Is Job Hopping Among Malaysian Gen Z Driven by Poor Quality, Not Work Ethic?

 

Job hopping among young Malaysians is mainly caused by poor job quality, including underemployment and low starting wages, and not changing work ethics, according to PNB Research Institute (PNBRI). 

A PNBRI article titled “Job Hopping and Early Career Instability” found that many job changes are due to low pay, limited career growth, and jobs that do not match qualifications. 

In the third quarter of 2025, 74.3% of workers aged 15-24 were in roles below their qualification level, much higher than the national average of 35.5%, and this gap has been widening since 2017. Among workers aged 25–34 (older Gen Z and younger Millennials), skill-related underemployment is still high at 41%, above the national average, but lower than for the youngest group. PNBRI said this suggests that underemployment tends to decrease as workers get older. 

It added that it also reflects a long-term structural issue, as fewer skilled jobs are being created while more graduates enter the workforce. PNBRI also noted that real entry-level wages have fallen over time, dropping by 10% for degree holders and 28% for master’s degree holders between 1997 and 2022. 

The estimated minimum cost of living in Kuala Lumpur is about RM2,400 for a single person and RM3,970 for a household, while some government-linked companies set the living wage at RM3,100. However, most graduates earn below these levels. About 66.3% of degree holders and 93.1% of diploma holders earn less than RM3,000. Even more concerning, 30.6% of degree holders and 66.3% of diploma holders earn below RM2,000, which is far under the basic living cost. 

Although some graduates do progress over time, many still begin their careers in low-paying jobs despite their qualifications. As a result, young workers often change jobs out of necessity to find better pay and opportunities, rather than personal preference. Job changes are normal early in careers but happen more often when jobs are unstable and lack clear career growth. With lower wages, many workers in jobs below their qualifications, and unclear career paths, switching jobs can be a reasonable choice. The main issue is whether early-career jobs are good enough for young people to stay. 

The institute warned that unstable early careers can lead to long-term effects such as slower skill development and weaker earnings growth. To address this, PNBRI called for three core pillars to be included in policy: strengthening wage and job quality foundations to support stable early-career pathways; strengthening school-to-work and job matching through work-based learning and structure; and strengthening lifelong learning systems to support career growth without frequent job changes. 

Reference:

Job hopping among Malaysian Gen Z driven by poor job quality, not work ethic — PNB Research Institute, Jazlin Zakri, theedgemalysia.com, 28 May 2026

Frozen Inheritance Assets in Malaysia Hit RM90 Billion!

 

According to a report by the Asia News Network, Malaysia currently has an estimated RM90 billion in inherited property, shares, and savings sitting frozen in legal limbo. This is on top of a separate RM13 billion languishing in unclaimed money, dormant bank accounts, unclaimed salaries, insurance payouts, and forgotten deposits. That's not a hypothetical number sitting in a spreadsheet somewhere. That's real land, real savings, real family homes, stuck because someone passed away without leaving clear instructions, and the people left behind had no legal way to move forward cleanly.

 

Image from The Star 

The report points to something that struck a nerve: a lot of younger professionals and middle-income earners genuinely believe wills are only for the wealthy or the elderly. Here's the part that doesn't get explained often enough. Without a will, your estate doesn't just sort itself out according to what everyone assumes you would have wanted. For non-Muslims, the Distribution Act kicks in and applies a fixed legal formula regardless of your actual wishes, your actual relationships, or who was genuinely depending on you. 

Before anything gets distributed at all, someone has to apply for a Grant of Probate, or Letters of Administration if there's no will, a court process that can take months or years depending on how complicated the estate is and how many parties are involved. 

The unclaimed money side of this is almost sadder, because at least frozen inheritance assets are visibly disputed. Unclaimed money just sits there, silently, because nobody knew to go looking. Old bank accounts, insurance payouts nobody followed up on, deposits from jobs or transactions long forgotten. 

The good news is that checking is genuinely simple. The eGUMIS portal, run by the national accountant general's department, lets anyone search using an IC number, free of charge, with no time limit on claims and no minimum amount required. It takes minutes to search. 

If you have children, aging parents, or even one piece of property with your name on it, you already have enough to justify writing a will this month, not someday. 

Reference:

Frozen inheritance assets in Malaysia hit RM90 billion, Kamarul Azwan, Newswave,
30 August 2026

Budget 2027: Outcomes or Headlines

 

The Pre-Budget Statement 2027 identifies many of the right priorities, from easing cost-of-living pressures to creating better jobs and building a more productive economy. Malaysia has made progress in strengthening economic growth, attracting investment and improving its fiscal position.

