Fixing Our Economy - Talent

1. There has been a lot of talk about keeping talent here in Malaysia. Unfortunately, there seems to be less focus on what these talents would do.

2. I realize there's a missing link in our discussion of increasing and retaining the talent pool.

3. There's an assumption that as long as we can increase the number and retain the majority of these talented individuals, our economy would improve.

4. Perhaps I am stupid for thinking that where and what these talents would do is as important as keeping them.

5. Any investment, whether in talent or infrastructure, must bring about the most maximum impact it can give. And I think the way we structure and treat our talent has not given the most maximum impact for the benefit of the rakyat.

6. The brightest most talented students are picked and given scholarships by the Government, GLCs, and big corporations. These graduates would later be absorbed into some behemoth institution, further giving these institutions a bigger chunk of the talent pool.

7. And what do these bright individuals do that deserves the RM 1 million (eg: scholarship of engineering students in US) assistance using the rakyat's money and is the rakyat reaping the benefits?

8. On the surface, it may look as though we are. These individuals are paid at 20-30% premium over average market rate for graduates which makes them a high earner paying more taxes and spending more on the economy (house, holiday...). More importantly, it seems, they add value to the firm or corporation or agency where they work, which in turns make bigger profit thus making the company bigger, stronger and further stimulating the economy.

9. But are they really contributing more bang-per-buck this way? The cyclical nature, the spread of wealth, looks very linear, very simplified. Government gives you money to become smarter, you come back and serve the government or GLC you're paid a bit more, so you spend a bit more, thus stimulating other sectors, allowing these companies to make a bit more money, which would in turn go back to the government.

10. What if there's a way to amplify the impact our investment on our talented students will have on the nation's economy?

11. The way we're doing this at this moment has left us with a highly talented pool of WORKERS - not innovators, not trailblazers, and not entrepreneurs. It may sound fine, but the reality is that our continued production of workers has left us vulnerable once again as other poorer nations increase their own talent pool at a lower cost than ours.

12. Not only that, we fail to see that producing talented workers for the SERVICE INDUSTRY will not benefit us in the long run. Engineers no longer create, or innovate, instead they become analysts or marketers. We have more lawyers now than ever, when what we should focus on is simplifying legislation so that we don't need to depend on lawyers. We produce doctors, but not scientists that can do research and development. We have IT graduates that takes pride in maintaining SAP systems, but not tech-wiz that can actually come up with a new SAP.

13. Andy Grove, of Intel fame, wrote what I thought was a brilliant piece maybe a few months back about the perils of thinking that we can be innovators without being producers. He said that America's increasing reliance on overseas production, with the supposed caveat that they keep the innovation portion alive, is actually harming the future of their economy. He said that by moving production to lower cost nations, the impetus and technological capability to innovate on production resides with the manufacturer. The only way forward is for America to continue becoming a manufacturer of products at a cost of reduced profitability but with long term economic security in mind.

14. The same thinking must be applied in whatever discussion we have about our talent pool.

15. We need our bright graduates to be encouraged to become innovators and entrepreneurs. We need them to produce Made in Malaysia goods so that the actual technological know-how to innovate resides with us. We need them to spur a whole new idea of SMEs. In the US of A, bright students are always thinking of creating a start-up. Here in Malaysia, they all want to work for Khazanah or Petronas. Something's wrong with this picture.

16. We should continue giving them scholarships, but what if we change a bit the terms. Anyone who while studying or within any moment of serving their scholarship that can come up with a valid business proposal or creative invention should be allowed a sabbatical to flesh out their ideas, and not only that, they should be given access to credit facilities at favorable terms.

17. Anyone who turn in a positive cash flow position within 2 years and employs 10 or more Malaysians are exempted from further serving their scholarship. Further credit facilities should be extended to these individuals. In fact, the Government should set up a investment fund that specifically invests in these companies in exchange of an equity stake which shall be divested upon initial public offering (which must be a part of their terms of incorporation upon fulfillment of all regulatory requirements).

18. These graduates, if successful, not only create wealth for themselves but also other Malaysians with more room for growth than staid mega corporations. They are also obliged to return back the favor to the economy by adding liquidity and options to our stock market.

19. These initiatives could also work for research and development efforts. The measurement could be in terms of the number of patents filed or the impact such innovation has on its respective field. It doesn't have to be all profit oriented.

20. Maybe the government already has some of this measure, but I can certainly bet they haven't thought of incorporating it into their talent pool discussion.