It is Malaysia’s National Month and we may feel compelled to display at least some semblances of pride and loyalty to our beloved motherland.
Apart from being patriotic to our nation, there are many of us in the community who feels that life in Malaysia may not be as good as it seems, at least from the political view.
Recently, there was a live poll created on r/Malaysia subreddit, which asks Malaysians on whether they wish to remain in Malaysia for the long term, and to give a reason to their choices if they voted to leave for good.
The live poll was created by a netizen, called u/brandonczw and he captioned “Hi guys, I’m curious to see how many of you are happy living here, and whether you have plans for immigration to other countries!”
The simple poll has 4 options that a participant can choose from:
- “I am very happy here, and do not want to immigrate at all.”
- “I am happy here and have thought of it, but most likely won’t.”
- “I am fine here, but would still like to immigrate anyway, if possible.”
- “I am unhappy here and will definitely immigrate.”
Meanwhile, the live results shows that over 60% of the respondents have expressed their desire to eventually leave the country and emigrate elsewhere permanently. At the time of writing, there were over 3,000 votes and 210 comments.
In the comment section, the participants of the poll shared that among the reasons for them to have such thoughts include the current political situation, poor career advancement opportunities, racial and/or religious discrimination, and the constantly devaluing of the Ringgit.
“Excessive politics and racial issues make me feel like I don’t belong here.” a netizen said.
“Left almost 10 years ago, primary reason is to progress my career.”
“That’s after working 10 years in Malaysia. Frankly, I think Malaysia just doesn’t have many opportunities for those focusing on the technical side.” another netizen said.
“I was one of those dumbasses who came back here after years living abroad, thinking this country had potential. It’s going downhill as each year passes.” a frustrated netizen said.
On the other hand, those who said they would like to remain in Malaysia expressed that they hope things in Malaysia will improve eventually.
However, the Reddit poll does not reflect the overall sentiment held Malaysians towards their country. Those who gave strong opinions were those who were more likely from the urban part of the country.
Nonetheless, this pretty much explains Malaysia’s brain drain issue, where a high number of highly skilled Malaysians had decided to let go of their citizenship here to pursue better career advancement opportunities, social inequality, better pay, and quality education from the developed countries.
Back in 2011, the World Bank’s Malaysia Economic Monitor report also highlighted that Malaysia needs to boost productivity, inclusiveness, and upgrading the standard of education in order to tackle the brain drain.
Fast-forwarding to 2021, it had been 10 years but things have yet to change and with the Covid-19 pandemic and the political infight on-going, the country is doomed to remain at the same spot as other neighbouring countries progress.
Currently, there were over 1.7 million Malaysians that were being employed in countries such as Singapore, Australia, the UK, and the U.S., and this number is likely to grow much more in the future.
What do you think about this? Share your thoughts!
