Educating the Future Talent

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”-
Nelson Mandela. This quote is one of the most famous quotes highlighting how crucial
education is not only to the person himself, but also to the community, races and also the
country. Education is like an investment, where the products of the education is the future
talents of a country. “The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet’’-Aristotle. This
quote emphasize on the need of ‘investing’ on education. In 2015, UN released a blueprint for
peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries -
developed and developing - in a global partnership [1].
Gross domestic product (GDP) is the market value of all the finished goods and
services produced within a country’s borders within specific time period. GDP functions as a
comprehensive scorecard of a country’s economic health and were determined by a few
factors such Inflation, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Underground Economy and Female
Labour Forces [2]. According to World Bank and also World Population Review, a country
with high education system ranking will tend to have high GDP. USA ranked in the top 3 in
the world education system ranking is having the highest GDP with 20.49 trillion USD. As
more high-tech innovative companies are making Malaysia their investment destination of
choice, a future ready talent pipeline is important to be nurtured to support these growing
demands. COVID-19 Pandemic had given a meaningful lesson to the world on how crucial
education to the country and how it will impact a country when countries with biological
expertise starts on researching for the vaccines of COVID-19, and the most advanced
countries wins on the race of vaccination, signify that they would also win in the race of
recovering back their economy.
Taking Japan as example, a small Asian country that was in the brink of collapsing
after being defeated in World War II now becoming a giant in technology and
industrialization; holding some of major market. Japan is known for their ethics and respects,
as well as their dedication on knowledge and education. From a country that is shadowed by
their past-mistakes to a first-world country. However, to make actions like Japan is not an
easy task. Educating our countries best ‘seeds’ to lead the country in the future needs to come
with a proper planning. One of the most crucial factors that affecting the economy is the
natural resources of a said country. Just like Saudi Arabia that is located in the middle of the
desert, investing more on their oil & gas resources, focussing their future talents on oil & gas
extraction technology, conversion technology to waste management technology. The
government could enhance the ‘focussed education’ system by introducing scholarship to the
students that excelled in the focus field.
Malaysia is a developing consumer country, and still need to face a huge obstacle to
become a developed country. Peter Eigen in his book quoted “Corruption is a major cause of
poverty as well as a barrier to overcoming it. The two scourges feed off each other, locking
their populations in a cycle of misery. Corruption must be vigorously addressed if aid is to
make a real difference in freeing people from poverty”. No matter how even if our natural
resources worths more than anyone has to offer, it would be worthless if the profits, margins
and sources did not been used for the country developments and also to the community [3].
Taking example again from Japan that emphasize more on ethics and honesty, with the crime
rates is one of the lowest in the world. To educate our future leader and successor to always
put their integrity on top of everything on whatever field. Exposing them to the
consequences, and ways to avoid corruptions can be a great way of educating these future
talents.
As a conclusion, as more high-tech innovative companies are making Malaysia their
investment destination of choice, a future ready talent pipeline is important to be nurtured to
support these growing demands. These future talents need to have exposure and also a
focussed education based on the need of these demands but at the same educating them on
their ethics and integrity so the ‘seeds of the educations will turn out sweeter than ever’.
REFERENCES:

[1] Terzakis, K., & Klein, M. (2021). SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals. Policy Brief, 1-8
[2] Aziz, R. N. A. R., & Azmi, A. (2017). Factors affecting gross domestic product (GDP)
growth in Malaysia. International Journal of Real Estate Studies, 11(4), 61-67.