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Showing posts with label credentials. Show all posts
Showing posts with label credentials. Show all posts

Saturday, May 20, 2023

Starting salaries are higher now

 

Having what it takes: Among the criteria that recruiters look at before hiring were if prospective employees were willing to take up the challenges and go the extra mile to execute and deliver their work. — CHAN BOON KAI/The Star

 

https://cdn.thestar.com.my/Content/Images/job_vacancies_19052023.jpg

GEORGE TOWN: Starting salaries for fresh graduates entering the job market has risen by about 30% compared with before the pandemic due to lifestyle and high cost of living, say recruiters and human resource practitioners.

In Penang’s hotel and tourism industries, starting salaries for fresh graduates now are at RM2,500 onwards while in the manufacturing sector, the starting salary for engineers can be RM4,000 and as much as RM5,000.

Malaysia Association of Hotels (MAH) Penang chairman Tony Goh said the higher salary is due to the supply and demand in the tourism industry and taking into account the current higher cost of living.

“For us now, salaries are definitely higher compared with before the pandemic. We don’t expect them (new graduates) to work with a basic salary of RM1,300 to RM1,500 like before.

 “The second thing is, people must be able to sustain the lifestyle they need while working with us, hence the need for higher basic salaries,” he said.

He said the minimum wage rule imposed by the government last year contributed to the generally higher salaries for all other positions now.

He said new graduates who are eligible and qualified would be paid a basic salary of around RM2,500, excluding allowances.

Since May 1 last year, employers with five or more workers were required by the Minimum Wages Order 2022 to increase the minimum wage to RM1,500.

Goh said among the careers sought by new graduates in the hotel and tourism industries are receptionists, executives, sales coordinators and administration executives.

In an exclusive report yesterday, The Star revealed that industry research showed that fresh graduates’ salaries ranged from about RM2,600 to almost RM2,900 in the Klang Valley and Johor Baru, while it was about RM2,400 in Melaka.Leaders of business NGOs interviewed opined that fresh graduates should manage their starting salary expectations, on top of reviewing their life goals.

But a check in Penang’s manufacturing sector showed that graduates with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) capabilities might enjoy a much better starting point.

Factories can pay fresh graduates as much as RM5,000 if they are involved in the design and development of integrated circuits, said Malaysia Semiconductor Industry Association’s Datuk Seri Wong Siew Hai.

“Generally, any STEM graduate working in Penang’s factories can expect a starting pay of about RM3,500,” he said.

He urged parents to help their children develop a passion for STEM to give them a good starting point after getting their first degree.

Pentamaster Corporation Berhad group executive chairman Chuah Choon Bin said the median salary for STEM graduates in Penang now is about RM4,000, and this is due to the surge in foreign direct investments (FDIs) in Penang last year.

“Because of the high FDI, there is a lot of competition for manpower, so multinational companies increase the offered pay to attract skilled workers and fresh graduates,” he said.

Chuah, however, said this year, the hiring wave is down a bit due to the slowing global consumer market, the trade war and the war between Russia and Ukraine.

He said some companies have started slashing down their workforce by implementing voluntary separation schemes and shortening operating hours to cut costs.

Chuah said he expects the slowdown to continue until the end of the year, depending on the outcome of the Russia-Ukraine war and how intense the trade war between the United States and China would be.

Human resource specialist Azimah Aziz said that normally starting salaries are based on job scope and the candidate’s experience.

“For example, for the starting salary of a research assistant in aquaculture, the basic pay starts from RM2,900 for a fresh graduate,” she said.

She said among the criteria that recruiters look at before hiring were if prospective employees were willing to take up the challenges and go the extra mile to execute and deliver their work. 

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Fresh grads want too much

thestar.com.my/news/nation/20

... if you have a Master’s degree, it sets you apart from others and your employability may be higher for a managerial position in the industry, compared with someone who does not possess such a qualification...


 
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Monday, February 11, 2019

China's new tech soft power

Foreigners are tapping Chinese innovation to network and build businesses

International market: Foreign visitors to an expo in Nanning, the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, evince interest in forestry by-products and pay for them using WeChat Pay. [Photo by Peng Huan / for China Daily]

China's innovations impress foreigners, change startup game, boost confidence

The consumption power of more than 1 million foreigners working or studying in China is disproportionately bigger than their tiny share (0.07 percent) of the total population - and whizzes of the country's homegrown tech ecosystem are sitting up and taking notice, as the economy transitions from export and investment-led growth to a consumption-driven model.

