DR Mahathir Mohamad initiated Vision 2020 in 1991, a plan that called for an annual GDP growth rate of 7% over 30 years and a scientifically oriented society to transform Malaysia into a developed nation. 

Technology became the key driver for future economic growth.  Cyberjaya and the Multimedia Super Corridor were created to leapfrog the nation into the Information Age.  

It is now 2022 and Malaysia has yet to realise Vision 2020.  In contrast, China has lifted 800 million citizens out of poverty and focused on technology to strategically develop its transport infrastructure. Its high-speed rail systems required research and development resulting in core component technologies with huge commercial potential. China looked beyond its borders and understood that more transport meant more commercial opportunities.  Here lies the difference between these two nations. Both wanted progress. Both understood that adoption of technology was the way forward. Both wanted a global brand in a progressively globalised world. China succeeded while Malaysia floundered.

Malaysia cannot be faulted for trying to bring together the best minds to develop strategies to move into the Information Age. One example is the MSC International Advisory Panel with its notable global technology leaders. There were plans to address future global demands and competition. There was a technology and education blueprint.  The 2018 national policy on Industry 4.0 brought together five ministries and nearly 60 other organisations to address education, communication, science and technology, finance, and human resources to turn Malaysia into an industrialised nation. This time the emphasis was on manufacturing and adoption of big data, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, autonomous robots and cloud computing to remain relevant in the Industrial Revolution 4.0. This ambitious plan to bring about a smart convergence of people, processes and technology would create more than two million skilled jobs, of which 75% would be filled by Malaysians.

Any shift toward becoming a technology-oriented nation impacts national demographics.  It can cause the domestic job market to become more polarised between high- and low-skilled workers, resulting in unemployment and underemployment if not appropriately managed.  Malaysia’s digital divide can widen as the nation rides the Industry Revolution 4.0 wave through adoption of advanced manufacturing based on robotics and artificial intelligence.  Global dynamics will force the manufacturing sector to be more competitive, more productive and less dependent on human labor.  The services sector which represents 62% of the Malaysian work force will adopt digital applications as business processes are transformed.  The retail sector will adopt Internet technologies that predict consumer behaviour to intelligently market its products and services.

Segments of Malaysia’s population can find themselves either unemployed due to an inability to remain relevant, or become underemployed where high skilled Malaysians end up working in low skilled jobs.  This means that Malaysia’s education system must emphasise developing the ability to comprehend the nature of a problem or an issue, the ability to analyse the problem based on a set of thinking tools, and the ability to express a solution effectively.  Developing critical thinking skills from a young age is needed instead of mere knowledge acquisition.  Only the smartest and most innovative will succeed.  Time will come when Malaysia can no longer afford to provide a safety net for any segment of its population.  It has to let go of its former ways and embrace innovation.

Malaysia’s population is expected to grow from 32.4 million to 38.8 million in 2040.  However, the workforce between the ages of 20 and 50, which are the users of technology, is expected to drop from 47.7% in 2020 to 42.7% in 2040.  This relative reduction of productive technology user population and declining national fertility rate can create dependence on skilled foreign workers.  There may not be sufficient Malaysians to meet future technology resource demands due to increased outflow of skilled Malaysians, 184,014 in 2000 compared to 342,639 in 2013.  A study the same year by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development found that Malaysia’s exodus of skilled workers was double the global average.  Malaysia desires to become a developed nation with a technology oriented population but is losing its skilled population.

The government tried to bring back skilled Malaysians through Talent Corp but only 857 returned in the years 2017 to 2019. Malaysia now suffers from “brain bleed” that can put an end to whatever national policy created for future economic growth.  It may have to rely on foreign skilled workers with higher earning capacity.  Can Malaysians who are accustomed to cheap low skilled foreign labor be able to accept skilled foreigners with higher earning capacity? Do Malaysians have to rely on foreign intellectual capabilities for long term national prosperity? How can Malaysia become a developed nation if it cannot use its own people and resources to realise its ambitions? – October 20, 2022.

* Ravee Suntheralingam reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.