He said that states must create enough jobs to meet the various skills and academic qualifications of the people that live there if they want to prevent the youth from migrating abroad or to other states.

“The lack of skilled jobs is driving the working age population away from these states,” Chai said.

This year, the percentage of Malaysia’s population aged 65 or over is expected to hit 7.5 per cent for the first time, with the Statistics Department predicting that figure will rise to 14 per cent by 2040.

An ageing society, when combined with migration, leads to states having a higher proportion of seniors versus those of working age who can drive the local economy, Chai said.

For Penang, outward migration to other states and internationally, as well low fertility rates – particularly among its ethnic Chinese population – are contributing to population ageing.

“Because of this, states like Perak and Penang need to start creating more specialised jobs and [upgrade their economies] to become less labour intensive, and to cater to the learned young generation,” Chai said.

Bumiputra – a term referring to the Southeast Asian nation’s Malay and other indigenous groups – make up 42.5 per cent of Penang’s 1.8 million people, followed by 39.2 per cent who are ethnic Chinese, 9.6 per cent who are ethnic Indians, 8.36 per cent who are non-Malaysian and 0.34 per cent “other” Malaysians.

Chai said Penang’s approach of trying to create jobs by attracting investors to build factories in the state has had mixed results.

“It worked for a while but did not stop the outward migration of the educated population,” he said, adding that most of the high-skilled jobs that were created, such as in engineering, catered only to industrial activities like semiconductor manufacture.

“There are not many opportunities for the average graduate,” Chai said.

“Young people may come to states like Penang to pursue their tertiary education but they will then leave to find job opportunities elsewhere.”

On Perak, Chai said longer lifespans and the state’s appeal as a haven for retirees were not necessarily the cause of its ageing population.

“Perak used to be the largest and richest state in the country before independence. However, it had the highest outward net migration since 1980s to 1990s, when young people sought better job opportunities in Kuala Lumpur and later, Selangor,” he said.

“The trend has led to the state bleeding out its younger population, hence naturally increasing the percentage of old people.”

Assuming that current migration patterns hold, Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor are expected to be the “oldest” states or federal territories within the next 20 to 30 years.

Chai said this was because of declining birth rates and a continually ageing population.

Every state, he said, has to take into account its own history and local needs to identify the best approach for attracting younger workers.

“Districts have different patterns of demographic and development,” he said.

“Towns like Kuala Kangsar and Taiping offer limited career prospects for locals. Even the factories there have mostly employed Vietnamese and Bangladeshis for the past 20 to 40 years.”

He recommended that the federal and state governments create new niche industries that can offer enough skilled jobs, citing the development of animation and creative industries in Cyberjaya, after a 2007 plan of creating a global animation centre in Kuala Terengganu under the East Coast Economic Region failed to materialise.

“It was not a coincidence that we have increasing expertise in animation, allowing locals to create animated films and TV shows such as Ejen Ali and Upin dan Ipin,” he said.

“It may not be a huge industry for the country but it provides a high-income and much needed technical expertise industry for our graduates.

“Ultimately the government needs to create new niche industries in places other than the Klang Valley and on top of that, align the education system with industry needs.”