Manufacturers of gadgets, providers of technology-enabled services, and developers of intellectual property like innovative technologies are all vying to make life easier for the relatively small but monetarily significant foreigner community in China.

French engineer Sebastien Bernard, 37, will probably agree. He came to work and live in Beijing four months ago. The first thing he was asked to do by his friends and colleagues was to download and install WeChat, the all-in-one killer app, on his smartphone.

He complied, and his life is much the better for it, he said. As it transpired, Bernard was e-invited to join a WeChat group.

Initially, 15 foreigners chatted with each other and shared their life experiences on the e-group. Gradually, the group grew to a 200-member community of sorts that shared not just useful information like job links or party invitations but, wait for it, e-commerce discount coupons and weekend getaway packages.

Friendly advice sensitized Bernard to other treasures on WeChat. Among many other things, he learned to use the app to order food, book a taxi ride, buy movie tickets, and make digital payments for e-commerce.

Using Chinese apps, some of his friends even play online games, and borrow or lend money using e-credit channels that are redefining inclusive finance.

According to a WeChat report, by May 2017, foreigners in China sent 60 percent more WeChat messages than Chinese users on average per month. They also use WeChat audio calls 42 percent more than Chinese users.

Notably, foreigners in China are good at using different functions or features of WeChat. On average, they use emojis 45 percent more than Chinese users per day. Typically, a foreigner sends 10"red packets" - cash e-gifts - per month. Nearly 65 percent of foreigners who use WeChat use the app's digital payment tool WeChat Pay.

"Here in China, having WeChat and Alipay accounts is like being plugged into the world. The apps include almost every conceivable service that can help make modern life easy," said Bernard.

Agreed Yang Qiguang, 26, a researcher from Columbia University's Tow Center who is pursuing PhD at the Renmin University of China in Beijing.  

"Chinese companies are creating a tech ecosystem that helps everyone, including foreigners, to work and live in a more convenient way."

Forming social networks using e-tools has become integral to modern life, particularly in urban areas - and China's tech ecosystem perhaps performs this function better than any other, by bundling consumption-related conveniences, he said.


"The tech ecosystem here facilitates people, including foreigners, to spend more. It is also boosting the confidence of both domestic and foreign companies operating in China. They know they now have powerful and reliable e-tools like apps to drive sales in a humongous market with more than 1 billion consumers," he said.

That's not all. Yang said China's tech ecosystem is fostering entrepreneurialism. Even foreigners living in China are beginning to use Chinese apps to start up in a variety of fields, including technology, education and entertainment. All this business activity is a long-term positive effect for the Chinese economy, he said.

Yang could well have been speaking about David Collier, 52, a Briton who has founded four startups so far, respectively in the United States, the United Kingdom and China.

Rikai Labs, his WeChat-based e-learning business in China, helps Chinese users to master the English language through proprietary automated software. Collier said every seven years, a big platform shift comes along - from web to mobile apps; from apps to messaging platforms - that creates huge opportunities.

"We chose to base our business on WeChat because it provides a great platform for a knowledge service. You have to build your business where people are spending their time, and the biggest messaging platform of all is WeChat," he said.

"Also, we can use WeChat payment for instant payment, QR codes for marketing purposes and to track user acquisition channels. Now with WeChat's mini programs, we can add interactive games and other features."

There's more. Links to Rikai Labs and related content can be shared socially online. "It provides a very compelling platform with real-time features, social distribution, marketing hooks and monetization," Collier said.

But risks abound too, he said. Platforms such as WeChat have become extremely competitive for startups. "If you don't move at high speed, riding with WeChat is like taking the maglev."

Data, however, suggest that foreigners appear to have an edge over Chinese users in exploiting the local tech ecosystem for small businesses and online social networking, which actually helps businesses directly or indirectly.

A case in point is Baopals, a startup founded by three expatriates. Call it the English Taobao, if you will. Baopals is anchored in Taobao and Tmall, the online shopping platforms owned by Alibaba Group, China's tech giant.

Foreign visitors to an expo in Nanning, the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, evince interest in forestry by-products and pay for them using WeChat Pay. [Photo by Peng Huan / for China Daily]

In July 2015, Charlie Erickson, Jay Thornhill and Tyler McNew, all US citizens in their late 20s and early 30s, developed Baopals, a website that helps translate product information on the Chinese Taobao and Tmall into English. In one stroke, the trio thus opened up the astonishing world of Chinese e-commerce, or 800 million products, to non-Chinese consumers in China.

