Like the Philippines, shall we too become?
Shaukat AliPublished: Mar 4, 2005 8:56 AM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 10:21 AM
The Singapore Straits Times carried a report on Feb 25 entitled 'Graft-weary Filipinos abandoning 'sinking ship''.
It related how more and more Filipino families and young professionals have been migrating to the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. One Filipino economist has called it 'a serious brain drain'.
A Filipino single mother, who has applied to emigrate to New Zealand, was quoted in the report as saying that '... the primary reason is not economic; it has to do with the deteriorating quality of life. I pay my taxes and, as a taxpayer, I believe I don't deserve heavy traffic, pollution, rampant crime and widespread corruption. I don't want my son to grow up in this kind of environment'.
The report said that eight million Filipinos - or 10 percent of the population - now work abroad. A young Filipino professional was quoted in the report as saying that when '... our president said last week that we could suffer an economic collapse in two years just like Argentina before, we thought it was about time we head for the exit door. We were scared for our future'.
The report said that respondents in a recent poll in the Philippines described government agencies, including the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Philippine National Police and the House of Representatives, as 'more corrupt' than five years ago.
A Filipino analyst was quoted in the report as saying that '... distrust is slowly turning into disgust. The government is perceived in a very cynical light'.
The single mother, referred to above, put it poignantly: 'Between uncertainty and sure catastrophe, I'd rather go into uncharted territory. Some of my friends say I'm being less patriotic for leaving. That's easy to say if you don't have to suffer more than two hours of traffic just going to the office every morning, if inflation does not erode your income, and if you get the government service you deserve for the taxes you pay'.
I read the report, during a visit to Singapore, with a distinct sense of deja vu . A lot of what was expressed about the Philippines could be applicable to Malaysia. The same issues of rampant crime, corruption, poor government service, traffic congestion and pollution are hot buttons here, with the added debates about meritocracy, racial politics and religion.
And we are experiencing a brain drain but no one wants to talk about it. And decreasing levels of foreign investment about which no one seems to know how to address.
Could we, down the road, be the subject of a similar report titled 'Graft-weary Malaysians abandoning 'sinking ship'' in some foreign publication? I fear we may be further down that road than most people realise.
It related how more and more Filipino families and young professionals have been migrating to the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. One Filipino economist has called it 'a serious brain drain'.
A Filipino single mother, who has applied to emigrate to New Zealand, was quoted in the report as saying that '... the primary reason is not economic; it has to do with the deteriorating quality of life. I pay my taxes and, as a taxpayer, I believe I don't deserve heavy traffic, pollution, rampant crime and widespread corruption. I don't want my son to grow up in this kind of environment'.
The report said that eight million Filipinos - or 10 percent of the population - now work abroad. A young Filipino professional was quoted in the report as saying that when '... our president said last week that we could suffer an economic collapse in two years just like Argentina before, we thought it was about time we head for the exit door. We were scared for our future'.
The report said that respondents in a recent poll in the Philippines described government agencies, including the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Philippine National Police and the House of Representatives, as 'more corrupt' than five years ago.
A Filipino analyst was quoted in the report as saying that '... distrust is slowly turning into disgust. The government is perceived in a very cynical light'.
The single mother, referred to above, put it poignantly: 'Between uncertainty and sure catastrophe, I'd rather go into uncharted territory. Some of my friends say I'm being less patriotic for leaving. That's easy to say if you don't have to suffer more than two hours of traffic just going to the office every morning, if inflation does not erode your income, and if you get the government service you deserve for the taxes you pay'.
I read the report, during a visit to Singapore, with a distinct sense of deja vu . A lot of what was expressed about the Philippines could be applicable to Malaysia. The same issues of rampant crime, corruption, poor government service, traffic congestion and pollution are hot buttons here, with the added debates about meritocracy, racial politics and religion.
And we are experiencing a brain drain but no one wants to talk about it. And decreasing levels of foreign investment about which no one seems to know how to address.
Could we, down the road, be the subject of a similar report titled 'Graft-weary Malaysians abandoning 'sinking ship'' in some foreign publication? I fear we may be further down that road than most people realise.
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