As Anwar & Umno puzzle over why Malays look to Chinese schools, China hunts for AI talent in US$16 TRILLION race
KUALA LUMPUR (politicsnowmy.blogspot.com) -Highest Salary Of 20-Million Yuan – But China Still Facing AI Talent Shortage Of 4 Million By 2030
While countries like the U.S. is declaring tariffs war and trying to end the Ukraine War, and countries like Malaysia continues to protect hate preacher Zakir Naik and busy promoting religious radicalization, China is charging ahead to dominate a new global economy – Artificial Intelligence (AI) – which could worth a staggering US$15.7 trillion in 2030, according to PwC.
However, the Middle Kingdom also faces a new problem – shortage of Artificial Intelligence talents. From start-ups like DeepSeek to industry giants such as ByteDance, top Chinese technology companies are hunting – even poaching – people for jobs in AI. The lack of supply is so serious that headhunters have to recruit top AI talent from overseas, including the U.S., Europe and Singapore.
Following the global success of China’s newest AI darling DeepSeek, there have been a surge in interest of skilled AI workers. Job applications for AI engineers rose 69.6% in the first week after China’s spring recruitment season kicked off in February 4. Even AI-related sectors such as the computer hardware industry saw more job openings for technical talent like engineers for research on humanoid robots.
China AI Artificial Intelligence Race - Robot Humanoid
Sure, AI still cannot predict winning lottery numbers, even though there has been a spike in gamblers trying to use AI technology as a prediction machine. But the mismatch between AI talent demand and supply has created a new goldmine – AI-related job openings. Besides offering huge salary to entice the existing talent, some companies have to resort to stealing talents from rival companies.
The demand for AI talent in China has been skyrocketing since American AI company OpenAI’s ChatGPT was released in late 2022. Even though Chinese universities are investing in training AI talent, in order to do cutting-edge research and development (R&D), candidates typically need to have PhDs. Therefore, the output of AI-trained PhD holders is relatively low.
But even back in 2020 before ChatGPT was unleashed, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of China reported that the country faced a shortage of more than five million AI professionals, with only one qualified person for every 10 AI jobs. If the talent shortfall fails to get “urgent priority” and China does not “scale up talent production”, the talent gap will exceed 10 million by 2025.
China AI Artificial Intelligence - Jobs
Since 2024, domestic generative video AI models have experienced explosive growth in China. New job roles have emerged, such as AI content creators, AI director assistants, and AI scriptwriters. In 2024 alone, China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security introduced 19 new professions, including generative AI systems operator.
Already, more than 500 universities and colleges in China have rolled out an AI major since 2018, a year after Beijing unveiled its plan to become the world leader in AI. Still, the only way Chinese tech companies could compete for talent shortage is with attractive salaries. Graduates with PhDs could command an annual salary of between 800,000 yuan (US$110,000) and one million yuan (US$140,000).
The highest salary offered to top talent was between 10 million yuan (US$1.1 million) and 20 million yuan (US$2.2 million) per year. DeepSeek’s highest offer is a monthly salary of between 80,000 yuan and 110,000 yuan, which, coupled with the company’s 14-month pay system, could mean an annual income of up to 1.54 million yuan (US$212,000) for deep learning researchers.
China AI Artificial Intelligence - Jobs Fair
At the end of his internship at Nvidia in 2023, Zizheng Pan, a young artificial-intelligence researcher from China, faced a critical decision – stay in Silicon Valley with the world’s leading chip designers or return home to join DeepSeek, then a little-known startup in eastern China. Pan chose DeepSeek without much hesitation, suggesting that talents do not necessarily attract to America.
Of course, less than two years after Pan joined DeepSeek, the Chinese company catapulted to global fame when it released two AI models that were so advanced, and so much cheaper to build, that the news wiped nearly US$600 billion off Nvidia’s market value. Pan’s story reflects a growing trend among China’s AI talents to reject Silicon Valley jobs for the AI industry in China.
Besides lower living costs and proximity to family, working in China also means opportunity to take on significant roles early in their careers. For example, DeepSeek filled its ranks with young graduates and interns from elite Chinese universities, such as Tsinghua University and Peking University. Nearly half the world’s top AI researchers completed their undergraduate studies in China.
Tsinghua University
Even American companies hire Chinese interns with strong engineering or data-processing capabilities to work on AI projects, either remotely or in their Silicon Valley offices – proof that the U.S. recognizes Chinese students known for doing very solid work. Many Chinese students actually are not that interested in full-time jobs in America due to worries over anti-immigration policies and anti-Chinese racism there.
