Monday 17 April 2017

Ringgit Malaysia. Humble

Is the song by Kendrick Lamar that currently occupies the number two spot on the US Top 40 charts.

Singapore's Today news paper has a HUMBLE story on the sad state of the Ringgit.

Believe it or not, if you are a Malaysian security guard at Singapore's Changi Airport, with two years experience, you are probably earning as much as a PROFESSOR in Johor Baru.

The TODAY story, then :

JOHOR BARU, April 17 — As the Malaysian ringgit continues to notch new lows against the Singapore dollar, TODAY looks at how the fortunes of two families have changed.

The Balachandran family

Living the Singapore dream

Vasanthan Balachandran and his family used to have to think hard about stretching their RM400 budget when shopping at the SongMart supermarket in the outskirts of Johor Baru.

Not anymore. These days, they just buy whatever they feel like, largely thanks to the Malaysian currency’s unprecedented slump against the Singapore dollar.

“We can just take a basket and drop everything we want. Life is sweet. Life is bling bling,” said the Malaysian, who earns about S$2,000 (RM6,312) as a pre-boarding screening officer at Changi Airport.

The Singapore dollar continued its climb against the ringgit last week, hitting a new all-time high of 3.1786 on Thursday (April 13). The outlook for the ringgit – which has been on a downward spiral since mid-2014 due to the global oil price slump, a corruption scandal at state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad and rising US interest rates – remains wobbly, especially with the continued outflow of capital from Malaysia since Donald Trump’s election victory last November.

On the ground, the impact of these currency movements can be dramatic. For instance, Vasanthan’s salary, once overtime pay and incentives are included, can now match that of a professor in Johor Baru.