Latest news with #MuhammadIbrahim
Arab News
02-08-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
American family has not spoken to 15-year-old son in Israeli prison since February, Arab News told
CHICAGO: The parents of 15-year-old American Muhammad Ibrahim, who was abducted by 20 masked Israeli soldiers carrying automatic weapons who kicked down the front door of their home in Al-Mazra'a Ash-Sharqiya on Feb. 16, said they have been prevented from seeing their son since the abduction. The father, Zaher Ibrahim, said masked Israeli soldiers arrived at their home at 3 a.m., grabbed his son without any explanation, and incarcerated him at the notorious Megiddo Prison, denying visits from family and legal representatives. 'My son Muhammad is 15 years old. He looks like he is 12. The Israeli soldiers interrogated and beat him for hours until he was forced to confess to throwing a rock. He has been in prison now since Feb. 16 and we have not been allowed to speak with him, see him or get him any representation,' Zaher Ibrahim told Arab News. 'But when the Israeli settlers beat and killed his cousin Sayfollah (Musallet) last February, no one was arrested or charged, and they know who the Israeli settlers were who killed him. We're Americans and yet it means nothing to the Israelis. They must release my son.' Zaher Ibrahim said the Israeli soldiers 'blindfolded my son, placed handcuffs on him, and put him in their military Jeep without any explanation. His mother and I haven't seen him since.' The tragedy of the Ibrahim family is directly connected to the case of Musallet, the 20-year-old American who was beaten to death by Israeli settlers on July 11. Zaher Ibrahim is the brother-in-law of Kamel Musallet, the father of Sayfollah. Their wives are sisters, he said. The two American families live in Florida and have homes in the West Bank village near Ramallah where the killing of Sayfollah Musallet and the abduction of Muhammad Ibrahim took place. Zaher Ibrahim says he holds out hope for his son, but remains concerned. Kamel Musallet told Arab News that US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee visited his home about 10 days after his son was killed and promised to look into the attack and other attacks against other Americans, but that nothing had happened. Musallet said: 'He promised to do something about the murder of my son, but I haven't heard anything more. 'Huckabee said he was concerned about the safety of American citizens but, so far, we haven't heard anything about my nephew Muhammad or anything about the settlers who killed my son.' Musallet said that three weeks before Muhammad Ibrahim was taken from his home, the two cousins had been working together in the family's ice cream shop in Tampa, Florida. Zaher Ibrahim said: 'These are just boys. They have been attacked and falsely accused and, worse, they get no justice. No representation. They are Americans.' He added that it took four days following the arrest for the Israeli military to tell him his son had been held for 'throwing a rock,' but that no one had been arrested for the killing of his nephew Sayfollah. 'How is that possible?' Zaher Ibrahim asked. He had been told by a boy released from the prison that his son was alive, and added that the US Embassy had contacted him twice to say it would look into his son's health. Zaher Ibrahim added: 'The Israelis don't give you any clothes. You wear the same clothes that you have when they arrested you the entire time in the prison, and they are not washed. It causes skin disease and unhealthy situations. 'We haven't been able to see him or speak to him, or get him clothes or check on his health. It's wrong.' He said he had learned that the son of another American Palestinian family living nearby had also been abducted eight days earlier by Israeli soldiers, and that his family had also not been able to learn anything about his status or the reasons for his abduction. He said: 'This is happening and someone needs to do something about this. It's wrong.' Kemel Musallet said he was disappointed by the response of the US government to the abduction and killing of Americans by Israeli settlers and soldiers.
Free Malaysia Today
12-06-2025
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Should fresh grads be earning RM7,000-RM8,000 a month?
