Something has to happen before Malaysia is doomed.

Something has to happen before Malaysia is doomed.

Everything we see is connected.

This is going to be a long post and if you are interested to read this, please read at your own discretion.

I got back to Malaysia recently for my niece’s birthday and it was a great time over there, as usual, Malaysia is always a great place to chill.

As I was wandering around the mall, I saw a recruitment poster, looking to hire cashier with starting pay of MYR 1500. That poster highlighted other perks of which I didn’t really have much to care about, because I was taken aback by that starting amount.

I looked at the corner, and I saw Kjeldsens butter cookies selling at MYR 33.

Let’s do a quick math; If I was the cashier, it would cost me 2% of my salary, on top of other expenses that are inevitable (e.g., mode of transport, rental, food and sundry etc.). Just a box of butter cookies is enough to puncture my wallet a hole, and I’m not looking at anything that’s overly fancy yet.

And this reflects our current economic state, of which I’m truly worried about given that we have families and friends living here.

With this issue persists, it’s inevitable that most if not, all of us would turn to the idea of making quick money. And that totally makes sense; how do I survive this horrendous economy just by myself, before even having sufficient financial freedom to start a family?

Looking at the employment trend that we have, how many of our professional graduates (e.g., healthcare, engineering, IT etc.) have fled our country? Shouldn’t that already provide a sign of distress call that they are not paid enough to stay.

I’m going to use myself as an example.

I graduated with a Master’s degree years ago, and I was invited for a job interview for the position of HEAD OF DEPARTMENT cum CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST within hospital setting. It was a role with 2 responsibilities; simply put, it would not be too much even if I asked for 1.5x more than that the salary of just 1 role.

I asked for MYR 4000 and I stated NEGOTIABLE clearly next to my expected salary range, because the market rate (I did my research) for psychologist in developed cities in Malaysia was approximately MYR 3500 (give or take).

And you got it, I was turned down immediately without reason. I asked them repeatedly, hoping to have an idea what was wrong, so that I could learn from said mistake (assuming it was mine to begin with). All they got back to me was a liner of “YOU ARE ASKING TOO MUCH AND WE COULDN’T AFFORD”.

So, you are telling me that even if we NEGOTIATE, it would still be too high? Then what did you expect? MYR 3000 for 2 roles?

Here’s another thought bouncing off from that incident; if I can get MYR 3000 easily from sales or marketing, why would I even bother to study so many years just to get the same amount on top of the study loan and debt? Passion alone? It will never sustain unless I find my passion being compensated with similar leverage, which in all cases, decent salary.

We can’t just rely on one’s passion to save the world; how long will it take before our doctors and engineers flee our country before we start to pay them decently for the time they have invested onto their studies?

What drives me to write this post is what I’ve been hearing among our youths in Malaysia and it truly pains me to see this switch.

When I asked some of them what they wanted to be in the future, call me old-fashioned, I actually expected generic answers like doctors, lawyers, engineers, or even prime minister if they wished.

No. Guess what I got?

Onlyfans online creator.

I kid you not, that was what I got and when I asked further, their response was so straightforward; “because we get rich fast”.

We have already reached the economic state where we ignore the importance of education solely to pursue monetary gains. Why study so much, when you can just pose online, without any moral reservation?

Hear me out, I’m not critiquing those who are doing said occupation negatively. If it’s your choice after your legal age and you are happy with it, by all means, go and do that.

I’m looking at youths of age 14 to 16 which are still below legal age limit and those answers they told me truly break my heart and it should serve as a wake-up call to the government of Malaysia to look into this matter.

Everything is connected systematically.

When our economy is bad, we are unable to pay our workers enough. With that, we get workers from other countries for a lower price, and highly possible, lower quality. When our own workers aren’t paid enough, the talents we nurture diligently will start to flow to other countries, creating greater positive impact to those countries while our own country start to crumble from within. In order to secure financial freedom/ independence, we ditch the idea of education and pursue what it takes to earn money, including pathways that are illegal.

And I have yet to include about corruption that is rampant in Malaysia.

In order for Malaysia to flourish as we should, I have a few suggestions that I hope the Government of Malaysia can take into consideration with serious note:

1. Increase/ implement minimal wage

People need to live, and it pains me to say that many of us aren’t living, rather just SURVIVING. We need to have a minimal wage that is economically sustainable for one’s usage.

2. Increase the salary for professionals in the field of healthcare, engineering, education and IT

We need to look into retaining our professionals not just to rely on their passions alone. We have to think of a plan and the best way I can think of would be to increase their base salary so that their time is well-compensated. It’s not just about retaining them, the longer they stay, the more impact they will create in our country. Just look at Singapore, and how they flourish; they MASS-RECRUITED professionals around the world and look at where they are now in terms of currency exchange rate.

3. Focus on instilling the importance of seeking education within youths

Youths are the future of our country. The mindset and attitude we are instilling onto them will determine the future. One way to manage this is to tighten the quality of our education system. Not any Tom, Dick and Harry are qualified to be a teacher, and with stringent process, comes higher quality.

I understand that this is a systemic issue, and it will take years to rectify this problem. But if we don’t start anytime soon, I fear for the future of Malaysia, and I fear for the lives of our fellow Malaysians who decide to stay, not for the sake of patriotism, but merely because of having no means to look out.

I urge you to take swift action to ease the economy’s devastating toll on our country’s development and future generations.

Yours faithfully,

Son of Malaysia.

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