This is another great initiative by the Government.
1hijau.tvwent live on 1st October 2010. It primarily broadcasts the GREEN AGENDA in the Malaysian context via the broadband connection.
Too early to give a comprehensive review on this site but SDMALAYSIA strongly believes this will be one IMPORTANT channel that will promote local content in the next decade.
We wish you all the success. And the only way to do this is to get more viewers switch from watching their regular reality shows to learn something educational for their own sake.
One of the key contributor of SDMALAYSIA, Dr Nurul Muiz Murad was featured in a newspaper article. Please read on to hear what he's got to say about the whole brain drain issue plaguing Malaysia.
VARIOUS issues cited as reasons why top brains and talents from Malaysia choose to work abroad include a transparent bureaucratic system, non-discriminatory policies, meritocracy, opportunities for professional development, intellectually stimulating working environment and affordable quality education for children.
Dr Meera Shah, 30, chief resident at Chicago’s Cook County Hospital in the United States, feels that attracting talents back to Malaysia takes a lot more than just offering better salary and work opportunities.
Sabahan Augustine Wong, a landscape architect based in North Carolina, the United States, with his American wife Judith Marie Rohrs, a homemaker. He lauds the Government’s move to bring back talented Malaysians from abroad.
“There is one aspect of being globally competitive that involves business opportunities and wages but it goes beyond that for a lot of people, particularly if you’re trying to attract an intellectual class,” she said via e-mail.
Dr Meera, whose husband is a British-born Indian, appreciates the training and working environment she is currently in.
“In terms of academic medicine, the US has a meritocratic system which has been in place for several decades and is very structured. Training is standardised, there’s quality control, and training institutions are in competition to attract the best people. Emphasis and money are put on research, mentors are plentiful, and new ideas are always brought forward. It is this kind of environment that stimulates real thinking.” Nevertheless, she has contemplated returning to Malaysia to work. “But I hear true accounts of blatant discrimination regarding opportunities for further training and academic positions. That put me off,” said Dr Meera, who also questions the calibre of some government scholars who are chosen to study medicine abroad.
“Professionally, if I know I would be on an equal platform with everyone else, it would be much more attractive for me to return. Our education system is also in tatters. I would not want my child to be learning history from books which have been rewritten to suit its authors,” said the mother of one.
Landscape architect Augustine Wong, based in North Carolina, the United States, said the Talent Corporation is a good idea.
Before he returned to Malaysia, Dr Nurul Muiz Murad talked to people to get a clearer picture of what to expect. For him, the assimilation process was smooth.
“It is about time the Government looked at bringing back talented Malaysians abroad,” said Wong, 49, via e-mail.
Wong has his own consultancy that provides landscape architecture, urban design and civil engineering services.
He was recently appointed by the US Transportation Research Board in Washington DC to serve on the Landscape and Environmental Design Committee.
A father of four, Wong is keen to contribute his expertise to Malaysia. One of his aims is to create an international committee of sustainability experts involving other Malaysian professionals to protect Malaysia’s and the region’s sensitive environment.
“I think most Malaysians would like to work in both countries – Malaysia and the adopted country. This way, it helps both countries in many areas.”
However, he would like to see a level playing field for all regardless of race and religion, equal funding sources for entrepreneurs, and incentives and opportunities for innovators and inventors.
“To make this happen, the Government should conduct a work session with Malaysians abroad. This will provide a framework for the Government on how the plan should be formulated, developed and implemented. Without input from Malaysians abroad, it will be a one-sided government view which might not be accepted by returning Malaysians.
“Keep in mind that Malaysian professionals abroad are used to working in diverse environments with a different political climate, social interaction and quality of life. As a result, there is a need to ‘assimilate’ them into the Malaysian environment, otherwise there would be conflicting goals, vision or passion,” said Wong, whose American wife, Judith Marie Rohrs, is a homemaker.
If Wong were to return to Malaysia, he intends to set up his own consultancy firm, so a comparable salary will not be an issue for him.
“I think every Malaysian should be given the opportunity to be what they want to be so they can be good, contributing and responsible citizens (to their country), regardless of race or religion.”