Imagine being new to the job market and earning up to RM8,000 a month – that's a scenario an overwhelming majority of fresh graduates can only dream of. PETALING JAYA : Early last month, former Bank Negara governor Muhammad Ibrahim was Early last month, former Bank Negara governor Muhammad Ibrahim was reported to have said the real salaries of fresh graduates in Malaysia have gone down threefold in 40 years. Based on his reckoning, present-day fresh grads should be paid RM7,000-RM8,000 per month. But is this realistic, given the state of today's job market? First, a quick lesson in economics. There is inflation every year. If you spent RM400 per month on groceries last year, you will probably spend about RM407 a month this year, based on prices going up by 1.8% – the 2024 inflation rate. Accordingly, your salary should go up by 1.8% or more to counter the rise in prices and maintain your ability to pay for things. You might have heard your parents talking about their salaries being very low in the past – perhaps about RM300 a month. But the prices of everyday things were also much lower back then. For example, they might have spent RM60 a month on groceries. If you earn about RM2,000 today and spend about RM400 on groceries monthly, you would technically be in the same position as your parents had been, in that you spend about 20% of your salary on groceries. So, here are five things to consider when it comes to the issue of fresh grads' salaries in 2024/2025. 1. Starting pay in 1984 vs 2024 In 1984, Muhammad started out with a salary of RM1,300 per month. His argument takes into account an inflation rate of 5% every year since then. Fresh grads currently earn between RM2,000 and RM3,000 monthly – about one-third of what Muhammad suggests it should be. But contextually, his starting pay in 1984 was not the average salary for a fresh grad back then. In fact, RM1,300 a month was very high! Muhammad Ibrahim. In 1984, the average salary for Malaysians was RM228 a month. This would place someone who earned RM1,300 a month within the top 1% of income earners back then. The inflation rate of 5% is also too high. According to Macrotrends, inflation in Malaysia averaged 2.4% from 1984 to 2023. Using this as a guide, a monthly salary of RM1,300 in 1984 would equate to RM3,357 in 2024. 2. Fewer university graduates in 1984 The state of the job market in 1984 and 2024 is very different. Back then only 4.8% of Malaysian workers had a university education, in contrast with 22% last year, according to the statistics department. In fact, many workers in the '80s didn't even complete their primary education, with only 35% having only done so. As such, comparing graduate salaries between the two eras is not so straightforward. Those who had graduated from university in 1984 would have been paid circa RM720 a month, about three to four times higher than those who only had primary (RM180 a month), junior secondary (RM190), or senior secondary (RM276) education. 3. Lower returns from tertiary education In 1984, it wasn't commonplace for most employees to have a university degree: it took a lot of determination, effort, education opportunities, and financial privileges to obtain one. So, when you graduated, it meant something in the job market. But today, a university degree is the norm – in fact, for most jobs, a basic requirement. This also means it's harder to differentiate yourself in the job market. As of 2023, Malaysians with a tertiary education earned an average of RM4,700 a month, while those who had a secondary education earned roughly RM2,535. Many Malaysians end up taking out loans to acquire a diploma or degree; and while graduates do indeed get a higher pay on average, this return has been getting lower and lower. And with education getting more expensive, Malaysians are increasingly finding it hard to repay their student loans with their current salaries as they are considered overqualified and underemployed, according to the Khazanah Research Institute. Due to being overqualified, many fresh grads have to settle for semi- or low-skilled jobs, or move into the gig economy, to make ends meet. 4. Mismatch between education and job market One thing Muhammad said that is generally correct is that Malaysia has not been able to create enough high-skilled jobs for local grads. According to this research paper, the gap between the number of graduates and high-skill jobs is widening. And the Khazanah Research Institute claims that as of 2021, close to half of graduates are overqualified and have to settle for semi- or low-skilled jobs, or move into the gig economy, to make ends meet. Furthermore, according to the statistics department, the number of graduates between 2020 and 2023 grew by an annual average of 4.8%, versus only a 2% yearly growth in high-skilled jobs. 5. Graduate salaries have grown, but… The department of statistics has further shown that graduate salaries for workers below age 25 grew the most from 2021 to 2023, at an average annual rate of 6.5%. This is higher than that of workers aged 25-34 (4.2% growth on average); 35-44 (2.8%), and above 45 (3.2%). Thanks to this growth, the average salary for fresh grads as of 2023 is estimated to be RM2,242 a month. But is this enough? The answer to that question depends on a person's choices and lifestyle, with the statistics department estimating that a Malaysian who is single will need to spend RM1,642 a month to enjoy 'decent living'. After deducting EPF, Socso and taxes, a fresh-graduate salary today comes up to about RM1,977 per month – which leaves them with quite a small margin to survive on if anything goes wrong. The bottom line is, a starting salary of RM7,000-RM8,000 is certainly desirable but, in light of the considerations above, far from realistic. Alas, it is a scenario an overwhelming majority of fresh graduates can only dream of. This article was originally written by Su-Wei Ho for MyPF. To simplify and grow your personal finances, follow MyPF on Facebook and Instagram. Read more articles from MyPF here.
