Even THEY think it's expensive!

I just visited an Expat website (Expat Focus) about working and living in Malaysia. And they say that Malaysia is heaven for expats that have a good income package. They agree that cost of living in Malaysia is expensive for Malaysians. Just compare someone working in UK earns 2000 pounds and a Malaysian earning 2000 Ringgit. In UK, it costs an average of 600 pounds for a laptop, and in Malaysia, RM 3000.

Just a simple comparison of percentage will show how low the living standard is in Malaysia. In UK, they use about 30% of their salary to buy a laptop, but a Malaysian, earning the same ammount of money (don't convert, just look at it dollar to dollar. I'll explain why I do not want to convert later on) spends 150% of his salary to buy a laptop. Imagine this, in UK, you can buy a laptop, pay for your rent, bills and still have enough to eat in the first month, while in Malaysia, you won't get to buy your laptop after 3 months if you consider rental and bills. If you are somehow superhuman and do not have to eat and sleep, you might be able to get your laptop after your second month working!

Why do I say we do not convert currency? This is because we are comparing between two people who have the same qualifications and they earn the same amount (not value) of money. 2000 Pounds and 2000 Ringgit. An average Malaysian spends about 10 % more on their groceries compared to their neighbours (Singapore for example).

Check out the article in Malaysia Today (it's a link... click it...come on... go ahead....), and many other sources. You will see how expensive it is to live in Malaysia. What is going on here? Isn't Malaysia a land full of resources, full of possibilities? Why are we paying so much more for goods and sometime even inferior goods! We pay about Rm 50,000 for a Proton Wira, while in Thailand, a new Honda City is going for About RM 40,000! (this value is to be verified again)


Just do a little more research on this, and you will find that Malaysia is in deed a very expensive place to live in. The standard of living is low compared to our neighbours. I'm not encouraging anyone to move out of Malaysia, instead, what are we doing to improve our lives. Is everything that we do in vain? Why do we work so hard, yet live such a mediocre life, while others in the world are working like we are but living a much comfortable life.

Isn't it time we ask for a change?