Human Capital

A few days ago, I was listening to BFM 89.90, which is a radio station that focuses on business. Every morning at 8am, they have interviews with Malaysian and non-Malaysian CEOs. This particular day, they interviewed the CEO of Booz & Co, a leading US consultant.

One part of the interview attracted me. They were discussing what Malaysia needs to do to be competitive in the global economy. This CEO replied that the only way forward in the medium term is to develop Human Capital. Only 28% of Malaysians continue their education after SPM. It is only by continuously developing their knowledge and skills that Malaysians can hope to compete. If not, Vision 2020 will stay a dream.

This CEO explained that Malaysia is now in what is known as the "middle income trap". That is to say that the Malaysian economy is more sophisticated that poor countries like Vietnam or the Philippines. But it cannot compete yet with more successful countries like Taiwan, South Korea or Singapore. The only way for Malaysia to get out of this middle-of-the-road situation is to embrace high-value added business models. This means that Malaysians have to compete based on knowledge and creativity, not simply low salaries and hard-work.

This brings me to the purpose of the internet-assignments that I give. There is so much information on the Net that nobody has any excuse anymore. The only thing is that you need to feel that updating yourself is your personal responsibility and you allocate some time every week to do just that. If you are not willing to discipline yourself....well, that is your problem.