Job Ads in Penang

Continuing the trip to Penang with my 80-year-old dad in the summer of 2018

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On the first day I arrived in Po, I bought a copy of Guanghua Daily at the stall for RM1.4 to show my father (in fact, I watched it myself), hoping to get to know the locals. I later found out that this Penang Daily has a great background. It was founded by Mr. Sun Yat-sen and is the oldest Chinese-language newspaper in existence. The news content includes Hong Kong typhoon news, Hong Kong artist gossip, Penang local news, obituaries and classified advertisements, etc., and there is not much space.

Looking at the job advertisements, you can understand the real situation such as the local living index. Malaysia is relatively conservative, and women are stereotyped and their status is not high. Some job advertisements for clerks specify women and they are between 20 and 40 years old, and one also says that they should be under 35. Paperwork is considered women's work, and it seems that it is very difficult for a middle-aged girl like me to find a job in Penang.

The other is that Chinese-funded technicians are more open to explain that the positions are both male and female, and the salary starts from RM2,000, and the manager of the beauty shop also starts from RM2,000. General grassroots employees such as beauty apprentice dishwashers are about RM1600. HKD 100 is like MYR 50. The living index in Malaysia is much lower than that in Hong Kong, so in recent years, Hong Kong has gone to Malaysia to buy property groups. Although the labor is low, the price is also low, a bowl of rice is RM1, and there is a bowl of Hokkien mee in Shugou (RM). Although I have not asked how much the rent in Penang is, I have visited a stationery store with over 1,000 square feet in the New Street Plaza in George Town (which is the foreign tourist area). One day off, the business hours are only until 6 o’clock in the evening (many restaurants also close at 6 o’clock). I have visited twice and there are no other customers. I don’t know how much their daily turnover is. Maybe the owner is someone who doesn’t worry about dressing. But in just a few days, I saw three homeless people on the street begging or lying in bus stops. It seems that the disparity between the rich and the poor is a global issue, and it also occurs in every region. What about the second home of Hong Kong people? !