“They’re fluent in English, Mandarin” – Hong Kong Govt Plans to Recruit More Professionals from Malaysia

Malaysia is well-known globally for being a multicultural nation with various races and ethnicities living together in harmony.

As a result, most Malaysians are multilingual too, with citizens casually interchanging the use of Bahasa Melayu, Mandarin, Tamil, English and more in day-to-day life a common occurrence in our country.

Hong Kong plans to recruit more Malaysian professionals

Hong kong secretary for labour and welfare, chris sun

Well, Malaysians’ multilingual capabilities recently received praise from Hong Kong Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun.

In fact, he’s so impressed by Malaysians’ multilingual skills that the Hong Kong Government is planning to recruit more professional workers from our country to work in the Special Administrative Region of China.

According to the Hong Kong-based publication RTHK, Sun spoke very highly of Malaysians, asserting,

“They are fluent in English and many also speak fluent Cantonese and Mandarin. There’s a good talent pool and I think it’s worth it for us to give it a try,”

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Furthermore, Sun elaborated that during his visits to Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries, he could tell that many locals were eager to come to Hong Kong to work.

Meanwhile, in a report by The Straits Times, the Hong Kong Government considers Malaysia a key potential source of talent, as Malaysians’ multilingual skills make it easier to integrate into the local community and could even help Hong Kong forge connections with the Southeast Asian markets.

Hong Kong is making it easier for Malaysians to work in the city

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Towards that end, Hong Kong introduced a Top Talent Pass Scheme in December 2022 which brings non-local professionals to the city.

The scheme offers a 2-year visa to applicants who earned at least HKD2.5 million or ~RM1.51 million in the past year or graduates from nearly 200 of the world’s top universities.

According to the Malaysian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong and Macau, some Malaysians have already benefited from the scheme, which exemplifies the Special Administrative Region’s commitment to diversify its workforce.

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The Chamber added that nurturing greater cultural sensitivity and ensuring more access to Halal goods would also help Hong Kong to attract more Malaysian talents including Muslims to Hong Kong.

Well, for Malaysians who are planning to work in Hong Kong, it is worth noting that the city was just ranked as the most expensive city in the world to live in by the global consulting firm Mercer.

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So, what do you guys think of Hong Kong’s plan to recruit more professionals from Malaysia? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

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