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Rakyat Post
09-05-2025
- Business
- Rakyat Post
Correct Facts, But Wrong Diagnosis [OPINION]
By Emeritus Professor Dr. Mohd Nazari Ismail Faculty of Business and Economics Universiti Malaya Recently, former governor of Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), Tan Sri Muhammad Ibrahim, was reported to have said that the salary rate for Malaysians has declined threefold over the past 40 years. He also said that the fresh graduates today are not earning enough. According to him, fresh graduates' salaries today should be closer to RM7,000 to RM8,000 when adjusted for a five per cent annual inflation rate. He then identified several factors that contributed to the situation: high dependence on foreign manpower, failure to create high-paying and quality jobs, and flaws in the education system. In this short article, I will explain why his diagnosis of the root cause of the problem is flawed, even though his contention that fresh graduates today are not earning enough is very accurate. I started working in 1984, the same year as Tan Sri Muhammad Ibrahim. At that time, the starting salary for fresh graduates was around RM1,200. Now, i.e. forty years later, the starting salary is around RM2,500 per month, double that of a fresh graduate in 1984. However, the cost of living in 1984 was much lower. For example, with my monthly salary of RM1,100, I could still sustain my family of four. I was renting a three-bedroom, single-storey terraced house in Section 10, Shah Alam, at a rate of RM250 per month. At that time, a typical lunch or dinner at a restaurant was around RM2. I also used to buy two packets of nasi ayam for my family for dinner, and I only had to pay less than RM4 to the seller. However, this is no longer the case. As pointed out by Tan Sri Muhammad, due to inflation, a typical meal at a restaurant in Section 17, Petaling Jaya, now costs more than RM10, a fivefold increase. Accommodation costs have also increased. A small three-bedroom apartment in Petaling Jaya will cost around RM1400 monthly to rent, a more than fivefold increase compared to the 1980s. In other words, even though the monthly salary increased by around 100 per cent after 40 years, monthly rental and food costs have increased by 500 per cent, a far greater increase. In other words, Malaysia's cost-of-living problem is getting worse. Tan Sri Muhammad, therefore, recommended that the Malaysian government implement policies increasing workers' salaries, as is happening in some other developed countries such as Singapore. But he seems oblivious that the cost-of-living problems in those so-called developed countries are also as bad, if not worse, than in Malaysia. To illustrate this point, let us compare the case of a fresh graduate working as a teacher in Malaysia and Singapore. With a starting salary of RM2500 a month in Malaysia, the teacher can rent an apartment in Petaling Jaya for RM1500 a month and end up with a balance of RM1000 ringgit to spend on food and other expenditures. In Singapore, the starting salary for a teacher is around SGD 3,250 (approximately RM9,800). At first glance, Singapore has successfully pursued a policy of increasing the wages of its workers compared to Malaysia. However, we must consider the cost of living in Singapore, which is much higher than in Malaysia, where the rental prices for HDB flats in Singapore generally range from SGD3,000 to SGD4,350 per month, meaning there is no balance to spend on food. Of course, he can completely forget about renting a terraced house because it costs around SGD8000 per month (around RM26,000), or more than twice his monthly income. In other words, we need to realise that even in developed countries, especially where the banking system is more developed, a higher monthly income for the workers is not going to make life easier because everything else, such as house prices, rental rates, food prices, etc., will also be higher