A Malaysian who has returned home is engineer Dr Nurul Muiz Murad, who came back from Australia in June last year. Before he returned, he worked as an environmentally sustainable design consultant with a private company in Melbourne, Victoria. He is currently the principal and technical director of his own consultancy which specialises in green technology.
“Any move by the Government to woo back talents to Malaysia should be applauded. From my point of view, the main problem in Malaysia at the moment is the lack of local expertise to implement government policies through action plans,” said Muiz, 34.
Before returning to Malaysia, he spent two years doing his own research and talking to people to get a clear picture of what to expect.
“That put things in perspective and eased me through the assimilation to Malaysian life. I am lucky that things have been quite easy for me to adapt to ever since I came back.
“I believe that Malaysia is a gold mine. There are a lot of opportunities provided you know what you want and where to look. Like every other country, Malaysia is unique in how things are being run over here, so there is no point in being too idealistic.
“Be street-smart and think outside the box – that’s the key to being successful in Malaysia for those who wish to return home from abroad,” he said.
He feels that Malaysia needs more local talents overseas to return and set up businesses to drive the economy further.
“Those who have come back and set up their own businesses need to employ local Malaysian talent so that the knowledge and expertise is passed down and retained,” said Muiz.
There are three things that he hopes the Government will do for Malaysians who return. The first is to set up more special funds either through grants or soft loans exclusively for Malaysians returning from abroad so that it will be easier for them to start up their own businesses.
“At the moment, start-up loans available are through small-medium enterprise banks in the form of soft loans. I think more is needed.”
He said the Government should also set up briefing sessions for Malaysians returning from abroad so that they know exactly who to approach and where to look for information.
“Set up a special directory or database for returning Malaysians and make it available online so that anyone who requires a specific skill can look up the database,” he said. – By Wong Li Za
YES, last week we reached the big 1,000 mark on our blog hits counter since we launched SDMALAYSIA.BLOGSPOT.COM early this year.
Though it is just a small milestone to all of us here at SDMALAYSIA, we view this as a significant step for us to continue our journey to spread the knowledge and news related to Sustainable Development in Malaysia.
We have a clear mission by playing the role as CHANGE AGENTS to other Malaysians so that they can ffully embrace "sustainability principles" in their daily lives.
We also hope that one day, through this blog, readers will then spread the messages for others to appreciate the importance for us to change some of our actions that are giving negative impact to the environment & society. We at SDMALAYSIA believe that it is not impossible to clock 1,000 visitors per day in the near future.
Lastly, we would like to wish all our readers a HAPPY NEW YEAR. May 2011 bring us closer to the ideal sustainable journey for all of us, Rakyat Malaysia :)
Feed in Tariff (FIT) essentially means that once you install any type of renewable energy (RE) source to power up your home you are also able to sell back to the national grid and make money out of it (hmmm sounds too good to be true...so what is the catch for consumer like you and me?). Because generating electricity from RE will be relatively costly due to the current low economies of scale, the cost will be passed back to all of us, especially to the Non RE users.
There are more serious questions that the public should be aware of before deciding to embark on this renewable energy journey. Would we be able to get the answers from the authority on the following matter:
1- On average, how much CO2 reduction per household will be achieved from converting to RE sources?
2- How much will an average household gain from selling the electricity they have in excess?
3- What will be the payback period for the investment to install the RE source?
4- Will there be push back from the Independent Power Producer (IPP) who stand to lose from the FIT implementation?
5- How much and by when will we see another hike in the electricity bill?
Last but not least, SD predicts for question #5, Malaysia will probably see the next electricity increase to happen around second half of 2011 with possible increase from 5 to 8 % jump from current rate.
The bill on the Renewable Energy Act is expected to be tabled in Parliament before year-end, with the Act coming into force by June next year.
Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry's Undersecretary of the Sustainable Energy Division, Badriyah Abdul Malek, said the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) mechanism is therefore expected to be implemented at the same time.
FiT is a mechanism that allows electricity produced from indigenous renewable energy resources to be sold to power utilities at a fixed premium price and for specific duration.
"The bill is now completed and submitted to the Attorney-General. So we expect the bill to be tabled for first reading between the October and December session," she told reporters after the Investment Opportunities in Renewable Energy Seminar and Dialogue with Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok in Kota Kinabalu today.
