Inaugural Conference on Student Affairs Governance: Issues, Challenges and Opportunities

NEW ECONOMIC MODEL NEW EMPLOYMENT

AHMAD ZAINUDDIN

The New Economic Model (NEM) is based on Creativity and innovation

The key driver of the New Economic Model is the Economic Transformation

Programme(ETP). The ETP builds upon the policy directions, strategies and programmes

of the 10th Malaysia Plan.

The 12 NKEAs are at the core of the ETP. It acts as drivers of economic activity that has the

potential to directly and materially contribute a quantifiable amount of economic growth to

the Malaysia economy

12 NKEAs with employment potentials

1. Oil Gas and energy2. Palm Oil3. Financial Services4. Tourism5. Business Services6. Electronics and Electrical7. Wholesale and Retail8. Education9. Healthcare10. Communications Content and Infrastructure11. Agriculture12. Greater KL/Klang Valley

Major concerns now and the extreme future

Change in demographyPopulation growth, birth rates, income, age structure, ethnicity and migration flows

Change in growing demand that human desires place upon the natural resources and services

GlobalizationMore interconnected and interdependent

Change in global climateHuman industrial activity is changing the chemical composition of the atmosphere

Change in TechnologyEmerging energy technologies and advances in biotech, nanotech and materials

science. Modern health care and pharmacology are shifting population age structures

THE RISE OF THE CREATIVE CLASS* AS KEY DRIVING FORCE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE NEW ECONOMIC

MODEL BASED ON CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION

* Richard Florida

TWO MAJOR EMERGENT CREATIVE CLASS/CLUSTER

Super Creative CoreScience, Engineering, Education, Computer Programming, Research, Arts, Design and

MediaCreative Professional (Classic Knowledge Workers)

HealthCare, Business and Finance, legal and education

In a very competitive employment environment, creative skills remain highly sought after and valuable. The Creative Class/people is a class of workers where jobs is to create meaningful

new form and innovation.

Our economy is moving from an older corporate-centered system defined by large

companies to a more people-driven one

The essential task is to unleash the creative energies, talent and potential of everyone.

Every human being is creative

The key to improving the lot of underpaid, unemployed, and disadvantaged people lies not in social welfare programs or short term handout, BUT rather in tapping their innate creativity and integrating them fully into the

innovation and creative economy

The key difference between the Creative Class and other classes lies in what its members are primarily paid to do. Members of the Working Class and the service Class are primarily paid to do routine, mostly physical work, whereas

those in the Creative Class are paid to use their minds-the full scope of their cognitive

and social skills.

The core of the Creative Group/Class to include people in science and engineering,

architecture and design, education, arts, music, and entertainment whose economic

function is to create new ideas, new technology and new creative content.

Also includes a broader group of creative professionals in business and finance, law,

health care, and related fields

The varied forms of creativity that we typically regard as different from one another-technological creativity (or invention),

economic creativity (entrepreneurship) and artistic and cultural creativity among others-are in fact deeply interrelated. Not only do

they share a common thought process, they reinforce each other through

cross-fertilization and mutual stimulation.

Truly creative individuals, from artists, designer, engineers and writers to scientists and open

source software developers are driven primarily by internal motivations by the

intrinsic reward and satisfactions of their pursuits.

Intrinsic motivation is conducive to creativity, but extrinsic motivation is detrimental.

Creative people come in many different forms. Some are mercurial and intuitive in their work habits, others

methodical. Some prefer to channel their energies into big, radical ideas; others are tinkerers and improvers.

Some are at their best when they work in groups; others like nothing better than to be left alone.

What all of these people have in common is a need for organizations and environments that will allow them to be

creative-that values their input, challenge them, have mechanisms for mobilizing resources around ideas and that

are receptive to both small changes and the occasional game changer.

The Creative Class/Group numbers 300 million workers in the eighty two

nations.

The highest ranking countries have close to one half of their workforce in the Creative Class.

Singapore takes the top spot, with 47.3 percent of its workforce in the Creative Class. Netherlands with 46.2 percent and

Switzerland with 44.8 percent. Australia is fourth, with 44.5 percent of its workforce in

the Creative Class.

Scandinavian and Northern European countries take many of the top spots : Sweden (43.9 percent),

Belgium (43.8 percent), Denmark (43.7 percent), Finland (43.4 percent), Norway (42.1 percent) and

Germany (41.6 percent).

Canada ranks twelfth, with 40.8 percent of its workforce in the Creative Class. Of the countries with

newly advanced economic development-the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, China)-Russia ranks highest at twentieth (38.6 percent), Brazil is fifty seventh (18.5

percent) and China is seventy fifth (7.4 percent).

ROLE OF THE UNIVERSITY

THE UNIVERSITY IS A KEY INSTITUTION OF THE INNOVATION CREATIVE ECONOMY BUT WHAT

IS NOT SO WIDELY UNDERSTOOD IS THE MULTIFACETED ROLE IT PLAYS.

IT IS NOT ABOUT DEGREES ALONE!

IT IS ABOUT BUILDING AN EDUCATION SYSTEM THAT SPURS,NOT SQUELCHES, CREATIVITY

IT IS ABOUT FORSIGHTING, ANTICIPATING NEW KNOWLEDGE , TRENDS AND FUTURE NEEDS

OF HUMAN LIFE

IT IS ABOUT CROSS FERTILIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE

IT IS ABOUT DIVERSITY AND OPENESS TO NEW IDEAS

IT IS ABOUT BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS (ACADEMIC AND NON ACADEMIC)

IT IS ABOUT EXTENSIVE TECHNOLOGY DEPLOYMENT

IT IS ABOUT DEVELOPING TALENT WITH AMBITIOUS GLOBAL MINDSET, HIGHLY SKILLED

AND ENTREPRENEURIALIT IS ABOUT HIGH TOLERANCE , OPENESS AND

ACCEPTANCE OF DIVERSE VALUES.

With all that in place, employability is no issue.

TO CONCLUDE, THIS COUNTRY NEEDS TO MASSIVELY INCREASE ITS INVESTMENTS IN ITS

HUMAN CREATIVE CAPITAL.

A SHARED GOVERNANCE INITIATIVES WITHIN THE UNIVERSITY SYSTEMS IS HIGHLY DESIRED

THANK YOU