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South China Morning Post
19-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
In the heart of ‘Silicon Malaysia', spiralling living costs dent big chip dreams
Despite headline-grabbing investments, factory workers in Kulim struggle to make ends meet as the cost of rent and other essentials surges At a quiet coffee shop on the outskirts of Kulim's sprawling industrial zone, Azmin unscrews the cap of his mineral water bottle, exhales deeply, and reflects on the gap between the ambitious promises of 'Silicon Malaysia' and the reality on the ground. From his vantage point as a recruiter for one of the region's fastest-growing semiconductor production hubs, the tech sector's promises of abundant job opportunities feel hollow. 'We haven't had much demand lately,' Azmin told This Week in Asia, requesting to be identified by only his first name for fear of losing future business. 'The last round of recruitment we handled was a few months ago for 20 people at a smaller factory.' While the government paints a picture of booming industry and economic transformation, Azmin sees another side of the story. Development has raised land prices, with houses and rents surging in an area that was once oil palm plantations and farmland. The result has been good for property speculators, but bad for everyone else, he said. A decade ago, Azmin bought a modest home for 95,000 ringgit (US$22,100). Today, similar houses fetch at least 300,000 ringgit. Kulim Hi-Tech Park, established 30 years ago, was built on 5,600 acres (2,300 hectares) of cleared farmland to support Penang's semiconductor boom. Azmin's family, originally from Penang, were among the first to spot the park's potential. German chipmaker Infineon's facility at Kulim Hi-Tech Park. Photo: Shutterstock Over the years, big names like Austria's AT&S and German chipmaker Infineon have moved in. Infineon last year pledged €5 billion (US$5.6 billion) to expand its facility, while AT&S recently launched a 5 billion ringgit (US$1.2 billion) plant in the park. Newsletter Every Saturday SCMP Global Impact By submitting, you consent to receiving marketing emails from SCMP. If you don't want these, tick here {{message}} Thanks for signing up for our newsletter! Please check your email to confirm your subscription. Follow us on Facebook to get our latest news. But for many, these headline-grabbing investments do not translate into prosperity. 'It's good that there are jobs, but factory workers earn just 1,700 ringgit,' Azmin said, referencing Malaysia's minimum wage. 'Renting a place in Kulim will cost at least 700 ringgit now. If a factory worker has a wife and two children, they won't have anything left after spending on necessities.' Kulim, home to about 120,000 people, was hit hard by pandemic-era lockdowns and has struggled to recover from the economic scars of Covid-19. Official figures show nearly 10 per cent of the district's population lives in poverty. But industry leaders argue that the tech sector offers some of the best pay in Malaysia. Workers in the electrical and electronics sector earn double the national average wage, according to the Malaysian Semiconductor Industry Association. 'With competition [in the industry], salaries will continue to move [upwards],' said the association's president, Wong Siew Hai. AT&S reports that entry-level engineers at its Kulim facility earn starting salaries of around 5,000 ringgit, while it says factory line workers take home over 3,000 ringgit a month – well above the minimum wage. A worker inspects semiconductor chips at a chip packaging company in Malaysia. Photo: Reuters Resource drain? Malaysia's government aims to attract 500 billion ringgit (US$116 billion) in semiconductor investments and produce 60,000 engineers and technicians by 2030. Kulim Hi-Tech Park management announced plans in November to double its area to 12,000 acres (4,900 hectares), highlighting the high demand for industrial space. However, rapid industrialisation comes at a cost. Semiconductor plants and data centres are notoriously resource-intensive, consuming vast amounts of electricity and clean water. Malaysia's water services commission warned earlier this year that existing data centres were already pushing water supplies to the brink. In Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Johor states, the 101 data centres present collectively require 808 million litres (213.5 million gallons) of water daily, yet current infrastructure can only supply less than 20 per cent of that demand. A man wades through flood waters in Malaysia's Johor state in 2023. Photo: AFP The issue is not a lack of rainfall – Malaysia receives more than 970 million cubic metres (34.3 billion cubic feet) annually – but rather poor water management. 'We are already experiencing serious water issues despite the fact that we are water rich,' said Chan Ngai Weng, president of conservation group Penang Water Watch. Chan stressed the need for industrial users to adopt sustainable practices, including water recycling and rainwater harvesting. Without these measures, he warned, the rush to expand industrial capacity could leave household taps dry. 'Silicon Malaysia' may yet deliver on its promises, but for Kulim's workers and small businesses, the benefits so far are unevenly distributed. In the race to build the future, who will be left behind in the rush for progress?