"At the same time, we will also table the Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA) Bill, which is to institute the establishment of SEDA Malaysia, the authority to spearhead renewable energy development in Malaysia," Badriyah said. "We expect the second and third reading in March, and the Act enforced probably in May or June next year, so the FiT will also come on board in May or June 2011," she said. In response to a question, Badriyah said that for Sabah, it had been estimated that more than 100 megawatts of electricity could be obtained from variable sources such as biomass, biogas and also solar energy. Concerning the dialogue, Dompok said majority of the 70 participants present from the palm oil industry were waiting for implementation of the Act to see the tariff revised, as the present tariff of 21 sen per unit was considered low. "That's the general view. The government, of course, will be prepared to look at the increase. But in this area, I am not going to say much more than that because the Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry will make the necessary announcement," he said. Dompok said the outcome of today's dialogue also recognised that the oil palm industry could not replace the electricity production from Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd but it was important to look into renewable energy opportunities to meet the challenges of electricity supply in the state. -- Bernama
SDMalaysia recently attended a luncheon talk in KL organised by Yayasan Khazanah and MINDA. The distinguished speaker is Prof Mohd Yunus, a Bangladeshi economist and founder of the Grameen Bank. For his effort to eradicate poverty in his country, he received the Noble Prize Award in 2006.
The topic of the day was "Social Business and Poverty Reduction". The gentleman delivered an inspiring talk and he did it eloquently without any prepared text on the podium!
So here are the salient points SDMALAYSIA benefited from the session.
1. We will never be able to solve the world greatest problems such as poverty and climate change because all of us are guilty repeating things we are so used to do in the name of capitalism.
2. The idea of capitalism has gone sour because we have always been thought to do things for OUR OWN PROFIT.
3. Our actions indirectly have affected those who are less fortunate to be worse off in their ability to acquire the basic necessities in life.
4. Subsequently, economic disparity in society will lead to unfavourable condition such as poverty.
5. According to the World Bank while global poverty rate has substantially reduced, the risk of number of ppl falling into poverty has increased !
5. Social Business is a concept to conduct business without considering self profit. The ultimate goal is to provide solutions for others who are less fortunate. You can get more info on this at wikipedia.
6. Prof Yunos argues that the principle behind Social Business will give greater impact than the triple bottom line approach.
7. It is our chance to consider this approach in a concerted effort to ensure that we will truly embark on a sustainable business.
We are coming to end of 2010 and SDMalaysia is delighted to hear about the recently reported news on corporate sustainability.
It is a well known fact that stocks listed in Dow Jones index significantly outperform those who of the "traditional" stocks. The plan for Bursa Malaysia to introduce similar sustainability index in this country is encouraging. So ppl, start investing in those sustainable stocks when the index is introduced.
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia is working towards establishing an environmental, social and governance (ESG) index to influence public-listed companies to adopt sustainability practices in their business operations.
The proposed ESG index is also expected to attract socially responsible investment (SRI) funds into the country.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said socially responsible investments looked at ESG factors, alongside traditional financial indicators, in identifying good investment opportunities.
“These factors increasingly guide investment decisions in developed markets and include issues such as climate change and community involvement as well as core business principles such as risk management and good governance,” he said in his keynote address at the launch of Bursa Malaysia’s business sustainability guide and portal here yesterday.
Najib said studies had shown that there was a positive correlation between companies’ sustainability practices and their share price performance.
He said many indices had emerged, such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and FTSE4Good, as well as the Fortune Most Admired Companies list.
Najib commended Bursa Malaysia’s initiative to raise the profile of sustainability practices in Malaysia.
“I hope that all Malaysian companies will make sustainability practices an integral part of their business functions.”
He said sustainability considerations must also be reflected in the Government’s broader policymaking agenda.
Be socially responsible: Najib (centre) at the launch of Bursa Malaysia’s business sustainability guide and portal in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. — Bernama
He cited the Government’s effort to establish the Talent Corporation to identify, recruit and retrain an expert workforce soon and its pledge to reduce Malaysia’s carbon dioxide emissions to 40% by 2020 as examples.
