PUTRAJAYA: Most Malaysians in Singapore and Brunei are part of the skilled or semi-skilled workforce, says the Statistics Department.
Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said 39% of the diaspora working in Singapore are skilled workers and 35% are semi-skilled workers.
In Brunei, 68% of the working diaspora are skilled workers and 24.1% are semi-skilled workers, he added.
He said the findings were obtained through the ‘Malaysian Diaspora Study’ in Brunei last year and the ‘Social Security Protection for Malaysian Citizens Working Abroad: Singapore Study’ in 2022 in collaboration with the Social Security Organisation.
Both studies were aimed at profiling the Malaysian diaspora in Brunei and Singapore, focusing on citizens working in those countries, he said.
He added that they include the tendencies of Malaysians working abroad, especially regarding their social protection needs.
“For monthly gross salary, it was found that 66.7% of respondents working in Singapore received salaries ranging from S$1,500 to S$3,599, and 18.5% received salaries between S$3,600 and S$9,999.
“Meanwhile, for those working in Brunei, 41.3% of the respondents received monthly gross salaries between B$1,000 and B$3,000, and 43.5% received between B$3,001 and B$10,000,” he said.
Mohd Uzir said this at the launching ceremony of the book on the reports of the Study of Compensation for Child and Youth Actors in Films and Dramas in Peninsular Malaysia and the Study of the Malaysian Diaspora in Brunei Darussalam here yesterday, Bernama reported.
He said the highest monthly gross salary recorded in Singapore in Brunei was S$18,000 (RM64,000) and B$15,000 (RM53,320).
According to Mohd Uzir, Malaysians chose to work in both countries because of the job opportunities and suitable working environment, higher salaries as well as the high exchange rates of the Singapore dollar and Brunei dollar, among others.
In terms of demographics, he said the 2022 findings noted that 38% of the Malaysian diaspora in Singapore were part of the workforce, while 62% were in the country for conducting business, undergoing training and research, education, or marriage.
He said the 2023 findings showed that 50% of the Malaysian diaspora in Brunei were workers, while the remainder were in the country due to marriage with Bruneians or family matters.
“However, there is one significant finding involving the similarity of Malaysians in Singapore and Brunei, which is that they are there to conduct business,” he added.
