My letter to The Star’s editor has been published today. While I’m grateful that I got heard, the published version had been through the mincer, over, under and upside down.
Here, I’m reproducing the original letter I sent:
Dear Editor,
With reference to the article “Flexible Permits for Foreign Specialists” (https://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/11/6/nation/2471520&sec=nation), I would like to applaud the Human Resources Ministry for discarding the present system of which foreign skilled knowledge professionals are unable to switch to companies of their choice unless they return to their home countries and reapply with the new company.
While the Malaysia My 2nd Home is a successful programme in attracting foreign retirees to our country, the new ruling by HRM will be able to attract young foreign skilled professionals intending to live permanently here as law-abiding, tax paying residents.
However, due to the present system, many of them face difficulties when the companies that they are interested in working for are hesitant in hiring them due to the arduous and complicated process of applying for new working permits. Ultimately, the difficulty in securing a job in spite of their professional skill and knowledge would leave them no choice but to leave our country. To add salt to injury, their Malaysian partners who are likely to be skilled professionals too would have to leave their country of birth in order to be with their loved ones. As such, the implementation of the new ruling is certainly a step into the right direction in preventing the phenomenon of “brain drain” currently faced by our country.
With skilled foreign professionals soon having the choice of working for companies that are best suited to their skill sets and vice versa, they will be able to stimulate our economy and employment market with local spending and most of all, valuable professional knowledge.
Yours sincerely,
Kimberly Low