“Nasi Lemak” Graduates: Who Is To Blame?

Is there anything inherently wrong about a graduate selling nasi lemak? No! But the cost borne by society or Government is what is tragically wrong. There is a cost for every graduate be it diploma, degree or post-graduate. According to Higher Education Minister, graduate unemployment is highest in business administration, applied science, human resource management, accounting, arts and social sciences. There is no need for titration, trigonometry or quantum physics to end up selling nasi lemak.

We should be alarmed as a society. Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) in its Annual Report 2016 had an excellent article on “Youth Unemployment in Malaysia: Developments and Policy Considerations”. According to BNM, the youth unemployment rate in Malaysia was estimated at 10.7% for 2015, three times the national rate.

Among 15-24 year olds, only 16% have tertiary education while the remaining 84% have secondary education. Among those in tertiary education, unemployment is higher at 15.3%. Job creation in the Malaysian economy has remained concentrated in the low and mid-skilled jobs. Domestic industries stay in low value-added activities that look for cheap labour – so foreign labour is more readily engaged.

In terms of earnings, 54% of graduates earn less than RM2,000 a month. Starting salaries for graduates have been stagnant since 2007.

Employers continue to cite significant skill gaps among new recruits. A survey by World Bank and Talent Corporation found 90% of companies believe graduates should have more industrial training before they graduate. And 81% of companies surveyed rate communication skills as a major deficit among graduates. Root cause – the national education system.

A study by Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) categorized Malaysia as an efficiency driven economy, well behind innovation driven economies. Malaysia focuses on improving existing processes, not in inventing new things. The number of researchers in Malaysia for each one million population is only 365, behind Japan’s 5,416 and South Korea’s 4,321.

We need meaningful strategies to transform the national education system, empower universities to develop technology and communication savvy graduates. The Malaysian Education Blueprint (2015-2025) outlines this – another excellent piece but limited in its execution.

Meanwhile, what could we do? There are 40 super rich Malaysians who raked in 22% of the country’s GDP (2013 Malaysia Human Development Report, U.N.). With GDP at USD300 billion, that works to about USD66 billion or RM264 billion. A “voluntary” super tax of 2% will generate RM5.2 billion annually for short-term programmes for graduates:

       i.          Teach Malaysia (already in existence);

     ii.          Train Malaysia;

    iii.          Research Malaysia;

    iv.          Medic Malaysia; and many more could be created.

And these are all not-for-profit organisations.

Isn’t it better for a medical graduate to work in a support/aid programme over two years before he/she gets a permanent posting? Isn’t it better for a science graduate to work on new inventions? Isn’t it better for an engineering graduate to help SMEs to a higher level? Or, an economics graduate to look at marketing for a company? The possibilities are immense! Not just nasi lemak.

And who is to blame for this malaise? We should take the blame – the Government, tax payers, the universities, the parents – for young talents to be “wasted” in a mismatch not of their doing. (I think I now need a nasi lemak!)

Reference

1. Youth Unemployment in Malaysia: Developments and Policy Considerations by Dian Hikmah Mohd Ibrahim and Mohd Zaidi Mahyuddin.

2. Oxfam Report: Ill with Inequality-by Mangai Balasegaram in The Star, 28 January 2018.