Winning human capital the way forward to M’sia’s success – Khairy

KUALA LUMPUR: Human capital becomes the most critical factor of success, far exceeding the importance of natural resources and infrastructures which drove Malaysia in its yesteryears, says Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

He said Malaysia’s formula prepared nearly 30 years ago, comprising factors such as political stability, cheap labour, law and order as well as first class infrastructures had been successfully replicated and further improved by its neighboring competitor.

“Our only way forward is to have winning human capital, and that we need to completely re-imagine our education and training.

“Improving our schools alone is not enough, our journey towards excellence will require holistic human resource management that is up there with the best,” he said in his keynote address at the opening of the third Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Human Capital Summit here yesterday.

The summit is titled ‘Winning in the Age of Disruption: Productivity and Adaptability’.

Also present were former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, wife, Tun Jeanne Abdullah, Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (ASLI) Chief Executive Officer Tan Sri Dr Michael Yeoh and High School Bukit Mertajam (HSBM) president Datuk S. Kulasegaran.

In building winning human capital, Khairy said it was crucial to embrace the fact that the world where the young generation would live in 2050, would be far different from today’s living.

“Four out of 10 jobs today, and these include white collar jobs are at risk of being automated. Retail, manufacturing, agriculture and construction are at the forefront of automation, leading to more machines and less unskilled workers,” he explained.