The shift in mindset where unlike earlier generations of elite Chinese tech workers, who preferred Silicon Valley jobs for higher salaries and a chance to work alongside the world’s top innovators, a growing share of young AI engineers is choosing to stay home. There are also more opportunities for them as China’s domestic AI industry expands, with tech giants like Alibaba, Tencent, Xiaomi and ByteDance.
Still, by 2030, China’s demand for AI professionals is expected to reach six million. However, the domestic pool can provide only one-third of the talent. That leaves a shortage of about four million workers, according to a May 2023 report published by American consulting firm McKinsey. China’s severe shortage is in the top-tier talent such as AI scientists.
Tsinghua University - Research
Top Chinese universities such as Tsinghua University and Renmin University have already established AI schools and launched AI-focused curricula to expand the talent pool. But the real long-term challenges are accumulating enough data to train AI models and increasing computing power, which is a key driver of AI progress, at a time when U.S. chip curbs are in place.
As battles for AI workers get ugly and the estimated average annual salary for an AI engineer in China skyrockets to around 380,000 yuan (US$52,000), aggressive poaching saw DeepSeek core researcher Luo Fuli jumped ship to Xiaomi after reportedly being offered an annual salary in the tens of millions. Meanwhile, Alibaba recruited Singapore-based AI expert Steven Hoi from Salesforce Research Asia.
ByteDance, on the other hand, hired computer scientist Wu Yonghui, a 17-year Google veteran. A quarter of openings among the top 20 “new economy” job types on Maimai (a Chinese professional online network similar to LinkedIn) in 2024 through October were directly related to AI, including roles like algorithm engineer, recommendation algorithm engineer, large language model (LLM) specialist.
Tech War - US vs China AI Artificial Intelligence
America thinks China is trying to unseat America, but the truth is that young people were inspired by new technology developments such as OpenAI. In the early 2000s, graduates from China’s top universities were inspired by the likes of Google and Microsoft, Today, without supplies of imported advanced chips, Chinese AI developers were forced to share their work with each other and experimented with new approaches to the AI technology.
DeepSeek is a classic example of how the Chinese can build an independent AI talent development ecosystem despite U.S.’ best efforts to cripple China. DeepSeek’s founder, 40-year-old Liang Wenfeng, studied computer engineering at Zhejiang University without studying abroad. Instead of recruiting engineers from major corporations or foreign big tech firms, he formed an AI development team with young engineers who had only one to three years of experience.
The best part is, powered by the open source DeepSeek-V3 model, DeepSeek, a Chinese AI chatbot was made at a fraction of the cost (US$6 million) – significantly less than the billions spent by rivals. Crucially, it took a team of only 139 engineers – nearly all trained and experienced in China – to develop this groundbreaking AI model, challenging Silicon Valley’s top brains.
DeepSeek Open AI App
More importantly, every year, China produces 80,000 PhD graduates in AI-related science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, reinforcing a large-scale system for AI talent development. But DeepSeek is just one of China’s top seven AI companies. A U.S. think tank reported that in 2022, China accounted for 47% of the world’s top 20% of AI researchers, far outpacing the U.S. at 18%. - Written by Finance Twitter
Chinese schools in Malaysia attracting more children of other races, amid allegations of sowing disunity
Written by CNA
KUALA LUMPUR: While opponents of vernacular schools say that they should be abolished to preserve national unity, the enrolment of Malay students especially in Chinese schools has been rising over the years.
Restaurant operator Siti Sarah Abdul Rashid began enrolling both of her children aged seven and eight in a Chinese primary school this year.
The 36-year-old of Malay ethnicity and her American husband George Bourdelais, did so despite both of them not having any background in Mandarin - the medium of instruction used in such schools.
The reason for sending their two children to the SJK(C) Jalan Davidson school, Mdm Siti said, was for them to learn another language proficiently in order to enhance their career prospects.
“(So many people in the) world speak Chinese and many companies nowadays require Mandarin-speaking candidates,” she said, adding that Chinese schools also place an emphasis on students’ discipline.
To ensure their children keep pace at school, the couple are sending them for extra classes to brush up on their Mandarin.
Mdm Siti said she was told by a fellow parent that the number of Malay students who had enrolled in primary one at the school had increased from two in 2023 to eight this year.
Mdm Siti Sarah Abdul Rashid and her husband Mr George Bourdelais are seen here with their seven-year-old daughter at their home in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur. (Photo: CNA/Fadza Ishak)
It is part of a wider trend across Malaysia. Earlier in March, it was widely reported that all 20 primary one students enrolled at the Si Chin Chinese School located in Bahau, Negeri Sembilan were Malays.
