Malaysian professionals head for Singapore because they can earn double there, or more, than they would at home, according to the country's Human Resources Minister. He made the point in Kuala Lumpur on October 8. In his telling, the wage gap is the engine behind the steady flow of trained Malaysians taking jobs across the Causeway. Salaries in the city-state outrun Malaysian ones by a wide margin, and the difference is sharpest for qualified workers. The outflow has been described as brain drain and has nagged policymakers in Kuala Lumpur for years. Beyond the double-or-more framing, the available text gives no detailed wage comparisons. Whether Putrajaya can slow the movement is a question the minister's pay-gap answer leaves open.