Minister corrects DAP MP’s ‘longkang otak’ term

PETALING JAYA: Oscar Ling (PH-Sibu) was left slightly red-faced in the Dewan Rakyat today after being corrected by federal territories minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa over his Bahasa Melayu translation of the term “brain drain”.

In his question listed in the order paper of proceedings, Ling had asked Zaliha to state the government’s measures to overcome the issue of brain drain.

However, he had made a literal translation of the term and said “longkang otak”.

In correcting the backbencher, Zaliha pointed out that his translation was too literal.

“The translation that has been introduced by academics is ‘hijrah cendekiawan’, some mention ‘penghijrahan bakat’, but that is not accurate,” she said.

Meanwhile, netizens took sarcastic jibes at Ling over his mistranslation, saying the DAP MP should have referred to the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka website beforehand.