 

Budget 2027 should be judged not only by how much the government allocates, but by the difference it makes to people’s lives. Cost of living must remain the immediate priority. Food, housing, healthcare, education, childcare and transport must consume a substantial share of household income.

 

Source: https://belanjawan.mof.gov.my/en

 

Programmes such as Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR) and Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARA) remain important for vulnerable households. But Malaysia cannot rely indefinitely on cash assistance to offset weak income growth. A more durable solution lies in raising productivity and real wages. Tackling the structural drivers of household costs through stronger food supply chains, reliable public transport, affordable healthcare and childcare, and housing located closer to employment centres are the strategies.

 

Middle-income households also deserve greater attention. Many earn too much to qualify for substantial assistance but continue to struggle with housing, education, healthcare and caregiving costs. Reviewing personal income tax reliefs to better reflect family size, location and caregiving responsibilities would help address those pressures.

 

Malaysia must move beyond treating minimum wage increases as the primary measure of income growth. The bigger goal should be creating jobs that offer meaningful wage progression, career development and economic security. Business incentives should reward productivity improvements, employee training and skilled job creation. Likewise, investment should be judged not only by approved project values, but by whether projects are implemented, transfer knowledge to local firms and create well-paying employment. The same principle applies to support for small and medium enterprises. Assistance for digitalisation, artificial intelligence, automation, financing and exports should help businesses become more productive and competitive, rather than simply helping them survive.

 

Budget 2027 rightly emphasises TVET, STEM, artificial intelligence and stronger links between education and industry. But success cannot be measured by enrolment or graduate numbers alone. Graduate salaries, underemployment, skills matching and career progression provide more meaningful indicators of whether education is delivering economic opportunity. There are 2.1 million graduates under-employed. Every year we produce 300,000 fresh graduates.

 

Universities should also receive stronger support for research that addresses Malaysia’s technological, economic and social challenges, helping retain talented Malaysians by creating opportunities for innovation and professional growth. Our R&D expenditure is below 1% of GDP.

 

Housing policy should focus not simply on building more homes, but on ensuring they are genuinely affordable relative to household incomes and located near jobs, transport and essential services.

 

Malaysia needs to prepare seriously for an ageing population by strengthening preventive healthcare, retirement savings, elderly care services and support for family caregivers, while creating opportunities for older Malaysians who wish to remain economically active.

 

Fiscal consolidation, better-targeted subsidies and stronger revenue collection remain necessary for long-term sustainability. However, reforms must be carefully sequenced to avoid worsening cost-of-living pressures. If a broader consumption tax is considered, essential goods should remain protected while lower-income and vulnerable households are adequately cushioned.

 

Malaysians should be able to see whether difficult reforms are producing tangible improvements, from shorter hospital waiting times and better schools to stronger household incomes and more reliable public transport. Ultimately, Budget 2027 does not need to be bigger but better targeted, more transparent and more accountable.

 

Economic reform will succeed only when Malaysians experience its benefits through stronger purchasing power, better wages, quality employment and public services that genuinely improve everyday life.

 

Reference:

Budget 2027 should be judged by household outcomes, not headlines, Dr Paul Anthony Maria Das, Focus Malaysia, 25 August 2026

The Ten Things Malaysians Cannot Live Without!

 

There are things that Malaysians may not put on a tourism poster but remove them from our lives and there would be an immediate national complaint.

 

1. Air-conditioning

Malaysia is hot. We know this. Yet every year we behave as though the weather has personally betrayed us. Walk into an air-conditioned shopping centre and watch the transformation. Within seconds, everyone looks happier. The humble air-conditioner may be one of Malaysia’s modern necessities.

 

2. The plastic bag

We are trying to reduce them, and quite rightly. But Malaysians have spent decades perfecting the art of using one plastic bag to carry another plastic bag containing smaller plastic bags. Somewhere in almost every Malaysian kitchen there is a mysterious collection of bags that nobody remembers keeping. Throw them away and, six months later, you will need one. This is the law of Malaysian household physics.

 

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org

 

3. The WhatsApp family group

No Malaysian family is complete without one. Good morning pictures. Religious reminders. Recipes. Health warnings. Fake news. Birthday wishes. Somebody forwarding something from somebody who knows somebody. And then there is the relative who sends a seven-minute video at 6.43am. Nobody asked for it. Everybody watches it.

 

4. The parcel arriving

Online shopping has changed us. There was a time when buying something meant getting into the car, finding parking, walking around a shop and actually speaking to another human being. Now we press a few buttons and wait. For a brief moment, even if we ordered something completely unnecessary, life feels wonderful.

