LABOUR crunch seems to feature prominently in the conversation among employers, even after the government has relaxed restrictions on hiring foreign labour. Employer organisations are even talking about prisoners and refugees as potential workers. The most interesting development is when some employers are willing to talk…
The story of Malaysia’s Look East Policy is as much about Japan’s postwar relationship with Southeast Asia as it is about Kuala Lumpur’s search for its post-colonial place in the world in the early 1980s. Forty years later, the affinity and friendship between Malaysia and…
LABOUR IS FINITE, especially in the context of Malaysia which has not had a demographic dividend since two decades ago. Malaysian employers and policy makers need a paradigm shift to invest in productivity and to be willing to pay for skills. Employers in Malaysia often…
Let me refer back to my conversation with the aforementioned tycoon in part one of my essay. Paying the workers well by making structural changes to the labour market will admittedly require a lot of political will, a strong consensus with capital owners and a…
To deal with economic insecurity, the Malaysian state needs to confront some old assumptions and intervene with the aim to create a virtuous cycle of higher pay, higher technological adoption and higher productivity. A sustainable increase in wages has to be achieved through a sustainable…
Nearly 30 percent of Malaysians polled by Gallup in 2018 felt that they did not have enough money for food, while 23 percent reported not having sufficient money for shelter. These are two very essential measurements of economic security or the lack of. These are…
If we get it right and at the same time get our acts together, when we look back 10 years down the road, 2023 may be remembered as the beginning of Malaysia’s second take-off. If we fail, our country will continue to stagnate as we…
The Malaysian economy is at a crossroads. Indeed, Malaysia as a nation is at a crossroads. The most important question concerning the Malaysian economy is the presence of a huge “educated underclass” in our midst. Malaysia has a relatively well-educated population, with a tertiary education…
On 2 July 1997, Thai baht was attacked by speculators, which triggered the Asian Financial Crisis. Everything in Malaysia and Asia changed after that day. My life, along with that of the entire generation, changed too. I was 20 then and couldn’t comprehend what the…
I attended the Progressive Alliance conference titled “Asia’s Social Democratic New Deal for Peace, Democracy, Recovery, Sustainability” in KL over the weekend. The conference was officiated by DAP Secretary-General Sdr Anthony Loke. DAP International Secretary Sdri Jennie Lasimbang and the Conference Convenor Sdr Howard Lee…
To all Malaysians who created the GE14 miracle, keep fighting. We will be back stronger.