Global Day of Action - 21.2.12

I dedicated my birthday to championing a cause that is dear to me! Finally, the Wake Up Day had descended.

The core team, youths representing the hopes and thoughts of Malaysians abroad had an urgent appointment with the CEO of Talent Corporation, under the purview of the Prime Minister's Office. Talent Corp was designated as the ‘recipient’ of the Wake Up Call Action in hopes to encourage them to devise policies which us youths believe should be implemented. Our mission? To help Malaysia improve the brain drain situation and move towards becoming a high-income nation.

Mr. Johan Merican is the man responsible in attracting our diasporas and retain highly valuable talent in Malaysia. With the daunting figures given by the World Bank, it is not easy task to gather information and execute successful programmes, which it already does in a number of ways to attract highly skilled Malaysians to come back and work in Malaysia. But as the Wake Up Call team realized, there might be something missing. First, the World Bank Malaysia report on Brain Drain hadn't much respondents – and did it directly engage with the youths itself? Seizing this golden opportunity, the WUC team has created the report gathering 500+ views and analysis of the situation from the youths and various industry experts themselves!

On 21.2.2012, after working throughout the night finishing up the report at around 6 am, we all caught some shut-eye for the big day. Despite our rushed condition, we woke up energetic and at 11 am we all met each other (for the first time) in Talent Corp's headquarters. Mr. Johan himself was very surprised, that the entire work was done online – and most of all – that this was our first in meeting the rest of the team. A project that was borne and conducted entirely through the web – shows the engagement level of youths in technology today.

He asked us critical questions about the report, combed through comparing the statistics of one data with the other. At most, he found out information that sometimes reinforces the World Bank Report, but contradicts it as well. He noticed that there are other policies which they can implement. What both of us concluded most from the report was that the Talent Corp outreach programmes needed to be marketed much more aggressively, as the diaspora know not the amazing and attractive benefits that lie in wait for them. A follow up to ask them on their knowledge and perception of these programmes was suggested, as well as a comparison of results between this and the World Bank report itself. Mr. Johan promised to read the rest of the report, and we believe, that it was a success to have handed it directly to him.

On the 24th of February, a rare opportunity arose - we met the 2006 Nobel Peace Price Laureate Mohammad Yunus, also a Counsellor for the One Young World Summit! The Coordinator, Editor an Art Director were present to hand him the Brain Drain Memorandum-Report. We met Mr. Yunus at a presentation for a Grameen-UKM (National Univeristy of Malaysia) social entrepreneurship initiative.  Our enchanting meeting concluded with him telling us to ‘meet again at the Summit’ - referring of course to the One Young World Summit in Pittsburgh, 2012.

Media attention was great! Sin Chew Daily featured us, as well as a prime time television programme called Astro Awani and the first business focused IIPTV, HyppTV!

Malaysia has taken notice, and Malaysia shall Wake Up.

The Journey to 21.2.12

Dec 25, 2011, Christmas, marked one of the most important days for Wake Up Call – the Dawn of our Journey. Wake Up Callers from Asia and Oceania region received the first email from the Wake Up Call Global Team.

Jan 11, 2012, country coordinators of Asia and Oceania region were announced after a series of nomination and selection. Through One Young World, the Malaysian Coordinator was selected as well. In just a short 40-day period to 21.2.12, each country coordinator was entrusted to lead a cause that can create a huge social impact to their respective country on this special day, 21.2.12. We seek to create a simultaneous action in over 120 countries under the same message: This is a Wake Up Call.

After some research, consultations with a few mentors, and a thoughtful consideration, the Malaysian Coordinator finally decided to address the Brain Drain issue under the Wake Up Call message.

Wake Up Call Malaysia: “Of the CEO of Talent Corporation Malaysia, we as the Malaysian Youths, demand that policy reforms to strengthen inclusiveness and career prospect to be implemented to encourage our local talents to stay and serve our country.”

He began to speak to young leaders nationwide to form a strong, dedicated team to carry out the task. After a meeting with the team and a discussion with the Asia and Oceania Coordinator, a consensus was reached to create a solid solution-based memorandum to present to the related government officials, e.g. Talent Corp, JPA, PEMANDU, etc. on 21.2.12 to help Malaysian government address this brain drain issue, all by the collective power of the youth.

A discussion between Asia and Oceania Coordinator – Michael Teoh (left) and Malaysia Coordinator - Choon Sian (right) at Starbucks Sunway Carnival Mall, Penang.

Wake Up Call Malaysia 21.2.12

Imagine millions of people, all over the world, uniting under one goal, one idea, to send one statement on the same day, “This is a Wake Up Call.”

Wake Up Call is a peaceful collaborative global movement for positive change that will take place on February 21, 2012. It seeks to create simultaneous action in over 120 countries under the same message. Wake Up Call Malaysia is part of this global movement, and it aims to battle Brain Drain. It is a project spearheaded by a group of youth leaders nationwide who are dedicated to bringing a positive impact to our country. 

Wake Up Call Malaysia aims to help the related government authorities like Talent Corporation Malaysia, Public Service Department, and PEMANDU to resolve this brain drain issue. The objective is to help Malaysia retain the brightest local talents and nurture more first class citizens to realize our Vision 2020, all by the collective power of the youth. Wake Up Call Malaysia is set to survey 1,000 diaspora and scholars abroad on this brain drain issue to find out the root of the problem and get their input on how Malaysia can make a leap forward in embracing the globalization of talent and turning brain drain to our favor. If you are a Malaysian who has been abroad, I'd urge you to help us complete this 5-min survey http://wakeupcallmalaysia.com/survey/. Let your voice be heard. Then the findings will be compiled along with constructive recommendations from the experts in this domain and will be presented to related government officials on the day 21.2.12. A humongous tweet campaign will also be launched on 21.2.12, where everyone can participate in it online.

I was selected as the Country Coordinator of Malaysia and I chose to fight this issue because being abroad myself, I noticed that the majority of my peers refused to return home. I realized the seriousness of this issue and took action to combat it in conjunction with Wake Up Call global movement. Brain drain does not square with Malaysia’s aspiration to become a high-income nation by 2020. I personally think that some drastic approaches should be implemented, like cultivating a merit-based workforce culture, to deter our best and brightest talents leaving, ensuring Malaysia has top-notch human capital for sustained growth. 

Wake Up Call is One Young World Ambassador Project and was announced at One Young World Inaugural Summit 2011 at Zurich, Switzerland. The official launch can be watched at www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_B4XNjt1Mc. For more information on Malaysia movement, you may visit the website at www.wakeupcallmalaysia.com. Like us on Facebook too: www.facebook.com/wakeupcallmalaysia.

Wake Up, Malaysia!