Malaysia’s Brain Drain, The Ringgit, Inflation - Plus An Upside For Expats

For Malaysian Mohd Hafizie Shamsuddin, choosing to work in Singapore allows him to earn up to 4 times the amount of ringgit as opposed to what he’d earn in Malaysia due to the falling Malaysian currency.

How does the depreciation of ringgit accelerate brain drain in Malaysia? For expatriates, why is Malaysia more attractive?

00:00 Financial gains for Malaysians working in Singapore
03:06 Impact of brain drain in Malaysia
05:15 Attractiveness of Malaysia for expats

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Corrections:
00:17 It should be Gelang Patah.

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[jannejot]

My boss keeps wondering why our Malaysian workers are so energetic and smiling compared to us. I replied that if my current salary had tripled overnight, I too would show up smiling for work

[rarelight]

Work at singapore YES
Stay and retire in singapore NO, THANKS

[LionOfTheWealth]

Above all, this current situation has really opened my eyes to the necessity of having a competent mentor who knows what they are doing on YouTube or elsewhere. Be careful not to be drawn into the market too quickly. I prefer to purchase low during periods of volatility rather than chasing when the market starts to rally.

[mktwotm]

Singapore is small. You cant squeeze whole Msia population to work in Sg. Yet we Sgreans too cant even do a proper savings with our current economy. We Singaporeans who work in SG are like Malaysian that work in Msia.

[LittleAlan]

And people in Malaysia still keeps saying: “Tak suka, leave lah” what a backward mentality

[mrhan]

The Abang said, he can still save money from the previous month.
While we are in Singapore, our salary disappears weeks before our next payday. Reality, we can't get things like how the Malaysians can get.

[hnrtrtp]

It's funny to see people at the comments here comparing a town size country with bigger population country, SG is not perfect either. Being a singaporean also stressful with high cost of living and earn less like Malaysians in Msia. Many youngster don't want to get marry and SG's population is decreasing, meanwhile the country is conquered by many richer immigrants when singaporeans can't afford to own car and condo

[abuzek]

Malaysian not only brain drain, the pay is something not worth with the job given. My brother had degree in material was paid rm1600. When he goes to singapore, they can pay SGD3000.

[rajasingammuthusamy]

In 1980 Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei had the same value dollar. Today, the Malaysian Ringgit value is 3.5 for the Singapore dollar of Brunei Dollar.

[gweejiahan]

Everyone wants SG pay with MY cost of living.

[SNOWOO]

Here is tip if you want to Brain Drain:

1. Please work based on your profession, if you are an accountant at the home country, work as an accountant in your new country
2. Study at their country and obtain a degree at their country.
3. When you going in foreign land, remember that you are the ambassador, the front page of your country. Please have dignity of people talk smack on your country.
4. Study their cost of living and be prepare to pay taxes.
5. Research throughly as possible before making any decision.

[nazirulnaim]

my uncle works in Singapore, he said to me this Singapore have a great Worker Union it is strictly monitored by the Singapore government, therefore you are paid accordingly that means, OT, allowances, claims etc, while some employers in Malaysia tried to closed their eyes on the matter and just sticks with basics pay when they worker really eligible for those extra payments, even a dishwasher working in Singapore could have enough lifetime savings by the age of 60.

[rajasingammuthusamy]

Any country that keeps borrowing and practices a yearly budget deficit to support the economy will see their currency facing devaluation.

[johnsan]

The problem with working in Malaysia is, after working hard and paid tax, Najib took your money.

[fw_youtube]

Nowadays brain drain is inevitable for emerging countries, yet the victims are the local workers in rich countries.

[killerad]

Have met a fair few Malays who migrated to Australia because they felt they had more equal opportunity here than in Malaysia. None plan to go back. When even Malays are put off by Malaysia's pro-Malay policies that they want to leave, it says alot about that. Malaysia needs to give up their special Malay rights of they want to avoid becoming another South Africa.

[iamalienfrommars]

Singapore, a vital small nation, holds significant American interests, attracting consistent investments and support from the US and the West. Consequently, the exchange rate between the Singapore Dollar and the US Dollar has remained stable over the years.

To say that the Ringgit is getting weaker is not entirely accurate, as many global currencies have also depreciated against the US Dollar. For example, in 2023-2024, the Japanese Yen, South Korean Won, and Brazilian Real have depreciated much more than the Malaysian Ringgit. Similarly, other currencies such as the Indonesian Rupiah, Philippine Peso, and Vietnamese Dong have also experienced significant depreciation, performing worse than the Ringgit.

Therefore, it is not surprising to see people moving abroad to countries where favorable currency exchange rates can lower their living expenses when they bring money back home. I still believe Malaysia is blessed, as the cost of medical care and healthcare remains among the cheapest in the world. In contrast, Singaporeans have to pay significantly more for medical bills and hospitalization.

[AzmiBesar]

My cousin is a Walaun from Kelantan, he and his siblings FB is filled with racist post against Chinese in Malaysia but in the end here he is in Singapore a country with majority Chinese to work as a dishwasher.

[DonkiDonkey]

The strong Singapore dollar draws talents from abroad, but our manufacturing also got outsourced overseas. Everything has to import.

[leehyunsong]

0:16 what Geylang Patah? It is Gelang Patah. Wake up CNA, Geylang is in Singapore, not in Johor.