Brain drain is a worldwide phenomenon - found in both developing and developed countries. Last year, 1.44 million graduates left Britain to work in countries such as the United States, Canada and Australia.

Malaysian opposition politician Lim Guan Eng said recently that the seriousness of Malaysia's brain drain could be seen in the thousands of primary and secondary school Malaysian students studying in Singapore as well as the large number of Malaysian professionals working in hospitals and firms here.

To say that people leave Singapore for greener pastures is too simplistic.

The six universal human needs are growth; contribution; significance; certainty to avoid pain and to gain pleasure; connection or love; and pleasant uncertainties. Each of us has his own priorities for which of these is the most important, and which the least important.

In the 1990s, thousands of students left China in pursuit of higher education abroad. Now there is a 'reverse brain drain' with many Chinese wanting to return to China for higher education - to get a feel of the business environment - and for better job prospects.

In the United States, about US$200,000 (S$283,000) is invested in a child by the time he gains a bachelor's degree in engineering. That means the country gains billions of dollars when educated professionals leave their home states for the US.

More than 50 per cent of the engineering and technology firms started in Silicon Valley from 1995 to 2006 had immigrant founders.

Heng Cho Choon