Penang hopes to stem brain drain with new scholarship fund

The Penang government is setting up a fund to be financed by private donors and companies to provide full scholarships for bright Malaysians.

The fund, called "Penang Future Foundation Fund", is aimed at retaining human talent with the fully sponsored recipients compelled to work a minimum of eight years in Penang, either in the private or public sector.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng (pic) said the state executive council approved the setting up of the fund that would benefit all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, gender and state of residency.

However, priority would be given to Penangites, he said.

"The Penang government has been troubled by Putrajaya’s failure to reverse or even arrest the brain drain problem.

"More than two million Malaysians have left the country since Merdeka in 1957, driven not just be higher pay but also attracted by more humane policies overseas that are centred on justice, human rights, democracy, integrity and just rewards for hard work.

"All these skilled and talented Malaysians are our best and brightest or else they would not have been accepted by foreign countries," he said in a statement today.

Lim, who is DAP secretary-general, said TalentCorp set up by the federal government had clearly failed in its task to woo some of the two million Malaysians home.

"One of those who came home told me that many regretted relocating back to Malaysia because of the failed promises.

"For this reason, the Penang government feels that a concerted effort should be made to prevent them from leaving Malaysia in the first place, instead of trying to get them to return when they are already overseas," he said.

Lim said the state government had made tremendous efforts to provide job opportunities by growing, developing and deepening Penang's manufacturing and services sector, in areas like tourism. – May 29, 2014.