Despite earning higher salaries abroad, Southeast Asian migrant workers struggle with rising living costs, family expectations, social media influence, and financial management challenges.
Despite a rise in salaries in their host countries, family expectations, social media pressures and a lack of financial skills weigh heavily on the region’s workers abroad. CNA dives into the issue in the fourth part of a series on Southeast Asia’s migrant workers. Rising cost of living, family expectations, social media pressures and a lack of financial skills weigh heavily on the region’s migrant workers abroad.
(CNA/Rafa Estrada)As throngs of tourists pass by her restaurant, Rosa Angelina calls out to them in Malay, English and Mandarin, inviting them to savour the establishment’s famous stir-fried noodles. The 32-year-old Indonesian, who has been waiting tables in Malaysia for nine years, makes around RM2,000 (US$443) per month, which is around three-and-a-half times the pay waitresses make in her hometown in North Sumatra province. Because of her language skills, her pay is also higher than that of her peers in Malaysia, who are paid the monthly minimum wage of RM1,500.Half of her salary goes to supporting her parents, leaving her just enough to buy food, pay for public transportation and share an 18sqm room with another Indonesian woman at a property on the other side of the island, about an hour’s bus ride from where she works. “I used to be able to rent a place somewhere close to the city centre. Nowadays, I can only afford places that are far away,” she said. “The bus ride can be tiring, especially after a busy day like on weekends or during the holiday seasons. But it’s fine. You just have to remember that you’re doing this for your family.” Meanwhile, in a suburb in Kuala Lumpur, a migrant worker from Myanmar who only wanted to be known as Kyaw cleans tables and sweeps the floor of a Chinese mixed-rice restaurant as customers come and go from lunch to dinner. Despite being undocumented, the general worker is able to earn about RM2,000 a month. He gets only one off day a mont
MIGRANT WORKERS SOUTHEAST ASIA ECONOMICS LIVING COSTS SOCIAL MEDIA
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