“Hijrah cendekiawan not longkang otak” - Minister corrects MP’s ‘brain drain’ literal translation

PETALING JAYA: Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Dr Zaliha Mustafa shared that the term for “brain drain” was not “longkang otak” and instead “hijrah cendekiawan” during Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat.

This was in response to Oscar Ling Chai Yew (PH-Sibu) who used the term “longkang otak”, in his question about efforts to address the brain drain involving private higher education options for scholarships under the Public Service Department’s (PSD) Program Khas Lepasan Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia Dalam Negara (LSPM), and raising the quality of education in government institutes to match that of private entities.

The term “longkang otak” appears to be a literal translation of the term “brain drain”, from English to Bahasa Malaysia.

“Before I respond to the question, I would like to correct the term used by Sibu in his question.

“That is a literal translation. The term used by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka is ‘hijrah cendekiawan’ although ‘penghijrahan bakat’ is also used, but that term is not entirely accurate,” explained Dr Zaliha.

She then informed that there has been no reduction in the choice of private higher education institutions (IPTS) offered scholarships by the Public Service Department (JPA) for Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) leavers (JPA-LSPM).

She said that the conditions set for applying for the JPA-LSPM scholarships include that an IPTS must be competitive and listed in the QS World University Rankings.

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