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As reported by BERNAMA, when asked why he’s not doing the same job in Malaysia, Muhammad Khidir Samsudin (Eday) refers to the advantage of a stronger Singapore currency at the moment.
(This is a thread)
[Photo credit - @bernamadotcom]
![As reported by BERNAMA, when asked why he’s not doing the same job in Malaysia, Muhammad Khidir Samsudin (Eday) refers to the advantage of a stronger Singapore currency at the moment. (This is a thread)[Photo credit - @bernamadotcom]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EoyIoAZVoAEEXhU.png "As reported by BERNAMA, when asked why he’s not doing the same job in Malaysia, Muhammad Khidir Samsudin (Eday) refers to the advantage of a stronger Singapore currency at the moment. (This is a thread)[Photo credit - @bernamadotcom]")
(This is a thread)
[Photo credit - @bernamadotcom]
Eday: “What I get here (as a rubbish collector) at the end of every month surpasses the salary of junior executives in Malaysia. After all, to be a junior executive in Malaysia, it requires you at least a three-year working experience.”
The experience of this Batu Pahat bred Science Development degree holder is not unique to Eday alone. According to Bank Negara Malaysia, some 40 per cent of Malaysians who work in Singapore are in the 3D — dirty, dangerous, difficult — jobs category.
Through my various engagements, better pay was cited as one of the top reasons for choosing to work in 3D jobs category in Singapore.
While we may not be able to match their SGD2,000-a-month salary (equivalent to around RM6,000), many have said they are happy to return home to work if they are paid two-thirds of that amount (RM4,000), if they can get better quality of life by not having to work in Singapore.
Can we not upgrade the wages of local 3D jobs to allow them to earn a comfortable wage at home?
One might argue that paying workers more would burden employers, but by increasing their productivity, we can narrow the gap between low and high-skilled jobs.
One might argue that paying workers more would burden employers, but by increasing their productivity, we can narrow the gap between low and high-skilled jobs.
Then industries will have more incentives to innovate and thus hire more high-skilled workers and develop more skill-intensive procedures.
Instead of hiring 5 to 6 foreign garbage collectors, why not employ one Malaysian driver capable of operating an automated garbage collection truck and pay him the combined wages of those foreign workers? This would spur our economy towards appreciating value-added growth.
Wage growth through restructuring will not only benefit those at the bottom. If garbage collectors are paid RM2,000, it would stimulate everyone else’s income to rise.
Should other employers not raise salary levels, they would find it difficult to get anyone to work for them, since most, if not all, fresh graduates would choose to become garbage collectors instead.
Only when those at the bottom are paid much better can a rising tide of higher productivity and higher wages be generated.
In order for Malaysians not to work as cheap labour in Singapore we need to reduce our dependence on unskilled foreign labour in Malaysia. Often times the causal link is not apparent to many but it’s time for us to all see that and change it.
Full BERNAMA article for reference: https://www.bernama.com/en/general/news.php?id=1909012
