Digi business marketing and operations head Steven Soon (second from left) delivering his speech as (from left) Johor South SME Association advisor Teh Kee Sin, RHB Bank Bhd commercial banking head Azlina Safian and PKT Logistics Group Sdn Bhd chief operating officer P’ng Tean Hau look on duri...
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Unofficial figures show that some 300,000 Malaysians commute daily from Johor to Singapore to work. — FilepicJOHOR BARU: The state government is looking at the positive angle when it comes to the high number of Malaysians, including Johoreans, working in Singapore.Johor education, human resour...
An SME expo showcasing the productsKUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's small business sector experienced positive business conditions in 2018 and confidence in business and economic growth is at its highest point since 2012, according to new survey data released today by CPA Australia. The findings from CPA A...
KUALA LUMPUR: Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should capitalise on the RM517mil funding made available by Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd’s (MIDF) and Malaysian Technology Development Corp (MTDC) under the Soft Loan Scheme for Automation and Modernisation (SLSAM).MIDF group ma...
PETALING JAYA: Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng is tabling Budget 2019 in Parliament, the first federal budget by the Pakatan Harapan government.The tabling of the Supply Bill (Budget) 2019 will commence before Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof, and will be debated by the Members of Par...
Aminolhuda: Johoreans working in Singapore help boost local economy
Unofficial figures show that some 300,000 Malaysians commute daily from Johor to Singapore to work. — Filepic
JOHOR BARU: The state government is looking at the positive angle when it comes to the high number of Malaysians, including Johoreans, working in Singapore.
Johor education, human resource, science and technology committee chairman Aminolhuda Hassan hoped that others would also look at the issue this way.
He said thousands of Malaysians who commute daily to the republic to work but live in Johor, especially in Iskandar Malaysia, have contributed significantly to the state’s progress.
“We have no problems with Johoreans working in Singapore or even in other parts of the world as it benefits the state too,’’ said Aminolhuda.
He said Johoreans working in Singapore had helped to boost the local economy as the money earned there and spent in the state had contributed to developments.
Aminolhuda said the strong Singapore dollar compared with ringgit for the past several years was a boon for Johor’s economy as locals working in the republic have strong purchasing power.
“They have disposable income to buy properties and cars and this will definitely benefit developers, retailers and businesses in the state,’’ he said.
He added that it was a well-known fact that Johor and Singapore were economically interdependent on each other, resulting in a win-win situation for both.
Johor South SME adviser Teh Kee Sin said this has been a challenge for manufacturers in Johor Baru, Pasir Gudang, Kulai and Senai hiring locals as they preferred to work in Singapore.
“There is nothing we can do about it. We definitely cannot stop them from working over there,’’ he said, adding that locals preferred to work in Singapore due to the exchange rate.
Teh said at the end of the day, financial gains remained the main factor and thousands of Malaysians were willing to spend hours commuting to Singapore daily to work.
On a positive note, he said local companies, especially in Iskandar Malaysia, would benefit from skills and experience of workers who decided to come and work here.
Unofficial figures show that some 300,000 Malaysians commute daily from Johor to the island republic to work, while another 400,000 Malaysians work and live in Singapore. — By ZAZALI MUSA