THIS is probably the epitome of Malaysia’s brain drain syndrome as Muar-born Tan Lip-Bu joins the fray as the latest ‘casualty’ with Singapore quickly staking partial ownership of the 66-year-old tech investor extraordinaire as “having grown up” in the Lion Republic.
That Singapore can only claim partial ownership – thankfully – is because Tan who was “raised in Singapore, is now a naturalised American citizen”, according to the Singapore Straits Times (SST).
Interestingly, one should contrast SST’s headline “Chip giant Intel names industry veteran Tan Lip-Bu, who grew up in Singapore, as next CEO” to that of its ‘sisterly’ Malaysian counterpart New Straits Times, “Intel appoints Malaysian-born Lip-Bu Tan as CEO” as both publications vied to claim ownership of a forever lost talent.
Yes, gone with the wind. Vanished for good.
But just imagine if Tan were to remain a Singapore citizen to this very day, then the boasting from Malaysia’s southernly neighbour would have reverberated across the globe – just like when Malaysia lost Pedra Branca a.k.a. Pulau Batu Putih which is closer to its soil to the former.
Editor’s Note: The island lies 7.7 nautical miles (nm) from the Malaysian mainland but 25.5 nm over the sea from Singapore.
Even if we take the globally-renowned chip industry veteran Tan out of the equation by virtue of age factor – he was born before Singapore separated from Malaysia on Aug 9, 1965 – Malaysia has lost out in more ways than one to the new-born nation.
Human talent aside, the ‘new kid on the bloc’ is today deemed a first world country while Malaysia has to be contented as a “developing country with an upper-middle income economy”.
Baby boomers and Gen X Malaysians would probably find it difficult to fathom how the ringgit has fallen from RM1=S$1 in 1965 to today’s exchange rate of S$1=RM3.32.
Back to talent – Malaysia has lost countless world-class manpower with Singapore welcoming with open arm brilliant citizens from the former nation who are left to languish despite their academic prowess, grasp of industrial knowledge or ability to shine if given the right opportunity.
Whether this is due to lack of willpower to uphold meritocracy or incessant preferential treatment to a particular group which has been debated over and over again, Malaysia will forever live with the nostalgia of ONLY getting to claim any Tan Lip-Bu, Jr who excel in their field as “Malaysia-born”.
Nothing more, nothing less. – March 14, 2025
