, had just renounced his Malaysian citizenship to become a Singaporean.
These are not my only examples, and you can be assured that I do not have a monopoly on talented friends. A local senior law lecturer recently commented that the Universiti Malaya (UM) law faculty was depleted of quality academics because Malaysians make up some 40 per cent of law lecturers at the National University of Singapore.
While Malaysia Airlines (MAS) struggled over the past decade with cumulative losses in excess of RM1 billion, SIA, which split from MAS in 1972, shone brightly as one of the most profitable airlines in the world. Ironically, it was an outstanding Malaysian and a former academic with UM, Dr Cheong Choong Kong, who led SIA to an unbroken 31-year record of profitability through turbulent economic times before his retirement in 2003.
Hence, when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi rolled out the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP) with an emphasis on human capital, I was pleased to a certain extent. The 9MP had an entire chapter dealing with human capital.
The human capital policy thrusts called for the creation of "universities of international standing and ensuring that tertiary institutions meet the needs of employers" and "nurturing an innovative society with strong science and technology capabilities and the ability to acquire and apply knowledge", among other things.
However, as part of the thrust, there was only a cursory mention of a "National Brain Gain Programme" to be spearheaded by a focal point at the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry.
There was no discussion on the issue of attracting and retaining local and foreign talents, a critical element in developing Malaysia’s human capital. It is extremely important for the government to recognise the fact that the development of human capital in Malaysia is intrinsically and inexplicably linked to the issue of brain gain and reversing brain drain.
An effective human capital development policy is not just limited to building more schools and universities, or hiring more teachers and lecturers.
Singapore, for example, has only half our ratio of universities to the population. Yet, two out of their three universities are recognised as among the Top 50 in the world.
The government must give thorough consideration to the all-important qualitative element of uncompromising search for the best-qualified educators and an education policy which rewards academic rigour, critical thinking and analytical intelligence.
Without such a policy structure and ingrained culture in place, it is unsurprising that many young and particularly talented Malaysians will seek out the "borderless" global academic environment in which their potential can be fully harnessed.
Concurrently, the country’s education policy must be complemented with an equally competitive economic environment which provides these talents with fair and equal opportunities to grow in their careers, contribute economically and be compensated accordingly — in order to retain these talents.
Our competitors’ ability to attract young Malaysians, provide undisputed world-class quality education and offer a conducive economic environment has clearly resulted in our loss.
It is hard to imagine that my friends, who have done extremely well for themselves overseas, would have had the same opportunities in equivalent entities in Malaysia.
The government must be commended for highlighting the importance of human capital in the economic growth and development of the country. However, if the government is serious about raising the quality of human capital, much more needs to be done to create a holistic and integrated plan that will honestly appraise and critically examine the quality of Malaysia’s educational institutions.
