I WOULD like to refer to the article ‘Bonded graduates can only work here: Minister’ published in the Sunday Bulletin on March 17 where at the sixth day of the 15th Legislative Council (LegCo) meeting Minister of Education Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Hamzah bin Haji Sulaiman said government scholarship students who are bonded are not allowed to work outside the country.

He mentioned that they are only allowed to work either with the government or the private sector in the country.

I would like to share my view on this subject.

Where can the thousands of graduates find jobs with the government or private sectors before next year’s LegCo?

What business can they venture into without requiring any financial support?

An example would be a fishing business.

You can’t even fish at sea if you don’t have money to buy a boat and fuel.

And you cannot even be sure that you will be able to catch plenty of fish every day. Even if you do, will it be guaranteed they will all be sold out?

Many have tried hard to start their own businesses but were not successful.

There are very few successful ones, but they still face serious threats from stiff competitors who copycat their business.

Even in large cities with millions of populations, if the graduates want to venture into entrepreneurship it will still not guarantee their success.

I would like to know if any LegCo member can name a business that can guarantee success for graduates.

What reason is there to forbid unemployed graduates from working overseas? Pride?

Pride will not fill the stomach.

Instead of letting graduates stay unemployed, perhaps they can be offered a way out of the bond.

We should not cling to the old policy which will not solve the unemployment problem but rather make it worse.

The simplest solution is to ask the graduates to pay back their bond while working overseas and to tax their income.

This allows money to flow into the country. By giving them scholarships as well as allowing them to work overseas and paying a small tax is an investment for the government.

This is how government scholarship graduates working overseas can contribute to the country.

Shouldn’t a simple thought like this be able to cross the minds of the ones who have a voice at LegCo?

– Pg Abd Rahman