Baopals already boasts 40,000 registered users, with 16,000 of them joining last year alone, doubling the user count in 2017. A Baopals user buys 58 items on average per year, and spends about 2,500 yuan ($368) to 3,500 yuan annually.

In addition to English, the website has Korean and Russian versions, making e-shopping simpler for foreigners in China.

The website is going from strength to strength on the back of the trio's innovations. It has introduced attractive sections like "The Cool, The Cheap& The Crazy". It accepts Alipay, WeChat Wallet and China UnionPay for payments.

Although e-commerce destinations are dime a dozen in China, most of them are in Chinese, and cater to Chinese consumers, so Baopals stands out, said Thornhill.

"Even on Amazon China, the default language is Chinese. When you switch to English, you still see lots of content in Chinese. They just haven't made the effort to serve China's expat population properly," he said.

That gap should spell business opportunities for those looking to start up, he said. "We are also changing the stereotype that Chinese goods are cheap products with low quality," he said, adding that several products including Xiaomi air purifiers and Huawei products are very popular among foreigners.

According to Thornhill, Baopals' revenue comes from service fee paid by shoppers. It charges a service fee of 5 percent of each item's price, plus a small fixed fee based on the item's price - 2 yuan for items priced below 30 yuan, and 8 yuan for items priced above 90 yuan. More than 2.3 million products had been sold by Jan 17 this year, a huge increase from the same period last year.

Given the experience in China, it is clear that homegrown technologies can succeed outside the mainland, he said. "This year is going to be a big year for Baopals, as we'll be launching our global service. Expats leaving China can continue buying things they love here, and foreigners everywhere can discover the treasures of China's online shopping."

Agreed Yang from the Tow Center. China's tech ecosystem, he said, provides foreigners on the mainland with well-rounded platforms to do business not only in China but across the world.

"It may take years for foreigners to build such infrastructure themselves. The time and energy saved during the process can be used for bolstering their own products and business."

It's not just small players such as Baopals that are drawing confidence from their success in China. Even e-payment giants such as WeChat Pay and Alipay, emboldened by their rapid adoption among foreigners in China, are confident of replicating their success worldwide.

Alipay has introduced its payment services, including departure tax refunds, at 10 major international airports in Japan, Thailand and New Zealand. Although the initial goal is to serve Chinese tourists traveling overseas, the larger plan is to roll out Chinese technologies worldwide and gain a global visibility and footprint.

So, it has struck cooperation agreements with local banks and companies in foreign markets, to provide e-payment services. For instance, its partners in Japan are Hida Credit Union and Kyoto Shinkin Bank, which helps attract Japanese users as well. Using such strategies, Alipay has accumulated more than 1 billion users in all, including 300 million outside China.

Sources:  China Daily/Asian News Network

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Malaysia Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng's credentials as an accountant questioned



On Malaysia Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng's website, it is stated in his biodata that he graduated from Monash University, Australia, with a Bachelor of Economics degree and was a qualified professional accountant by 1983.PHOTO: ST FILE
 
PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Malaysian Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng's qualification in accounting is the latest to come under scrutiny following a series of alleged false education credentials involving Pakatan Harapan leaders.

Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) president Wee Ka Siong, in questioning Mr Lim's credentials as an accountant, said according to Monash University's website, Mr Lim obtained his Bachelor of Economics in 1984.

(MCA) president Wee Ka Siong
"I have no doubt over his degree qualification. However, I wonder how he became a qualified professional accountant in 1983 before he even graduated (in economics)?" he asked in a Facebook posting on Sunday (Feb 10).

On Mr Lim's website: https://limguaneng.com/ , https://limguaneng.com/index.php/biodata/ , it is stated in his biodata that he graduated from Monash University, Australia, with a Bachelor of Economics degree and was a qualified professional accountant by 1983.

Datuk Seri Wee, who is the Ayer Hitam MP, also wanted to know how Mr Lim's qualification as a "qualified professional accountant" was accredited.

"Was it by a local or foreign institution? Which country accepts an economics graduate to pass as a 'qualified professional accountant'?

For a minister who always stresses on the concept of Competency, Accountability and Transparency, please explain and don't keep quiet," he added.

Dr Wee also described as "suspicious" Johor Mentri Besar Osman Sapian avoiding questions from the media on his supposed UPM Bachelor in Accounting obtained in 1985.

"UPM's official website stated that the course was introduced in 1985. How is it possible that there could be such a super-fast graduate produced in the same year!

