Businessperson Lee Kim Yew has high hopes for the month-old Pakatan Harapan government, and more so for an end to the country’s persistent “brain drain” problem.

Lee, who criticised the former BN administration in the lead-up to the 14th general election, shared how young Malaysians overseas had recently been telling him of their desire to return home to serve the country.

“I think one thing that will boost the Malaysian economy is a lot of people are now willing to come back.

“When I go to London, China and Singapore, many young people come to me and say, ‘Sir, now I want to come back to Malaysia’. This is something (good),” he said.

“We have so much Malaysian talent in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom, and we have to bring back those talents.

“I’m not even talking about foreigners investing in us. If our own Malaysians outside are willing to come back, I think this RM1 trillion debt can be covered very soon.”

Lee said this to reporters after distributing Hari Raya goodies to underprivileged communities at the Palace of the Golden Horses, which he owns.

The event featured Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng as the guest of honour.

Lim had previously explained that the RM1 trillion figure comprises both direct government debt and liabilities.

To overcome the debt left behind by the previous administration, the Harapan government has introduced a slew of austerity measures, from the cancellation of infrastructure mega projects to pay cuts for ministers.

Less politics in business

Lee also said he is looking forward to better policy-making by the new government.

The founder and chair of Country Heights Holdings Bhd is especially hopeful of policies to spur sustainable growth and reduce political interference in business.

“Everything should be based on smart policies that are sustainable and transparent, and most importantly, (encourage) more economic activity and less politicking in business.

“The only problem in the private sector is there is so much politicking, it goes into everything. So we think and hope that this new government will focus more on the economy, and less on politicking,” he added.

Lee also urged the government to make good on its promise to combat corruption.

“Make sure we have an (anti-corruption) agency that benchmarks Singapore or even Hong Kong.

“With that kind of anti-corruption agency, I think the future is bright,” he said.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has repeatedly voiced his commitment to tackling the country’s longstanding corruption problem.

He recently announced several measures to achieve this, such as the establishment of the National Centre for Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption (GIACC) to help weed out graft from the civil service.

Civil society organisations have long called for the MACC to be moved out from the Prime Minister’s Department and made independent, answerable only to Parliament.

The move is one of the promises contained in Harapan’s election manifesto.