Malaysia : The Failed Nation!?

Recently, a friend of mine interviewed some fresh graduates applying for jobs with his engineering company in Malaysia. He accepted two applicants on a starting salary of RM1600. It struck me as odd that 15 years ago, my friend himself started work as a fresh graduate engineer for more or less the same pay.

Indeed, if you compare the salaries of graduates now and 15 or even 20 years ago, you'll find little difference but that their purchasing power is vastly different. It's the same story when you compare salaries of shop assistants, office staff, factory workers and others.

To compound the effect of inflation, the ringgit(RM) has depreciated greatly against all major currencies. The real income of most Malaysians has moved backwards.

This is why many Malaysians suffer under the petrol hike. The root of the problem is that their real incomes have shrunk in the face of inflation and depreciated currency.. Malaysians have not been spoiled by subsidy but are unable to move out of the time lock of stagnated and depreciated incomes..

If you compare the per capita incomes of Singapore , Hong Kong , Taiwan and South Korea , they are a few multiples of Malaysia although at independence all these countries were on the same economic level as Malaysia .

What has gone wrong? Malaysia was the rising star of East Asia , a country rich in natural resources with the most promising potential..

An interesting analysis.....

For those who started work around 1973, a 1.3 Litre Japaness car was RM 7000
Today the equivalent is..... let's say RM 60000...........8.5 times

In 1973 a double storey house was about RM 45,000..or less Today it is about RM 300,000............6.6 times(It was advertised in a school magazine at 37,000, Taman Lumba Kuda) This makes it 8.1 times

In 1973 an Engineer's pay was RM 1000 Today it is about RM 2000 +/-..............2 times.....

From 1973 to 2008........35 years......what is the Trend.? Bearish !!!!In a stock market when the trend is bearish , what do Malaysian do?...Exit !!!

When a country's trend is bearish what do Malaysian do?

This Bearish trend is more difficult to turn around as compared to the stock market.

Let's used these 3 items House, Car & Salary as a measurement of the country' s performance for the past 35 years......

There is a book which i saw at MPH bookshop in Malaysia entitled : Malaysia : The Failed Nation some of you may be interested to read it.
I tend to agreed with the writer.....

This morning I was having Coffee at McDonald ( now the coffee..100 % Arabica beans..is quite good@ RM 2.90......free refill!! I asked how much per hour is their pay?RM 3.00 ! x 8 hours = RM 24 per day... x 25 days = RM 600 per month

In Australia my daughter works part-time during her University days..she worked at Gloria Jeans Coffee.... the pay? A$ 14.00 ( @ 3.15 = RM 44 per hour......x 8 = RM 352 per day !!! x 25 days = RM 8800
13.3 times more !!!!! ......Price of houses in Perth is about the same in KL

Price of cars are about 23 % cheaper...in Perth.( Australia )

I think more and more people are becoming aware of this Bearish trend.
Developed country by 2020?...means High income country

Let's look at some as of year 2005 ( Financial Times )

USA GNP per capita US$ 35400
UK GNP per capita US$ 25510
Australia GNP per capita US$ 19530
Singapore GNP per capita US $ 20690

These are developed countries by income measurement

Malaysia 's GNP per capita US$ 3540 ( sTILL 4 FIGURES - rIGHT ??? )
Year 2020..developed country?Really...a sad story.

Worrying Trends, isn't it??Ringgit sliding further and further under the current BN