According to activist Arun Doraisamy of the Malaysia Centre of Vernacular School Excellence, about 20 per cent of students in all Chinese primary schools across the country in 2024 are non-Chinese, up from about 12 per cent in 2010.
But these Chinese schools - which are attracting more non-Chinese students - have also drawn brickbats from certain quarters who argue that they are a roadblock to Malaysia’s national unity and want them shut.
It is a debate that has raged for years and resurfaced following a recent court ruling that vernacular schools in the country are not unconstitutional.
Surprisingly for Mdm Siti and her husband, the opposition to enrol their two children came from certain quarters in the school itself, who dissuaded them from doing so as the couple and their children did not know Mandarin.
“I questioned myself if I was doing the right thing, but my friend told me not to be dissuaded and that it would take some time before the children became good at it,” she said.
SCHOOLING SYSTEM IN MALAYSIA
The national school systems in primary education are divided into national and vernacular - Chinese and Tamil medium - schools. These schools have the same syllabus as national schools, barring the language subjects.
Malay is used as the medium of instruction in the national primary schools while in the vernacular schools, Mandarin and Tamil are respectively used as the mediums of instruction and communication.
Data from the Ministry of Education in 2020 showed that there were 7,780 primary schools across Malaysia then.
Of these, 5,875 were national schools, 1,299 were Chinese schools, 527 were Tamil schools and the remaining were special education schools, special model schools as well as government-aided religious schools.
According to the latest data from Mr Doraisamy, there are 1,831 vernacular primary schools in Malaysia this year – 1,301 Chinese and 530 Tamil.
Once students have completed their primary education, they can enrol in national secondary schools or independent schools.
While there are no Tamil secondary schools in Malaysia, there are 82 Chinese government secondary schools (also known as SMJK) and 63 independent Chinese high schools in the country.
As of 2021, there were altogether 2,444 secondary schools in Malaysia, including the SMJKs.
The SMJKs were once Chinese-medium schools but opted to use the Malay language and the national syllabus for government aid. At the same time, these schools allocate more time for Mandarin lessons for their students.
The independent Chinese high schools, on the other hand, are not government funded and use the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) syllabus, which is not recognised by the Malaysian government.
In February, the Federal Court ruled that vernacular schools are not unconstitutional, after a challenge in court that was instituted by several groups that had sought to declare that the use of Chinese and Tamil languages as the medium of instruction in such schools went against the Federal Constitution.
They included the Islamic Education Development Council (Mappim), the Coalition of National Writers' Association (Gapena), Majlis Ulama Ikatan Muslimin (Isma) and Ikatan Guru-Guru Muslim Malaysia (i-Guru).
Mr Doraisamy told CNA that the narrative that these vernacular schools cause disunity was one usually brought up by special interests groups that promote “Ketuanan Melayu” - or Malay supremacy - as well as the Islamic agenda.
“Vernacular schools are an easy punching bag for these groups who are big proponents of assimilation and not integration,” he said, adding that these groups regularly harped on issues that are related to race and religion.
According to the latest population census in 2020, Malaysia is made up of 69.4 per cent Bumiputera (Malays and other indigenous groups); 23.2 per cent Chinese; 6.7 per cent Indian and 0.7 per cent other races.
Lawyer Wong Kong Fatt - who represents the United Chinese School Committees’ Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong) and the United Chinese School Teachers' Association (Jiao Zong) organisations - told CNA that the use, preservation and sustenance of the other vernacular languages in Malaysia’s education system should not be prejudiced against.
At the same time, Mr Wong acknowledged that the national and official language of the country is Malay.
“Since the use of Chinese and Tamil languages are not prohibited in the vernacular schools before, during and after the Federal Constitution, why is this issue brought up now?” he told CNA.
Mr Wong added that while minorities like himself identify as Malaysians, they could not deny their ethnicities.
“Even if I were to convert to Islam, I am still Chinese. I can't say that I am Malay. If we don’t use our language, it will be lost.
"At the same time, we recognise that we are Malaysians and respect the country and the national language,” he said, adding that vernacular schools should not neglect the teaching of the Malay language.
When contacted, an analyst said that such issues are brought up ever so often as political mileage - both by those who oppose and support these schools.
“The perception is that those who attend vernacular schools cannot integrate with the whole population as they are using their mother tongue and are only within their own community,” said Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research senior fellow Azmi Hassan.
“But we also have to realise that even national schools are becoming like vernacular schools in the sense that it is mainly made up of one race.” -Written by CNA
Written by Finance Twitter, CNA
https://politicsnowmy.blogspot.com/
Comments