 

5. The favourite parking space

Malaysians will drive around a car park for five minutes to find a parking space that is approximately six metres closer to the entrance. We know it makes little sense. We do it anyway. And when someone pulls into “our” space just before us? That person has committed an offence against the entire nation.

 

6. The five-minute rain

There are few things more Malaysian than leaving the house under a blazing sun and returning in what appears to be the aftermath of a tropical disaster. The rain arrives without invitation. Roads flood. Shoes become swimming pools. Motorcyclists disappear under ponchos. And someone inevitably says: “Good for the plants.” Ten minutes later the sun is back.

 

7. The discount

Tell a Malaysian something costs RM100 and nobody reacts. Tell them it is now RM79.90 and suddenly there is interest. Put the words SALE, PROMOTION or LAST DAY next to it and we become completely different people. We may not need the thing. But we certainly need it at 30 per cent off.

 

8. The familiar shopkeeper

There is something comforting about walking into a shop and hearing: “Usual one?” It means somebody remembers you.

 

In an increasingly digital world of QR codes, apps and automated messages, being recognised by another human being has become surprisingly valuable. The coffee may be ordinary. The relationship isn’t.

 

9. The ability to complain — together

This deserves recognition. Malaysians can turn almost anything into a group discussion.

Traffic? Discuss.

Prices? Discuss.

Weather? Discuss.

Parking? Discuss.

 

But underneath the complaining is something rather endearing. We like sharing experiences. A Malaysian rarely suffers an inconvenience silently when there are three other people nearby who can be invited into the conversation.

 

10. “Never mind, lah.”

Perhaps this is our most important national survival mechanism.

-Plans change.

-The restaurant is full.

-The rain starts.

-The car won’t start.

-Someone is late.

-Something doesn’t work.

 

Eventually comes the Malaysian response: “Never mind, lah.” It does not necessarily mean we are happy. It means we have decided that being angry is probably more exhausting than carrying on. And perhaps that is the real secret of Malaysia. We have learned to live with contradiction. We complain about the heat but complain when it rains. We complain about traffic but still drive everywhere. We complain about prices but hunt for the next promotion. We complain about WhatsApp messages and then send them ourselves. We are an imperfect, slightly chaotic, occasionally exasperating country. But it is our chaos. And perhaps the things we hold dear are not the grand national symbols at all. They are the little everyday rituals that make an ordinary Tuesday in Malaysia feel unmistakably Malaysian. Even if that Tuesday involves sweating, traffic, a WhatsApp video from Auntie and a parcel that we did not need.

 

 

Reference:

The Ten Things Malaysians Secretly Cannot Live Without, The Daily Durian, Newswav,
30 August 2026

 

 

Can We Take-Off?

 

These aren’t comfortable truths but growth never comes from comfort. How do we turn protection into real empowerment? We need to shift from a permanent assistance model to a capability model. And that could look like:

 

1.      Make education the real engine of affirmative action.

 

Instead of focusing so heavily on shares, licenses, and contracts, pour resources into what actually changes lives like early childhood development, quality schools, STEM, language proficiency (both English and Bahasa Melayu), TVET, digital skills, and entrepreneurship. A child doesn’t choose where they’re born but the state can ensure that a tough start doesn’t become a lifelong sentence.

 

Source: https://id.wikipedia.org

 

2.      Introduce healthy competition not protection for Bumiputera business.

 

There’s nothing wrong with helping Bumiputera entrepreneurs build capacity. The problem is when political connections matter more than performance. Government procurement should reward innovation, quality, value, and job creation. A Malay entrepreneur who wins a contract because they’re better is a national asset. 

 

3.      Replace the tongkat with a launchpad.

 

A launchpad gives you a boost, education, financing, mentoring, market access but it’s designed to help you fly on your own. Every assistance programme should have a clear exit or graduation plan. The question shouldn’t just be "How much did we spend?" but "How many people became independent because of it? How many businesses thrived without government contracts? How many families escaped poverty for good?"

 

4.      Target help where it’s needed most.

 

While staying honest about history, a poor Malay family deserves help. So does a poor Chinese, Indian, Orang Asli, or family in Sabah and Sarawak. That doesn’t mean pretending historical inequalities never existed. It means getting smarter about identifying real disadvantage and directing support where it creates the biggest impact.

 

5.      Build a new generation of wealth creators not contract hunters.

 

We don’t need more companies dependent on government projects. We need Malaysian companies competing globally in semiconductors, AI, biotech, fintech, renewable energy, and professional services. We need entrepreneurs who create IP, export products, employ thousands, and win in international markets. That’s real economic power.

