New attraction for brain drain

Writer: Hu Yao Sen
Kwong Wah, Dec 22, 2105

You want to study in Taiwan? Are you willing to work in Taiwan if there is a chance?

Taiwan Legislative Council has decided to relax the restrictions of overseas Chinese students and foreign workers in Taiwan from January next year to attract more professionals and overcome the shortages of white-collar workers. This will certainly attract more Malaysians to pursue tertiary education or work in Taiwan and worsen our brain-drain problem.

As we all know Taiwan is one of the four Asian dragons. It has a higher level of development and it offers higher remunerations. Its minimum pay is equivalent to RM2,625, compared with RM1,000 as indicated by our 2016 Budget. This could mean a big attraction to local workers. Furthermore, Taiwan’s culture and language is similar to the Malaysian Chinese, as such the number of Malaysians seeking further studies or employment there is rising.

According to figures provided by the Federation of Alumni Associations of Taiwan Universities, even before the relaxation of restrictions, the number of Malaysian students seeking further studies in Taiwan has risen to 15,000 a year. It can be imagined that once the restrictions are lifted, more will choose to go to Taiwan and stay back to work after graduation. In the past, Malaysian graduates would need to return for a period of two years before they could work in Taiwan.

Now with the depreciation of the ringgit, many are eager to go overseas to seek greener pasture. According to recruitment agency Hays, 84 percent of Malaysian jobseekers hope to get a job overseas for better prospects. It is understandable as the difference in exchange rate has resulted in almost double the local pay for the same kind of job.

Taiwan’s new policy measure, coupled with various economic factors, has made us worry about the depleting pool of talents in our own country. Thus I opined that the Government should recognize UEC qualification as part of the measures to retain and build up our human capital.
As we know, most of those who seek to further their studies in Taiwan are graduates of Chinese independent secondary schools. Because the Government does not recognize UEC, they have been forced to join private universities locally or join overseas universities.

As a matter of fact, university fees in Taiwan is the cheapest compared with other foreign universities. The cost of studying certain courses in Taiwan is almost the same as studying in a local university. I believe if the Government could offer cheap tuition fees for UEC graduates, it would certainly help to retain them to serve the country.