Malay Mail
16-05-2025
- Business
- Malay Mail
Why the US-China tariff deal may be too little, too late for millions of struggling Chinese workers
BEIJING, May 17 — Chinese worker Liu Shengzun lost two jobs in just one month as US import tariffs shot up to triple digits in April, forcing a Guangdong lighting products factory, and then a footwear maker, to reduce output. Tariffs came down dramatically this week, but Liu has given up on factory jobs and is now back farming in his hometown in southern China. 'It's been extremely difficult this year to find steady employment,' said the 42-year-old, who used to earn 5,000 to 6,000 yuan (RM2979 to RM3574) a month as a factory worker and now doesn't have a steady source of income. 'I can barely afford food.' The rapid de-escalation in the US–China trade war after the Geneva talks last weekend has helped Beijing avoid a nightmare scenario: mass job losses that could have endangered social stability — what the ruling Communist Party sees as its top-most priority, key to retaining its legitimacy and ultimately power. But this year's US tariff hikes of 145 per cent left lasting economic damage and even after the Geneva talks remain high enough to continue to hurt the job market and slow Chinese growth, say economists and policy advisers. 'It was a win for China,' a policy adviser said of the talks, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the topic's sensitivity. 'Factories will be able to restart operations and there will be no mass layoffs, which will help maintain social stability.' But China still faces challenging US tariffs of 30 per cent on top of duties already in place. 'It's difficult to do business at 30 per cent,' the adviser added. 'Over time, it will be a burden on China's economic development.' Before the meeting in Switzerland, Beijing had grown increasingly alarmed about internal signals that Chinese firms were struggling to avoid bankruptcies, including in labour-intensive industries such as furniture and toys, Reuters reported last week. Now there's some relief. Lu Zhe, chief economist at Soochow Securities, estimates the number of jobs at risk has fallen to less than 1 million from about 1.5 to 6.9 million before the tariff reduction. Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief Asia Pacific economist at Natixis, had estimated the triple-digit tariffs could cause 6 to 9 million job losses. Current tariff levels could trigger 4 to 6 million layoffs, while if tariffs drop by a further 20 per cent some 1.5 to 2.5 million jobs could be lost, she said. China's 2025 economic growth could slow by 0.7 percentage points in the most optimistic scenario, 1.6 points under the current tariffs, or 2.5 points if the conflict returns to April's intensity, she estimated. 'When you increase the tariffs to such a high level, many companies decide to stop hiring and to start basically sending the workers back home,' Garcia-Herrero said. 'At 30 per cent, I doubt they will say, okay, come back. Because it's still high,' she added. 'Maybe the Chinese government is saying, wow, this was amazing. But I think many companies are not sure that this is going to work.' 'Unstable' Government advisers say China is trying to mitigate manufacturing job losses with higher state investment in labour-absorbing public projects and by using the central bank to channel financial resources where new jobs could be created. The People's Bank of China last week unveiled a new tool to provide cheap funds for services and elderly care, among other stimulus measures. 'On employment, the most important driver will come from increased government investment given that the enthusiasm for corporate investment has yet to rise,' said Jia Kang, founding president of the China Academy of New Supply-Side Economics. Beijing will try to keep the budget deficit ratio at the roughly 4 per cent level agreed in March, but a higher number 'cannot be ruled out if a serious situation arises,' he said. The exact impact of last month's tariff spike on the job market is unknown. A factory activity survey predicted employment declined in April, but analysts believe Beijing was more concerned about a potential acceleration of job losses than the absolute numbers over the course of a month. Exporters had already been paring back their workforce to stay competitive in what risks turning into a deflationary spiral. 'It's hard to give a figure,' a second policy adviser said of job losses. 'The economy is already weak and the tariff war is adding frost on top of snow, but it's just frost.' A major stumbling block to job creation is the perceived unpredictability of US President Donald Trump's tariff policies, which is keeping exporters cautious, analysts say. Li Qiang was among a group of up to 20 people losing their jobs at a company that acted as an intermediary, exporting pneumatic cylinders, which are used in industrial machinery and were made by other Chinese firms. His company closed after losing US orders and being outcompeted in Japan, where rivals rushed to replace the American market. He now works as a ride-hailing driver in the southwestern city of Chengdu and has no plans to return to the export sector, even after the easing of US–China tensions. 'Trump's policies toward China could change at any time, which makes jobs in export-related industries unstable,' said Li. 'I don't plan to put any effort into working in the export sector anymore.' — AFP
Daily Mail
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Rise of the machines: When robots go rogue - from humanoids that turned on handlers and attacked crowds to the factory malfunction that ended in worker's gruesome death