 

There’s also a psychological layer here that we can’t ignore. When assistance is given across generations, it’s human nature to start seeing it as an entitlement rather than a temporary boost. Changing that mindset requires changing the message.

 

So let’s imagine what we might call NEP 2.0, from protection to participation.

 

Its principles could be simple:

· Protect the vulnerable.

· Build capability.

· Encourage competition.

· Reward productivity.

· Create wealth.

· Graduate people from assistance to independence.

 

Let’s measure success honestly, not by how much preferential treatment remains after another decade, but by whether:

· A young Malay graduate can hold their own in the global economy.

· A Malay company can win contracts on merit alone.

· Malay professionals lead world-class institutions.

· Malay entrepreneurs create wealth that lifts all Malaysians.

 

That’s the transition we need from tongkat to take-off, from protection to capability, from entitlement to contribution. The greatest honour we can pay to our early nation-builders isn’t to preserve every tool they created in 1971. It’s to build a Malaysia where those tools are no longer needed because every Malaysian, regardless of background, has the education, skills, assets, and confidence to rise on their own strength, and lift the nation with them.

 

Reference:

From tongkat to take-off: Let’s talk about moving beyond dependency, K. T. Maran, Newswav, 12 Sept 2026

 

9 Misleading Finance KPIs

 

Source:

Post by Oana Labes on LinkedIn

Trust and Taxes

 

Of late, there have been a series of exposés in terms of financial scandals in our country plaguing some major government-linked investment corporations (GLICs) and institutions. That impacts trust and ultimately questions whether taxes should be paid. Whenever such scandals come to light, is anyone held responsible and whether there has been a breach of fiduciary duty to the public.

 

Theft of milk powder by poverty-stricken families has resulted in criminal prosecution and jail terms. Yet rarely do we see those accused of greater crimes being put behind bars, except for one ex-PM. We have also seen offences involving money laundering, Ponzi schemes and fraudulent scams being let off with a slap on the wrist through compound payments for settlement with the authorities. And the victims? They are made to bear the consequences in silence with a great injustice done to them. It is no wonder then that the perception given to society is that there is an alleged unequal standing before the enforcement of the law. Those from privileged backgrounds appear to get off scot-free, while those who have lesser means must receive whatever comes their way. Fiduciary duty is not an option.

 

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org

 

GLICs and institutions are in effect acting as custodians of the people’s money, and hence, are bound by the fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of the people. Unfortunately, we have seen a blatant disregard for the interest of the people. While in part it may be due to negligence, on a deeper level, there is a clear breach of fiduciary duties by decision-makers.

 

If remedial measures are not put into place urgently and efforts to recuperate losses are not expedited, the one that foots the bill for the foolishness and transgressions of some would be, once again, the people. As such, who in their right mind would entrust their savings to the very institutions meant to safeguard their deposits? The last thing we want is an erosion of confidence in other better-performing institutions such as the Employees Provident Fund or Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) as collateral damage from all this negative news flow.

 

Contrary to popular belief, there is no lack of good frameworks in place for our institutions. We have an abundance of laws and regulations to ensure compliance by the GLICs and institutions. Processes are often robust, with checks and balances in place. Whenever something blows up, there will be loud calls for reform or the need for stricter laws to plug the gap. The issue, in my humble view, is not the framework or the law. It is, in fact, weak enforcement. When enforcement is weak, the deterrent effect is not up to par. If the consequence of breaching the regulations is light compared with the potential windfall (illicit or not), then the end justifies the means, doesn’t it? Those who are responsible for the dereliction of duties by those appointed to act as custodians for the people should be made examples, if not, the misbehaviour will continue. Sad to say, many instances have shown that the risk-to-reward ratio appears skewed in favour of those who cross the line instead of those who are upright.

 

Those who are tasked with managing taxpayers’ money must be held to the highest standards due to the trust placed in them by the public. Appointments to these key roles must be based on merit and capability rather than political connections or affiliations.

 

Malaysia has an abundance of resources and natural advantages that make our regional peers green with envy. Sadly, the leakages in the system are too rampant. The systemic failures across organisations and institutions are too prevalent to be eradicated overnight. But that does not mean we should not start turning it around. Instead of introducing new taxes and removing subsidies that burden the people to increase government revenue, start plugging leakages at key GLICs and institutions. Once the people see the improvement, they would be more receptive and willing to play their part in contributing taxes to the country, provided they are being put to good use. Trust and taxes go hand in hand.

 

Reference:

Rebuilding institutional confidence, Ng Zhu Hann, The Star, 22 August 2026