We must also identify the underlying factors, perceived or otherwise, of the lack of equal opportunities and glass ceilings as well as limited career advancement based on merit in many of our "commercial" organisations.
Should our ample pool of potential talent be fully harnessed, attracted and retained, coupled with our rich and God-given natural resources, then surely we can stay well ahead of our competitors, eliminate poverty sooner and become a truly developed nation by 2020.
我热衷于研究经济，人们常问我：“什么是决定经济体大小的因素？”是扬升的橡胶和油棕价格？我们的石油和天然气储藏量？还是国家的面积和人口？马来西亚拥有肥沃的土地、大片的锡矿和高素质的石油储存。
我们南端的邻居新加坡就没有我们幸运了。它只是一个小岛，比我们小480倍，既不适合进行农业活动，也缺乏天然资源。新加坡目前的约400万人口，扣除了外来劳动力，也只是马来西亚的1/6。
如果经济总量是取决于上述的可耕地和天然资源等因素，那马来西亚的经济总量应该大于新加坡数倍。然而，事实却并非如此。马来西亚的经济总量是美元1300亿，只是比新加坡的1170亿多出约11％。如果两国目前的增长率在接下来的10年保持不变，新加坡这个小邻居的经济总量将超越马来西亚。
顶尖人才最集中的地方
一个土地面积小又没有资源的国家，怎会有这样出色的表现？一个在80年代经济总量还不及马来西亚一半的国家，是怎么在短时间内迎头赶上的呢？这里头只有一个简单的原因：人力资本。新加坡不遗余力的发展人力资本，不但大力栽培本地人，也从海外吸引最佳的人才，使新加坡成为本区域，如果不是全球的话，以每平方英尺来计算，顶尖人才最集中的地方。
新加坡每年都以亚细安奖学金的名义，为数以百计的不同年级马来西亚学生提供经济奖励，吸引他们到新加坡一些最好的学校就读。我本身在峇株巴辖读完小学后，便幸运的获得一份亚细安奖学金。和我不同的是，许多同样获得奖学金到新加坡求学的同侪，后来选择在新加坡工作甚至在那里定居。这对马来西亚来说是种损失。
我在小学最要好的朋友，在中三后获得同样的奖学金。后来他还获得世界最大的船务公司之一，海皇轮船集团的奖学金，考取牛津大学的学位。他现在为海皇服务，是公司派驻越南的外籍经理。
另一个后来则获得新加坡航空公司的奖学金，毕业于伦敦经济学院。才36岁的他，在今年3月被委任为新航集团属下的胜安航空的总裁，真让人钦佩。
今年，在家乡同窗农历新年年度聚会上，我很伤心的听到一名在新加坡高等学府任教的旧同学，刚选择放弃马来西亚公民权，成为新加坡人。
我还有很多其他的例子，有才华出众的朋友的人也不只我一个。一名本地法律系高级讲师最近说，马来亚大学法律系缺乏高素质的师资，这是因为新加坡国立大学的法律系讲师，有约40％是马来西亚人。
马航在过去10年一直面对困境，累积了超过马币10亿的亏损。在1972脱离马航的新航，却取得耀眼的成就，是全球盈利最高的航空公司之一。讽刺的是，领导新航连续31年取得利润并度过艰难时期，在2003年才退休的张松光博士，却是一名曾在马来亚大学任教的杰出马来西亚人。
所以，当首相阿都拉宣布了强调人力资本的第九个五年发展计划时，我感到相当雀跃。计划有一整章同发展人力资本有关。政府的政策是设立“世界级的大学和确保高等学府可以满足雇主的需求”，还有“培养讲求创新、具备丰富科学和技术能力、并有能力学习和使用知识的社会”等。然而，对将由科学、工艺与革新部推动的吸引人才的计划，却着墨不多。
留住和吸引人才的关键
在保留本地和吸引外来人才这个关键课题上，也没有任何讨论。政府必须了解，发展人力资本在本质上，同吸引外来人才和防止本地人才外流是息息相关的。一个有效的人力资本发展政策，不只是建立更多学校和大学，或者聘请更多教师和讲师。
新加坡的大学和人口的比例只是我们的一半。然而，它三所大学中的两所，却名列世界顶尖50所大学内。
在招聘最佳的教育工作者，和制定一个奖赏严谨的学术研究，和具批判及分析性的思维这些至关重要的素质时，政府必须深思熟虑。没有这样的政策和根深蒂固的文化，年青有为的马来西亚人选择到“无国界”的全球化学术环境中，寻找可以发挥所长的机会，也就不足为奇了。
我们目前的教育政策，需要一个具竞争力的经济环境来配合，让人才可以获得公平和平等的机会在各自的领域成长，对经济做出贡献并获得应有的报酬——这样才能留住人才。
我们的竞争者能够提供世界级的教育，和有利的经济环境来吸引年青马来西亚人。我们已经失去许多人才。我那些在海外有优异成就的朋友，在马来西亚是不太可能有同样的机会的。
政府理解也凸出了人力资本对经济和国家发展的重要性，这是值得表扬的。然而，如果政府是认真的想要提升人力资本的素质，就必须作出更多努力，建立一个全面的机制，对马来西亚的教育学府做出诚实和严格的评估。
对机会不平等、晋升受不公平限制、和单凭能力只能获得有限擢升这些不论是否确实存在于我们的“商业”机构的问题，我们也必须探讨根本的原因。我们拥有丰富的天然资源，如果我们的大量人才能够被留住并充分发挥所长，我们毫无疑问的可以领先我们的竞争者、更早消除贫穷、和在2020年成为真正的发达国家。
·作者是马来西亚民主行动党秘书长林冠英的经济顾问。原载4月30日马来西亚《新海峡时报》。叶琦保译。
·作者的部落格：
http://educationmalaysia.blogspot.com/
http://tonypua.blogspot.com/
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英文原文：
Human capital the key to growth
AS an economics enthusiast, I’ve often been asked, "What determines the size of an economy?"
Is it dependent on rubber and high oil palm prices? Or the size of our oil and gas resources? Or instead, is it dependent on land area and population?
Malaysia is extremely well endowed with fertile land, large tracts of tin mines as well as some of the highest quality petroleum reserves in the world. Singapore, our neighbour down south, however, is not as fortunate.
To put it bluntly, it is a tiny island, 480 times smaller than us, completely unsuitable for commercial plantation and lacking any natural resources. Even its population today of some four million, excluding migrant workers, is one-sixth of Malaysia’s population.
If the size of an economy is dependent on the factors highlighted above, such as arable land and natural resources, Malaysia’s economy should be many times the size of Singapore’s. However, reality paints a very different picture.
