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DAP calls for the waiver of the three-year compulsory national service requirement for Malaysian medical specialists who have been out of the country for 15 years after acquiring their medical qualifications as powerful incentive to attract a "reverse brain drain" of skilled Malaysians overseas to return home Speech - dinner of house-buyers of five Malacca abandoned projects by Lim Kit Siang (Melaka,  Saturday): The sorry tale of five abandoned housing projects in Malacca and over 500 abandoned housing projects in the country is testimony of the "First World Infrastructure, Third World Mentality" Malaysian malaise which had been so brilliantly diagnosed by Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in his first major speech as Acting Prime Minister early this month as the major disease and impediment to Malaysia's development efforts to take her place as one of the advanced nations in the world. We have "First World Infrastructures" like the billion-ringgit Putrajaya, world's tallest twin towers (KLCC) and the Kuala Lumpur International Airport but "Third World Mentality" which produces Third World Ministers in allowing "Third World" problems to fester and multiply in the country, like the abandoned housing projects causing hardships and sufferings to hundreds of thousands of Malaysians without effective government intervention to resolve these protracted outstanding issues. In fact, we see almost daily examples of the Malaysian malaise of "First World Infrastructure, Third World Mentality" in the country, which has become so chronic that it should be elevated as Public Enemy No. 1 and be the target of a special campaign in a joint operation by the government and people to identify and eliminate the bane of Malaysian development and progress. One recent example of the "First World Infrastructure, Third World Mentality" disease in Malaysia was the infamous Palm Court incident, where Indian IT professionals were mistreated by the police in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, sparking a national and international furore and plunging Malaysia-India relations to an all-time low. Although the diplomatic row between Malaysia and India had ended with the statesmanlike intervention of Abdullah and an apology from the Malaysian government to India, the government including Ministers and Deputy Ministers have not fully realized the far-reaching longer-term harm of the Palm Court Incident to Malaysia's international competitiveness and national ambition to become an IT power. Many in the government and police are continuing to undo Malaysia's apology to India on the directive of Abdullah with most insensitive and offensive statements and actions. A typical example of such an myopic attitude is the Deputy Home Minister, Datuk Zainal Abidin Zin who continues to taunt the Indian IT professionals who had returned to India after the Palm Court Incident as "ungrateful", "good riddance" and "no loss" to the country. (Malaysiakini 27.3.2003). Zainal Abidin told Malaysiakini that the departure of some Indian IT professionals will not affect the country as there are still 500 more of them here and said: "They are given privileges working in this country. Why don't they know how to appreciate this chance? If they want to go back, go back lah, we still have 500 over Indian professionals." It is most tragic and unfortunate that in manifesting the "First World Infrastructure, Third World Mentality", government leaders like Zainal Abidin do not realize that they are in fact sabotaging the nation's development plans and efforts. It is no wonder that with such entrenched "First World Infrastructure, Third World Mentality" attitudes among top government leaders, including Ministers and Deputy Ministers, the government's "Reverse Brain Drain" project in the past three years had been such a failure. After the 1999 general election, the government had announced an ambitious "reverse brain drain project" as the country is short of 35,000 skilled workers under the Eighth Malaysia Plan till 2005, especially in the key fields of information and communications technology, science and technology, manufacturing industries, finance and medicine, to propel Malaysia to transform itself into a K-economy and Information Society through a two-prong strategy, viz: An annual "brain gain" of 5,000 "extraordinary world citizens of extraordinary talent" to "lure the best brains regardless of race and nationality, from Bangalore to California". Encourage 500 skilled Malaysians overseas every year to return home with their expertise, with the 2001 Budget in October 2000 giving incentives of quick approval of permanent resident status for foreign spouses within six months, two-year income tax exemption for income remitted to Malaysia and tax exemption for all personal effects brought into Malaysia, including two motor cars. The government has however very little to show for the "Reverse Brain Drain" programme in the past three years, whether to attract the 5,000 of the world's "men and women of extraordinary talent" to come to Malaysia every year or to annually repatriate 500 successful Malaysian professionals who have made the grade internationally. In fact, I do not think we have succeeded in attracting 200 Malaysian professionals overseas to return home in the past three years - and the Palm Court Incident and the government insensitivities to such incidents like the sentiments of Zainal despite Malaysia's apology to India must rank among the chief causes for the failure of the two-prong strategy of the "Reverse Brain Drain" policy to attract the world's "extraordinary talents" to Malaysia and to repatriate Malaysian professionals overseas home. The Cabinet Committee on Competitiveness, headed by Abdullah, should convene an emergency meeting to confront this "First World Infrastructure, Third World Mentality" Malaysian malaise and set higher standards of merit, transparency and competitiveness so that Malaysia will not be left behind in the face of challenges of globalisation, liberalization and information and communications technology. There should be a review to identify the reasons for the failure of the two-prong "Reverse Brain Drain" strategy - as for instance, to find out why six years after the launching of the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC), all echelons of the government leadership, including Ministers and Deputy Ministers, still cannot understand the far-reaching impact and adverse repercussions of the Palm Court Incident to Malaysia's K-Economy and Information Society objective. Furthermore, there should be a recognition that tax exemptions for two motor cars and all personal effects brought into Malaysia are not meaningful incentives by themselves to encourage skilled Malaysians overseas to return and bring their expertise home - as there are more important factors and considerations such as the work culture; national environment in respect of just and fair treatment for all citizens; respect for human rights; job satisfaction from a system of meritocracy untainted by discriminatory practices, etc. in the decision-making process. There should also be more pragmatic, imaginative and creative approaches in pursuing the two-prong "Reverse Brain Drain" strategy to ensure that it is not smothered by the deadly bureaucratic red tape of the Malaysian civil service. I will give one example. There are many Malaysians overseas who have become internationally-recognised top-flight medical experts and specialists in fields which are in short supply in Malaysia and who will be national assets if they could be lured to return and bring their expertise home. Tax exemption for bringing two motor cars home to Malaysia will not be very attractive incentives, when issues which concern them most are not addressed. For most of them, who would have acquired their first medical qualifications overseas followed by work experience and the acquisition of specialist qualifications and skills and international fame in their respective fields in foreign lands, their biggest obstacle to be repatriated home would be the compulsory three-year national service for all Malaysian medical professionals. The very prospect of having to come back to Malaysia to join the lowly rungs of the government service for three years, which would be a great come-down from their top-flight specialist positions outside the country, would be enough to turn them off from any thought of returning to bring their expertise home. DAP calls for the waiver of the three-year compulsory national service requirement for Malaysian medical specialists who have been out of the country for 15 years after acquiring their medical qualifications as a powerful incentive for them to return and bring back their skills to Malaysia - especially as they had acquired all their medical and specialist qualifications and skills outside the country. The Cabinet Committee for Competitiveness, or better still the Cabinet on Wednesday, should cut through all the nonsense of the bureaucratic red tape to announce such a waiver of three-year compulsory national service for Malaysian medical specialists overseas who have been out of the country for 15 years after acquiring their medical qualifications - which would have an electrifying effect of signaling to Malaysians and the world that we are serious in wanting to eradicate the "First World Infrastructure, Third World Mentality" Malaysian malaise and to introduce "First World Infrastructure, First World Mentality" national culture and work ethics. (29/3/2003) * Lim Kit Siang, DAP National Chairman