"If Osman fails to prove the genuineness of his academic credentials, will he still have the dignity to lead the state? This is a question of integrity among leaders," he said.

Citing examples of several world leaders who resigned or were sacked for having fake academic credentials, Dr Wee questioned if the Pakatan Harapan leadership would remain quiet and behave as if nothing happened.

"Or will they respond with the standard Pakatan answer, that a person's academic qualifications have nothing to do with political position," he added.

In Teluk Intan, Bernama reports Perak DAP chairman Nga Kor Ming as backing Tronoh assemblyman Paul Yong Choo Kiong who comes under public scrutiny for his dubious Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Akamai University, United States, claiming that he had obtained it "legitimately".

This is despite the fact that DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang had labelled the university as a degree mill in 2005.

Mr Yong, 48, was also questioned by Dr Wee as to how he could do his MBA without having a first degree.

The Perak executive councillor has in his biodata listed his primary and secondary school education followed by his MBA.

Responding to the controversy, Mr Yong claimed that his way to enhance his self worth has been blown out of proportion.

He, however, did not reveal how he obtained his MBA.

"What is the relationship between this and politics?" asked Mr Yong.

Sources: https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/malaysia-finance-minister-lim-guan-engs-credentials-as-an-accountant-questioned and
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/02/11/lims-credentials-as-an-accountant-questioned/

 
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Malaysia Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng's credentials as an accountant questioned

On Malaysia Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng's website, it is stated in his biodata that he graduated from Monash University, Australia, with a Bachelor of Economics degree and was a qualified professional accountant by 1983.PHOTO: ST FILE
 
PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Malaysian Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng's qualification in accounting is the latest to come under scrutiny following a series of alleged false education credentials involving Pakatan Harapan leaders.

Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) president Wee Ka Siong, in questioning Mr Lim's credentials as an accountant, said according to Monash University's website, Mr Lim obtained his Bachelor of Economics in 1984.

(MCA) president Wee Ka Siong
"I have no doubt over his degree qualification. However, I wonder how he became a qualified professional accountant in 1983 before he even graduated (in economics)?" he asked in a Facebook posting on Sunday (Feb 10).

On Mr Lim's website: https://limguaneng.com/ , https://limguaneng.com/index.php/biodata/ , it is stated in his biodata that he graduated from Monash University, Australia, with a Bachelor of Economics degree and was a qualified professional accountant by 1983.

Datuk Seri Wee, who is the Ayer Hitam MP, also wanted to know how Mr Lim's qualification as a "qualified professional accountant" was accredited.

"Was it by a local or foreign institution? Which country accepts an economics graduate to pass as a 'qualified professional accountant'?

For a minister who always stresses on the concept of Competency, Accountability and Transparency, please explain and don't keep quiet," he added.

Dr Wee also described as "suspicious" Johor Mentri Besar Osman Sapian avoiding questions from the media on his supposed UPM Bachelor in Accounting obtained in 1985.

"UPM's official website stated that the course was introduced in 1985. How is it possible that there could be such a super-fast graduate produced in the same year!

"If Osman fails to prove the genuineness of his academic credentials, will he still have the dignity to lead the state? This is a question of integrity among leaders," he said.

Citing examples of several world leaders who resigned or were sacked for having fake academic credentials, Dr Wee questioned if the Pakatan Harapan leadership would remain quiet and behave as if nothing happened.

"Or will they respond with the standard Pakatan answer, that a person's academic qualifications have nothing to do with political position," he added.

In Teluk Intan, Bernama reports Perak DAP chairman Nga Kor Ming as backing Tronoh assemblyman Paul Yong Choo Kiong who comes under public scrutiny for his dubious Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Akamai University, United States, claiming that he had obtained it "legitimately".

This is despite the fact that DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang had labelled the university as a degree mill in 2005.

Mr Yong, 48, was also questioned by Dr Wee as to how he could do his MBA without having a first degree.

The Perak executive councillor has in his biodata listed his primary and secondary school education followed by his MBA.

Responding to the controversy, Mr Yong claimed that his way to enhance his self worth has been blown out of proportion.

He, however, did not reveal how he obtained his MBA.

"What is the relationship between this and politics?" asked Mr Yong.

Sources: https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/malaysia-finance-minister-lim-guan-engs-credentials-as-an-accountant-questioned and
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/02/11/lims-credentials-as-an-accountant-questioned/

 
Related:


How to Become an Accountant: Skills, Degrees | All Business Schools



How to become a professional accountant in Malaysia? - Afterschool.my

 


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