While Malaysia’s economy of US$130 billion (RM444 billion) is still larger than Singapore’s US$117 billion, the latter is only smaller by some 11 per cent. And if the rate of growth currently experienced in both countries persists for the next decade, then our tiny neighbour could soon boast a larger economy than Malaysia.
How is it even possible for a country with a sheer lack of resources and land mass to do so well? How did a country that was barely half our economic size in the early 1980s catch up within such a short period of time?
Through a simple exercise of elimination, it all boils down to a simple single factor — human capital.
Singapore’s near compulsive obsession with human capital, both in terms of enhancing its local citizenry as well as attracting the best foreign talent, has probably resulted in the highest concentration of top brains per square foot in the region, if not the world.
Every year, for example, Singapore provides financial incentives in the guise of the Asean Scholarship to hundreds of Malaysian students at all levels — post-UPSR, post-PMR, post-SPM and post-STPM — to study in some of the best schools on the island.
I was a fortunate beneficiary of such a scholarship after completing my primary school education in Batu Pahat. Unlike me, however, and unfortunately for Malaysia, most of my peers have chosen to work or even settle permanently in the island nation.
My best friend in primary school, who received the same scholarship after Form Three, went on to pursue his degree at Oxford University on a Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) scholarship. He now works for them, one of the largest shipping companies in the world, as an expatriate country manager in Vietnam.
Another fellow scholar graduated from London School of Economics (LSE) on a scholarship from Singapore Airlines (SIA). Most impressively, at the young age of 36, he has been appointed the chief executive officer of SIA’s subsidiary airline, SilkAir, as of March this year.
And when I had my annual Chinese New Year reunion with my home town classmates this year, I was heartbroken to hear that one of them, who is an academic with one of Singapore’s institutions of higher learning, had just renounced his Malaysian citizenship to become a Singaporean.
These are not my only examples, and you can be assured that I do not have a monopoly on talented friends. A local senior law lecturer recently commented that the Universiti Malaya (UM) law faculty was depleted of quality academics because Malaysians make up some 40 per cent of law lecturers at the National University of Singapore.
While Malaysia Airlines (MAS) struggled over the past decade with cumulative losses in excess of RM1 billion, SIA, which split from MAS in 1972, shone brightly as one of the most profitable airlines in the world. Ironically, it was an outstanding Malaysian and a former academic with UM, Dr Cheong Choong Kong, who led SIA to an unbroken 31-year record of profitability through turbulent economic times before his retirement in 2003.
Hence, when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi rolled out the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP) with an emphasis on human capital, I was pleased to a certain extent. The 9MP had an entire chapter dealing with human capital.
The human capital policy thrusts called for the creation of "universities of international standing and ensuring that tertiary institutions meet the needs of employers" and "nurturing an innovative society with strong science and technology capabilities and the ability to acquire and apply knowledge", among other things.
However, as part of the thrust, there was only a cursory mention of a "National Brain Gain Programme" to be spearheaded by a focal point at the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry.
There was no discussion on the issue of attracting and retaining local and foreign talents, a critical element in developing Malaysia’s human capital. It is extremely important for the government to recognise the fact that the development of human capital in Malaysia is intrinsically and inexplicably linked to the issue of brain gain and reversing brain drain.
An effective human capital development policy is not just limited to building more schools and universities, or hiring more teachers and lecturers.
Singapore, for example, has only half our ratio of universities to the population. Yet, two out of their three universities are recognised as among the Top 50 in the world.
The government must give thorough consideration to the all-important qualitative element of uncompromising search for the best-qualified educators and an education policy which rewards academic rigour, critical thinking and analytical intelligence.
Without such a policy structure and ingrained culture in place, it is unsurprising that many young and particularly talented Malaysians will seek out the "borderless" global academic environment in which their potential can be fully harnessed.
Concurrently, the country’s education policy must be complemented with an equally competitive economic environment which provides these talents with fair and equal opportunities to grow in their careers, contribute economically and be compensated accordingly — in order to retain these talents.
Our competitors’ ability to attract young Malaysians, provide undisputed world-class quality education and offer a conducive economic environment has clearly resulted in our loss.
It is hard to imagine that my friends, who have done extremely well for themselves overseas, would have had the same opportunities in equivalent entities in Malaysia.
The government must be commended for highlighting the importance of human capital in the economic growth and development of the country. However, if the government is serious about raising the quality of human capital, much more needs to be done to create a holistic and integrated plan that will honestly appraise and critically examine the quality of Malaysia’s educational institutions.
We must also identify the underlying factors, perceived or otherwise, of the lack of equal opportunities and glass ceilings as well as limited career advancement based on merit in many of our "commercial" organisations.
Should our ample pool of potential talent be fully harnessed, attracted and retained, coupled with our rich and God-given natural resources, then surely we can stay well ahead of our competitors, eliminate poverty sooner and become a truly developed nation by 2020.
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