Photo: YB Howard Lee Chuan How, MP for Ipoh Timor

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia is entering a period where global shifts in technology, geopolitics, and talent demand are moving faster than its traditional governance structures. 

The rise of new technologies, shifting world powers and rapidly evolving skills is forcing countries to rethink how they grow their workforce.

For Malaysia, the question is no longer just about keeping up, but whether the nation can stay competitive without reshaping how leadership and talent mobility work.

Speaking in a conference of WE2025: Future in Motion, Member of Parliament for Ipoh Timor, Howard Lee Chuan said Malaysia must recognise that today’s world moves too quickly for old systems to guide the country forward.

“Our multipolar and hyper-connected world demands a highly responsive government, as order cannot be maintained by simply assuming the world will run itself,” he said. 

Why Does Malaysia Need Global Talent In Government?

Modern policymaking requires expertise that Malaysia’s existing pathways struggle to produce fast enough. 

AI regulation, cybersecurity, digital banking, fintech, labour mobility and automation all demand specialised knowledge that many countries bring in from abroad. 

“I think inward mobility of talent into the civil service is extremely important.

“A special stream of civil service intake from academia, from business, from commerce, from foreign policy, or even foreign experts into our civil service is also necessary,” Lee told Migrant Times. 

Many countries are now recruiting foreign professionals to strengthen their national talent pool. 

Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, for example, regularly hire foreign digital experts to build capacity in AI, smart city systems and fintech regulation.

Estonia’s world-leading e-government model was also built through collaboration with international cybersecurity and digital architecture specialists.

Lee believes Malaysia currently lacks the necessary expertise to regulate and manage modern technologies, stressing the need for improvement in governance structure. 

“For example, in terms of digital asset management, we do not have real experts who know about digital assets in governance to run the policy, so we need to have this kind of special new stream of intake to be able to cater for this new role.

“The idea is to ensure that we have a new flow of newly required expertise into a new form of governance that is more embracing of new talent,” he added. 

Are Young People Really Disconnected From Politics?

Despite claims of apathy, youth participation in Malaysian politics has been significant. 

Undi18 data show that about 75% of first-time voters casted their ballots in the 2022 Malaysian General Election (GE15). Out of the total voters, 1.44 million were youths aged 18 to 21, representing roughly 6.9% of the electorate. 

In some state polls in 2023, the under-30 age group was a critical segment, as it formed the largest age cohort among the electorate. 

These numbers support Lee’s beliefs that young people are not rejecting politics, but rejecting old political habits. 

He noted that young people nowadays want political approaches that match the diverse and fast-changing world they live in.

“I think it is a myth that the youth are sceptical towards politics because for me, they are sceptical towards the older ways of politics,” Lee said. 

Is The Civil Service Ready For A Fast Future?

Malaysia’s civil service remains grounded in slow, hierarchical, exam-based progression. While this ensures stability, it clashes with the pace of modern governance. 

“The civil service right now is a bit insular in a sense that you have to go through many different tests; you have to find the ranks and go through this kind of monolithic structure.

“I would say it is not very agile since this hyperfluid world needs fluidity,” he told Migrant Times.

He warns that without more flexible recruitment in a rapidly changing world, Malaysia might risk falling behind. 

“The country needs to get the right people to navigate the country and the country's regulations and legislations into this world of fluidity, so if the intake itself is not fluid, then we don't have a chance to help,” he added.

Lee notes that the hyperfluidity of today’s world rewards adaptability and demands that governance keep pace with technological change.

He added that leaders must guide this energy into constructive engagement rather than allowing it to deepen divisions.

Can Malaysia Lead Without Leaders Who Bridge Differences?

Lee argues that Malaysia’s political landscape requires leaders who can bring together groups that do not share the same ideology.

“The country needs to have this common goal of having roping gravitational forces as leaders to close in the gap between people,” he said.

He stresses that governance in a multipolar society relies on leaders who can persuade citizens to find common ground rather than seeking absolute control.

According to Lee, the country’s stability and future success depend on cultivating leaders who can unite different communities and viewpoints.

What Future Can Malaysia Build?

As the country navigates a multipolar future shaped by new technologies and evolving talent demands, the civil service, political leadership and institutions must adapt together.

Strengthening talent mobility, widening expertise in government and fostering leaders who can unite diverse groups all point towards a single imperative: Malaysia must redesign its systems for relevance, not comfort.

Lee emphasised that Malaysia is already a multipolar polity, where no single party or ideology dominates, and this must be accepted as a reality.

“If the people say they don’t want one party to be overarchingly powerful, that’s what they delivered and that’s one thing that we have to live with,” he said. “No society should ever accept ‘winner takes all’ in its governance and policy.”

In this moment of hyperfluidity, the nation’s competitiveness will depend on how boldly it modernises both its leadership approach and its talent strategy.