Today, one of my staff , B told me that she got an offer to work in Singapore with a salary 2.5 times her salary times. I told her that I have a BIL , working in Singapore for the past 10 years and I have another nephew who is working in Hong Kong for the past 3 years. I have also a few friends who migrated to Australia and is now working there. Now, everywhere is so near and with the budget airlines covering many destinations, some of them is coming back weekly over the weekends if they are working in Singapore and for those working in HongKong, they can affort once in two months flying back to Penang.
The world is rapidly changing and air travel is very convenient and simple. You can pre- booked your flight many months ahead at a special rate which is very much affordable. There was a survey on Malaysian working in overseas and there are three main reasons: Prospect of career advancement, Inclusiveness and salary. There are about 300,000 Malaysians working overseas and most of them are skilled or professionals. Malaysian are very mobile because they are skilled in Mandarin and English which is widely used in the Asian region. Language is a powerful tool of communications especially the Chinese, they can easily assimilated themselves into the Asian countries.
The ease of travel and lucrative offers will continue to inspire young and skillful Malaysians to move overseas . They earn their salary in foreign currencies and invest in Malaysia. If they earn in S$, they can buy property in Malaysia with a more than 50 pct discount as the S$ is 2.4 times over the Ringgit. But, I have told B that once you earn foreign income, you cannot earn in Ringgit because the salary difference is a lot. Once, she goes overseas , she cannot come back to work except to retire or go into business. This is one of the side effects of working overseas.
Life in the fast lane is not for everybody. We have to balance between family life and our earning power. The balancing is a very personal thing and it varies with each individual. Working is a job for some people but for others, it could be less work and leisure or a lay back life is good for some. It all depends on each person's need and passion. Life in Penang Island would totally different from Singapore and Hong Kong. Some dwell well in night life in Hong Kong and some people would like the discipline life style in Singapore and facing the concrete jungle. There is a Chinese saying "It takes a same brand of rice to feel one thousand different person".
Wherever one maybe, it is a personal quest for us to find our dreams and fulfill our needs and to find happiness. Money is not everything but everything needs money. This is a realistic world and nothing is for free. So, open your wisdom eye and look within to find your personal quest.
Namaste.
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