NOV 30 — To be honest, some Malaysians who emigrate annoy me. You know the type. They stick their chests out, noses up in the air and talk about how their talents are finally recognised, how much better it is in the USA/UK/Swaziland.
To a point, they’re right. Too often, instead of rewarding talent, the Malaysian way is to scare it away.
Most everyone I know has a story to tell about some doctor, lawyer, accountant, engineer who applied for permanent residency elsewhere.
But the thing is, it’s not wholly fair to blame it on the government’s policies. Yes, Barisan Nasional’s take on “affirmative action” is basically to spoon-feed the rich and well-connected, throw a few scraps to the hoi polloi come election time (hello Felda settlers!), push a Malay supremacy agenda and blame the Jews for everything. Our government, as screwed up as it is, is not the only one to blame.
I am looking at you, skinflint Malaysian employers. Salaries, for the most part, have changed little over the past decade. While the prices of food and transportation have doubled and tripled, wages have been stagnant.
Just the other day my friend told me about his stingy uncle, who said, “This fresh graduate wants me to pay him RM1,500. That’s too much lah!”
Too much? When just the combined cost of rent/mortgages and getting around could set you back nearly RM1,000 in this city? Let’s not forget the EPF and Socso deductions. You can’t blame grads these days for balking at anything below RM1,500 or heck, RM2,000.
Having worked for a decade, I’ve had misers for bosses. I’ve seen employers who pay as little as they can get away with but expect their employees to work late nights and weekends, and then blame their workers for getting sick and missing work. At least paid sick leave is mandatory in this country. In the US, it isn’t. You miss work? You don’t get paid.
You would think bad employers would find it hard to get workers. Not in Malaysia. They prey on the ignorant and the desperate. No matter how bad an employer’s reputation is, some poor sucker will take the job just to pay the bills.
Still, Zynga, the company behind hit games like Farmville, found its tough work culture was beginning to scare talent away. According to the New York Times, Zynga recently offered Angry Birds creators Rovio a US$2.25 billion (RM7.16 billion) deal. The latter declined. Reading the NYT article, it seems working at Zynga is akin to being a hamster running ragged on a wheel while being yelled at by a drill sergeant.
One quote from the article struck me particularly: “When companies treat talent as a commodity, the consequences are severe.” Malaysian employers tend to treat workers like liabilities and not assets. “Why train so-and-so? He’d just leave after we spent so much money to train him.” “Why promote her? She’s married with kids, can’t work late.”
The thinking is that it’s easier to hire a cheap fresh grad rather than retaining a more experienced employee. Cheap. Talent matters. Wouldn’t you prefer an experienced pilot at the helm when you’re in an aircraft going through turbulence? Wouldn’t you rather go back to the restaurant whose head waiter knows the menu by heart rather than the one where the staff doesn’t even know what hors d’oeuvres means?
If Malaysian companies can’t (or won’t) retain talent, how can you expect our country to?
* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.