relative to the average salary in the country. Salary increases cannot keep pace with the rise in the prices of goods and services. The above discussion brings us to the next question: What causes the price of goods and services to increase constantly, even in developed countries, such that the high monthly wages are not enough to pay for the cost of living? To answer this, we must understand the nature of the monetary system that is practised in all countries, including developed countries. The most important fact that most people are unaware of is that almost all of the money in the banking system is created by commercial banks when they issue loans, as explained by the Bank of England in one of its documents (Quarterly Bulletin 2014 Q1) : 'In the modern economy, most money takes the form of bank deposits. But how those bank deposits are created is often misunderstood: the principal way is through banks making loans. Whenever a bank makes a loan, it simultaneously creates a matching deposit in the borrower's bank account, thereby creating new money. The reality of how money is created today differs from description found in some economics textbooks: Rather than banks receiving deposits when households save and then lending them out, bank lending creates deposits.' Therefore, the banking industry continuously creates vast amounts of new money to fuel economic growth. As a result, even though the economy experiences fast economic growth, the purchasing power of the funds continuously declines. In other words, there will always be inflationary pressure, which in the case of Malaysia is around 5 per cent annually. This is the main reason why the cost of a basic meal is now more than RM10 compared to just RM2 when I started my job at Universiti Malaya. But why is the salary not increasing as fast as the price increases? It is not because Malaysian workers lack skills or that local universities are not producing quality graduates. After all, many of our graduates are good enough to be employed by well-known multinational companies. Many are also able to qualify to further their studies at top-ranked universities in Europe and the United States. Moreover, thousands of international students are also enrolling at Malaysian universities, undoubtedly impressed by the quality of courses offered. The real reason why employers are not paying high wages is because in an economy fueled by bank loans, all employers are burdened by massive debt. In Malaysia's government's case, the total debt is more than RM1.5 trillion. An enormous amount of debts similarly burden commercial firms. Some corporations had to rely on the government to pay off their debt to prevent them from going bankrupt, as in the case of Sapura Energy, whose total borrowings as of the end of January 2025 were a whopping RM10.8 billion. Its total liabilities were RM18.04 billion. Under such a situation, many firms are forced to optimise their costs, including human resource costs, hence their inability to increase their workers' salaries to match the cost of living in the country. In conclusion, the problem of low salaries among workers relative to the cost of living is tied to the debt-based economic system being practised. That is why the situation is present in Malaysia and almost all countries worldwide, including developed countries such as Singapore, Japan, and the US, where workers are highly skilled. The long-term solution to the problem is to revamp the entire economic system so that economic growth is no longer fueled by bank loans but rather by savings and equity financing, where new money is not created to finance almost all economic activities. Moreover, we must teach the new generation the habit of saving so they do not need to borrow money from banks to fund their expenditures. Dr. Mohd Nazari Ismail is an Emeritus Professor at the Faculty of Business and Economics, Universiti Malaya . Get more stories like this to your inbox by signing up for our newsletter.
