The Real Situation : Half Of Malaysians Earn Below RM2000 A Month

Here are some worrying statistics. All Malaysians should understand these numbers. I dont have much faith in government statistics at all. I think the situation is much worse.  Anyway here is The Edge :

The Edge Markets revealed half jobholders earn < RM2,000 / month

data from Statistics Dept Msia’s Salaries and Wages Survey Report 2016

half wage-earners used to earn < RM1,500 / month in 2010

monthly income grown 4.9% each year to RM2,000 in 2016 

OSTB : Ok monthly income has grown 4.9% each year  but what about inflation? 
If you minus inflation there is hardly any growth in income. 

data encapsulates 10.16 million wage-earners 
83% M'sians, 17% non-citizens

citizens median income RM2,000 / month
non-citizens median wage of RM1,200 
Collective median 10.16m wage-earners RM1,703 / month in 2016 

OSTB : The citizens income may be skewed by relatively high Civil Service wages,, GLCs,  other State sectors etc. 

The collective median - meaning all workers both private and public sector - shows the type of wages the Malaysian economy can afford as a whole.  That is "closer to the truth".  And that figure is 15% lower at RM1,703 / month in 2016.

Putrajaya highest median income RM3,250
followed by Kuala Lumpur and Selangor
Kelantan lowest median wage RM1,200

OSTB : Kelantan is the poorest State in Malaysia, even poorer than Sarawak and Sabah.  Under the BN much money was still channelled to Kelantan. Now with the BN no more in power, Kelantan is going to become poorer. 

Putrajaya has the highest median income because that is where many of the high ranking Malay Civil Servants live and work. I believe Tengku Adnan also lives there.  


median incomes by state, from highest to lowest: 

1. Putrajaya: RM3,250
2. Kuala Lumpur: RM2,500
3. Selangor: RM2,362
4. Johor: RM1,950
5. Negeri Sembilan: RM1,870
6. Penang: RM1,800
7. Melaka: RM1,680
8. Perak: RM1,630
9. Perlis: RM1,630
10. Pahang: RM1,600
11. Kedah: RM1,500
12. Terengganu: RM1,500
14. Sarawak: RM1,350
15. Sabah: RM1,240
16. Kelantan: RM1,200

OSTB :  Kuala Lumpur's median is 23% less than Putrajaya. This shows that there are many high income earners among the Malay Civil Servants and other State actors who populate Putrajaya. It also means there are many very low income earners in Kuala Lumpur who are pulling down the average.

32% wage-earners tertiary education, 51% women

substantial gap between tertiary and non tertiary educated

tertiary education (32%)  median RM3,274
secondary school (54%) RM1,600

primary school (12%) median RM1,200
no formal education (2%) median RM1,000 

OSTB :  What exactly is tertiary education? I am actually afraid to find out. N'theless the tertiary educated earn TWICE that of SPM leavers. Considering the state of our SPM leavers the tertiary educated should be earning much more. The fact that they are not gives you an idea about the productivity of our tertiary educated.

Chinese - 20.9% of wage-earners - highest median RM2,350

OSTB : I dont believe this median income figure for the Chinese either. 
What about urban Chinese in Kuala Lumpur alone? 

I recall other statistics which said that the per capita GDP for Kuala Lumpur matches that of  South Korea.  This is largely a Chinese per capita GDP.  

54.5% jobholders Bumi median income RM1,931
6.9% Indians (RM1,790) 

62.9% workforce  men, median RM1,721
37.1% female median RM1,685
women RM0.98 to every man's RM1.00

national average income RM2,463 in 2016,  RM1,792 in 2010
top income earners earn lot more than bottom half

29% Of Malaysians Have Less Than RM500 In Savings

More M'sians applying for loans, credit cards


Link :   https://says.com/my/news/half-of-malaysians-are-still-earning-below-rm2-000-a-month


OSTB  :  

There are maybe SEVEN million foreigners working in Malaysia - most of them doing menial and entry level jobs.  Their median income is  RM1,200. 

I know it does not work exactly this way but if  there were no foreigners or much fewer of them, then you can proportion the foreigners median of RM1,200 to the Malaysian median of RM2000 and get a new much higher median of RM3,200 ?? for Malaysians.  Because if locals have to do the extra work the foreigners are now doing, then you MUST add that quantum of extra wages for that extra work.

What this means is that the presence of too many foreigners is actually keeping our wages down.

These numbers are scary.   There are two other things to keep in mind here which actually make things worse. One is inflation. Inflation has been down played by the BN government. If real inflation was say 5%, then the growth in median income is actually zero.

The other factor to note is the 30% or more crash in the value of the Malaysian Ringgit over the past  two years.  The foreigners  remitting out billions of Ringgit in wages every year also has a negative effect on the value of the Ringgit.

A cheaper Ringgit means that we are poorer because Malaysia still imports a lot of things from outside. We have to pay 30% extra or more because our Ringgit has fallen by that amount

We are actually becoming poorer.  Not all of us though. Those who are better educated, with better market skills and better organised will pull away from the others.  The wage gaps will increase. The wealth gap will increase.

Impute the racial factors and the prospects look very scary.  There is going to be plenty of  racial finger pointing in the future.

We must reverse this asap.

I have said many times before - deregulate the Financial Services Sector asap.  Put it back to what it was before the racial and other ridiculous meddling messed up our banking and financial  system.  

Not only will deregulation create tens of thousands of jobs but it will reboot the nation's economy.   

If you do not believe me just look at the private universities industry, the budget airline industry and the private hospitals and medical tourism industry. 

These were great growth sectors in the economy - after they were deregulated. 

I hear that now the regulations are victimising the small private hospitals and smaller in patient clinics. Health Minister  ??  

We need FDI like last week. High technology, high value added FDI. 

It is great that Ali Baba and Amazon open their logistics center in Malaysia.  But these are actually low tech. If Vietnam throws in some extra incentives these folks may fly - literally.  They just need a huge warehouse and a few hours flying time to their markets.  Its just like "how many sen per kilometer" for a Grab car.  And Grab car is another low tech business.  You still drive a taxi.

Agriculture always has a great future. Growing, packaging, processing, manufacturing and exporting quality food.

We really do not have time to bicker over nothing.