Kuala Lampur, Sept. 4 -- "They said we're ungrateful. Maybe we just dream with different tools."

That line came to me after a conversation with a bright young student, fresh from a student exchange, idealistic, restless. He spoke honestly about his desire to work abroad after graduating. "Not because I don't love Malaysia," he said, "but because I'm not sure there's space here for the kind of work I want to do."

It's not a new conversation, and I have to admit, part of me felt defensive. We stayed. We built. We tried to make things better from the inside. And now they're leaving?

But I've sat with this feeling for a while now. And what I've come to realise is this: every generation dreams in its own language. This one, whether Gen Z or...