Hype Malaysia
06-05-2025
- Business
- Hype Malaysia
M'sian Fresh Grads Supposed To Earn RM7K+ Monthly? Netizens React To Former BNM Governor's Statement
In today's world, many people continue to face financial difficulties, particularly in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. While there are signs of recovery, we are by no means out of the woods yet. With inflation continuing to rise, it is hardly surprising that people are seeking out more information on the issue. One key concern is wages. Did you know that today's fresh graduates are expected to be earning thousands more per month than what many currently do? Exactly how many are we talking about? What can be done? Here's the full story: Over the weekend, the former Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), Tan Sri Muhammad Ibrahim, issued a statement addressing the ongoing issue of wages falling short of the cost of living. In an interview with Sinar Harian, he first pointed out that fresh graduates today typically earn between RM2,000 and RM3,000 per month, only a modest increase from his own starting salary of RM1,300 back in 1984. He believes that fresh graduates should be earning about RM7,000 to RM8,000 in this era, when adjusted for a 5% annual inflation rate. 'This equates to the purchasing power of RM300 – RM400 in the 1980s. In reality, wages have eroded by at least threefold,' he said. The former governor disclosed that Malaysia has been trapped in a middle-income cycle for years, with stagnant wages attributed to a number of structural issues, including failure to generate high-quality jobs and an outdated education system. So, how did the public react to the news? While many have long been aware of the issue and were therefore not entirely surprised, netizens expressed frustration at how little has been done to address the problem. Some argued that raising wages would not necessarily lead to improvement, as it could also drive up the cost of living. Others, however, suggested that wages should rise in line with inflation. Many agreed with Tan Sri Muhammad Ibrahim's statement while also sharing their struggles to earn their current salaries. The 70-year-old emphasised that Malaysia can reform, citing how other ASEAN countries have developed over the years. Let's hope something will be done to deal with this issue. What are your thoughts? Sources: SinarHarian, NST, Twitter (1)(2)
Rakyat Post
05-05-2025
- Business
- Rakyat Post
University Graduates Should Be Getting RM7k to RM8k, Says Former Bank Negara Governor
Subscribe to our FREE Everyone knows our salaries have stayed stagnant and low for years and the recent minimum salary raise to RM1,700 is a temporary balm. Former Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Muhammad Ibrahim said the salaries of university graduates should be within the RM7,000 to RM8,000 range, when adjusted to a 5% annual inflation rate. He remarked that fresh graduates are earning between RM2,000 and RM3,000 currently (if they're lucky to secure such jobs with that pay). He said Malaysians' real wages have declined nearly threefold over the past four decades, noting that the RM2,000 to RM3,000 today is just a little more than the RM1,300 he earned in 1984. Muhammad Ibrahim said the salary range between RM7,000 and RM8,000 equates to purchasing power of RM300 to RM400 in the 1980s. READ MORE: READ MORE: Netizens found this piece of news unsurprising with a user saying the salaries will not improve since most companies are penny pinchers. Another user wondered how those living in the Klang Valley could get by with at least RM3,000 a month, adding that it's no wonder so many are taking up part time jobs to cover costs. Of course our salary sucks when our bosses are penny pinchers. — Common people🇲🇾 (@dudeinhis20s) It's surprising how many people can still get by on just RM2-3K a month, especially those living in the Klang Valley. But then again, many of us are taking on part-time jobs just to make ends meet… — Ɐ M I R (@amir_afiq) Lol, what's new — ChoppyChopChop (@MrSnowF1ake) It's not that long ago the proposal to raise the minimum wage to RM1,500 was met with pushbacks. The Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) at the time said businesses MEF argued that the salary raise will push up the costs of goods and services and operation costs in medium and small companies. MEF eventually READ MORE: What's the solution to improve low salaries? Muhammad Ibrahim said Malaysians have been stuck in the middle-income trap for years. He shared that there needs to be a serious overhaul of Malaysia's education system and economic structure. He added that the heavy reliance on low-skilled foreign workers, the failure of generating high-quality jobs, and an outdated education and skills training system all lend to the growing problem. The problem is further compounded when Malaysians move abroad for better pay despite doing manual labour jobs there. If Malaysia fails to transform its economic structure, we risk becoming a net exporter of labour rather than talent. One day, our children could end up working as domestic helpers abroad — and I wouldn't be surprised if it happens. Former Bank Negara governor Muhammad Ibrahim The work to overhaul will be tough but it's possible. He mentioned countries like China, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan were once behind Malaysia in per capita income in the 1960s. These countries now far surpassed Malaysia after decades of targeted growth. He added that the country shouldn't benchmark itself against weaker Asean economies but aim for high-performing economies and focus on creating quality jobs. Share your thoughts with us via TRP's . Get more stories like this to your inbox by signing up for our newsletter.
