Why is Brain Drain Happening?

Based on my personal observation, Malaysia is a very nice country. We have a peaceful country, unlike many countries where civil war is a commonality. We have a fairly robust economy where everyone is allowed to earn a living. We also happen to be a country that is blessed with not many natural disasters. If you're a citizen of Malaysia, what else could you ask for?

Let me state the fact. We have produced many young, bright and talented people. The list of names of former Malaysians (emphasis on former) who have made it big in another country is almost countless.

It was only recently that a former Malaysian became the head prosecutor in a state in the United States. Now, this is where the media will put that person's name in one of the first few pages in their newsprint. It appears to me that we seem to want to claim credit for having a former (once again) Malaysian serving as a head prosecutor in the United States. As far as I'm concerned, I have no interest in knowing who the person is.

Have we asked why so many bright people left?
I have a theory about why so many people left our beloved country to work elsewhere in the world. A layman would typically tell you one of the following standard answers:
1. Better job prospects overseas
2. Higher salary
3. Better lifestyle

Of the three, there is a 90% probability that people will say the first two answers. But as I thought about it, I discovered that these are only minor factors that led to so many bright students leaving the country to serve another country.
The Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs states that there are 5 different levels of needs; physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, self-actualization. These levels of needs are satisfied from the lower-most column in the pyramid to the top-most column in the pyramid. The top-most column in the pyramid can be deemed as the least-important need, or so people thought.

Based on my observation, the average Malaysian would have already satisfied the bottom-most column in the hierarchy. Now, put yourself in the shoes of one of the brightest student in Malaysia. Safety will definitely not be a problem.

Technically, the next point of consideration should be love/belonging (friends and family). However, this is not happening in Malaysia's brightest students because esteem (self-esteem, confidence, respect by others) has replaced love/belonging as the third column. They have valued items listed under Esteem as more important than feeling love/belonging.

Why is this happening?
For those of you who have left your home to study in another place, you will know that it is very difficult to leave your hometown and parents to study elsewhere. It is not easy for most people to leave behind everything that they have built in Malaysia behind; the friends and family who you will dearly miss.

Based on my observation, the brightest students are feeling that their effort and talent is not appreciated by the nation. Yes, the other factors that they left are job opportunities and better income abroad. But in this case, the brightest have felt singled out and not recognized as well as appreciated.

Personally, I have heard of a case where a 4A-STPM student being offered a place in the University to study Biotechnology (Biotechnology is her 7th option in her UPU application form). Last I checked, she has since left the country to study in NUS, Singapore. I'm guessing that she has no plans of returning after completing her studies

There are times when I ask myself, what will happen if this 'tragedy' repeats itself for 100 other students? It basically means that we have lost 100 of our brightest future leaders (bear in mind that they're our brighest students)