Lecturer who earned RM1900 in Malaysia now earns RM11000 as a cleaner in Singapore

SINGAPORE: A Malaysian who had previously worked in a private higher education institution in Malaysia switched to working in Singapore, earning over five times as much as a cleaner.

“One day, I just gave up. My stress shot up to the point I could not work due to my insufficient salary unable to pay for my living expenses,” the ex-lecturer wrote in Malay. “That is when I decided to look for jobs in Singapore and Alhamdullilah, I got a job as a cleaner, with a basic salary of S$3,100 (RM10,886.07).”

Rizal Hakimm Punyer shared the post earlier this month from the Muflis Bankrupt di Malaysia Facebook page written by an anonymous participant who wrote that he or she had been struggling to survive as a lecturer in Malaysia for the past five years, with a salary of RM1900 (S$539.40) per month which caused the former lecturer great stress and was insufficient for the educator to make ends meet.

And now, despite having to commute back and forth from Malaysia to Singapore every day, the ex-educator believes it is still worth it, given the amount of money taken home monthly.

In the post’s caption, Rizal wrote that as long as a person is still young, healthy, and strong, he or she can continue working. If they have enough savings, they can even retire by age 50.

The post has gotten much attention online, with many Facebook users sharing and commenting.

One commenter said that her sister, who had worked as a nurse in a government hospital in Johor for 10 years, had a similar experience as the former lecturer. She is now working as a private nurse in Singapore, and her salary allows her not only to pay her debts but actually earn a living for herself.

Another commenter chimed in to say that her husband, who has been working in Singapore for a while, earns a bigger salary than he would have earned in Malaysia, making things more comfortable for them.

“Malaysians these days have been searching for greener pastures in terms of employment in Singapore due to its higher currency, translating to a substantially higher pay,” wrote Malaysian daily The Sun in a Jan 21 article about the former lecturer. /TISG