Linkaddress:

https://www.malaymail.com/news/opinion/2023/10/12/the-aircon-generation-can-sweat-it-out-
for-malaysia/95749

Title:The aircon generation can sweat it out for Malaysia

Author:Praba Ganesan

OCTOBER 12 —Ten to 12 and the idyllic picnicker is lying flat on the bus stop bench, his
motorbike parked next to him.

It’s a fine-looking bus stop, tiled all over, but no bus route on this road. Just another deadweight
investment loss for Kajang Municipality and its impeccable planning.

The food delivery guy naps as he waits for the impending lunch time rush, luxuriating in the 150
API (Air Pollution Index) quality Cheras oxygen on a Monday before an order comes in — the
day before a scheduled 48-hour water disruption for Klang Valley’s nine million inhabitants.

There is so much to weigh-in on. Local councils’ inclination to own disused constructs, to how
bad water rationing gets in public housing buildings where most city delivery guys live — in high
density housing with low infrastructure, water cuts are hell. And there is the haze just about to
get nastier — but no worries, Indonesia and the Malaysian plantation companies operating in
Sumatera are actively looking out for us. Can’t be sure, the visibility is poor for myself to judge.
Fortunately, our government’s vision is 20/20.

For this time, it’s asking if delivery riders are failures.

Mind you, this work is not easy. On foot and bike from one restaurant to the next nondescript
condominium, for a machine calculated fee and rarely a tip.

The delivery guy is the ultimate manifestation of the modern blue-collar worker, in technology
reliant employment which requires a lot of physical exertions.

For those unaware, Malaysians by large disdain physical work. It was put into our bloodstream
over the last 40 years, that the future for Malaysia is up and further up the value chain.

Work ties are good. Tying a bag to the back of the bike to carry takeaways, bad, very bad.

Malaysia changed from the 70s, at the advent of the petro-economy. Demographics certainly
too. From “very rare a graduate in our village” back in the day to “twice as many graduates as
datuks” these wistful days.

Petro dollars, which peaked in the early 80s to the late 2000s, emboldened our policy makers to
envision Malaysia similar to its Middle East cousins. Where citizens cruise to lunch
appointments in SUVs gorging on cheap petrol while fixed-contract migrants mind the store,
petrol station, mall and everything else.

Which is why despite wages remaining stagnant, and more graduates taking on lower-paying
jobs in an employer’s market, they still want an office job — with air-condition.
The air-condition separates citizens from the migrant menial labour.

In fact, many Malaysians decline better paying physical work and opt for dead-end clerical roles
as long as it comes with an electronic pass-card and lanyard used to access through a turnstile
to the lifts. Pay is secondary to a decent address, which translates to prestige.

Only the migrants do those jobs, is the sentiment. Those jobs of lifting, carrying, serving or
collecting out in the sun or in a F&B outlet.

So rather than advocate and negotiate for better pay for physical labour, Malaysian labour opts
to forgo the field.

The reference to the delivery guy, a more recent phenomenon, and increasing numbers of them
indicates the tide today here is more Philippines than UAE. The current mismatch between
qualifications, capacity or both and the prevailing economy job structure will force Malaysians to

menial jobs. Regardless of how many online meetings with global CEOs the prime minister
arranges. Regardless of foreign labour already inundating the space.

But is that failure for Malaysians?

My family is working class. Dreary work is how our families were built, and yes, more than a few
made it up and further up that value chain. Just as many remain in the physical labour space.

In the early 1990s, graduates could just walk into well-paying jobs and a career. Today, the
situation is terribly different. In 2023, a degree does not guarantee a job, let alone a well-paying
job.

Many today emerge with nonsensical degrees from sub-par universities and colleges, therefore
highly unemployable. The only thing the degree time gave them was a student loan debt. They
join another queue of those who never did pursue tertiary education. Together, it is a bloated
nightmare.

The petro-dollar economy has passed us and now it is time to change the tune.

A wake-up call is not the worst option. It is alarmist, but how is it walking indifferently around in a
building on fire to not panic the rest, not irresponsible?

The cultural “Scarlet Letter” stuck to menial labour has to be confronted, and yes, defeated. In
the present, those with minimum abilities abhor menial labour due to the social connotations tied
to it and render it as the undesirable option only to be taken as a last resort.

In the aftermath of Covid-19, with the cap on new migrant labour on, the government chose to
relax entries rather than urge Malaysians to fill the gaps.

But that can change. With leadership, it can.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim should take a cue from his mentor and predecessor Mahathir
Mohamad from the slogan-weaving days of the early 80s through to the 90s. Look East Policy,
Buy British Last, Malaysia Incorporated, Productivity Ant, Industrialised Malaysia, Leadership
through Example were some of the slogans to set the tone and direction of the country.

We believed we were something before it actually materialised. Neat trick by the government
back then.

Anwar should normalise physical labour as incredibly valuable work to propel the country
forward.

If businesses feel Malaysians do not fare well, then it is the government’s job to reassure
industries, while on the other hand encourage Malaysians to take up the labour challenge,
rather than wait for jobs in offices which never materialise.

Or worse, the government has been complicit in offering short term civil service contracts to the
young to keep unemployment rates low.

Government should be the intermediary between industry and local workers. Promise
productivity to one side, promise better pay and benefits to the other — which aids to remove
the stigma attached to menial labour.

The biggest problem with our government, this and all before it, they tend to tell the people what
the problem is as though the people are distanced from the problem.

The problem is lived by the people. Nothing is more personal and immediate as work.

Perhaps if the government talked to the people about how we need to fill those jobs — the
pretty ones and the not so pretty ones — possess the determination to reassure the rakyat of a
safety net then the people react.

Respond to the country’s call to meet this new century’s challenges.

While urging, insert a sense of pride in labour.

The delivery riders bring joy to homes and offices. They make other people’s productivity rise.
They reduce the number of families driving around and grinding traffic to a halt. They prevented
tens of thousands of small food outlets from bankruptcy during the pandemic.

Yet, that’s not the story.

The government almost acts ashamed it has that many riders, as a symbol of economic failure.
And all other Malaysians as labour.

If only there was a government which wised up and used the situation to empower Malaysians
rather than deflect. There should be more Malaysians in physical labour and it is not a mark of
shame. A nation powering itself with all its people is a point of pride.

Word count:(1225 words)

Issue :Three ways to encourage people to work in physical labour.

Main idea 1:The government should take the actions in normalizing physical labor as
incredibly valuable work
Main idea 2:Government should be the negotiator between industry and local workers
Main idea 3:The government should encourage people about the importance to fill these
occupations.

INTRODUCTION:

In the article,the writer explains that people should be encouraged to work in physical labour as
a sense of pride instead of being ashamed by them.The author’s tone is cautionary since he
mentioned that “the goverment’s job to encourage Malaysians to take up the labour
challenge,rather than wait for jobs in offices which never materialise” which shows that he is in
raising awareness.