They were built to serve, programmed to protect, and designed to obey. But chilling moments captured on camera across the globe, show that machines meant to make life easier can go haywire - even occasionally turning on their human creators with shocking speed and force. From factory floors to festivals, there are moments that show robots are not infallible. In 2022, a seven-year-old boy's finger was broken after a robot grabbed it during what was meant to be an innocent chess tournament in Russia. Three months ago, a humanoid robot lunged into a screaming crowd during a Chinese out door concert, forcing security to drag it back from the barriers. And in 2023, a factory worker was crushed to death after a robot failed to differentiate him from a box of vegetables and pushed him against a conveyor belt. Experts have chillingly warned that as the lines blur between man and machine, these incidents may be only the beginning. When chess robots go bad In 2022, a chess-playing robot broke a child's finger during a tournament in Russia, with the incident being captured in CCTV footage. The robot grabbed the seven-year-old boy's finger because it was confused by his overly-quick movements, Russian media outlets reported, quoting the President of the Moscow Chess Federation - who seemingly blamed the child. The incident occurred at the Moscow Open on July 19. Lazarev said that the federation had rented the robot for the event, which ran from July 13 to 21. The footage shows the robot - which consists of a single mechanical arm with multiple joints and a 'hand' - was in the middle of a table and surrounded by three different chess boards. It's AI can reportedly play three matches at the same time. Captured by a camera over the boy's shoulder, the video starts by showing the robot as it picks up a piece from the board and drops it into a box to the side - used to contain the discarded pieces from the game. As it does so, the young boy reaches to make his next move. However, the robot appears to mistake the boy's finger for a chess piece, and grabs that instead. Upon grabbing the boy's finger, the mechanical arms freezes in place, trapping the boy who begins to panic. Several people standing around the table rush in to help him, and after a few seconds are able to free him from the robot's grip. Lazarev said in his statement that the boy was able to return to the tournament the following day in a case, and finished the tournament. Household robot tries to 'eat' woman's hair A South Korean woman who invested in a robot vacuum cleaner in 2015 was left in shock when it seemingly attempted to 'eat' her. The 52-year-old resident of Changwon city was taking a nap on the floor at her home when the vacuum cleaner locked on to her hair and sucked it up. The pain of having her hair entangled within the contraption caused her to wake up instantly. Unable to free herself, she called the fire department with a 'desperate rescue plea' and was separated from the robot's clutches by paramedics, according to local reports from the time. She escaped serious injury, although it is not known whether she retained the autonomous cleaner's services. Humanoid robot attacks crowd at Chinese festival Video footage taken on February 9, 2025, shows the human-shaped robot, adorned with a bright jacket, appearing to lunge at a group of people behind a barricade at the Spring Festival Gala in Tianjin, northeast China. Its erratic movements forced the festival's security to drag it back from the crowd, over fears it may harm someone. The event organisers reportedly described the incident as a 'simple robot failure.' They added that the robot had passed previous safety tests, and that additional measures would be put in place to make sure this wouldn't happen again. Many have expressed deep fears over the rising influence of machines in human lives. Robot tries to break free from restraints while attacking handler In May 2025, a humanoid robot was seen attacking its handler while trying to break free from restraints in a scene viewers branded 'dystopian'. In CCTV footage from a factory in China, the black robot could be seen attached to a miniature crane before it suddenly began swinging its arms back and forth. As it flew into a rage and lashed out, a man sitting behind a nearby computer began ducking while another man standing behind the robot backed away. The robot - seemingly of its own accord - raised its arms in the air and brought them down again, repeating the motion with increasing speed and violence. It then began walking forward as it thrashed around in an apparent bid to break free from the crane. The men could both be seen flinching and cowering while raising their arms to shield their face as they moved out of its path. The computer monitor toppled tp the floor and other items were knocked over from the desk as the men attempted to flee from the out-of-control robot. Eventually, one of the men pulled the crane from behind in a bid to stop the spree of destruction. Dog walker 'attacked' by Co-op delivery robot A dog walker claimed he was attacked by a Co-op delivery robot with a 'mind of its own' after it rammed into his German Shepherd in 2023. Brian Dawson, 56, said a shopping bot crashed into his dog Pippa while they were walking on the pavement near a Co-Op branch in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. The robots are meant to be programmed to avoid collision but Dawson, a Tesco delivery driver, said it went on to ram him in the leg, causing him to kick the droid to remove it 'out of harm's way'. Footage from Dawson's neighbour's doorbell camera, shows the shopping containing travelling at pace down the pavement before coming to an abrupt stop after colliding with the animal. Infuriated by the crash, Dawson shoved it onto its side which 'triggered its alarm' and made a 'terrible racket'. He then drove to make a complaint to the store, when the robot appeared, the alarm was still making a racket. Dawson added that he tried to complain to Co-op staff but was told by the manager that the robot was not his responsibility. Tesla robot attacks an engineer at factory A Tesla engineer was attacked by a robot during a brutal and bloody malfunction at the company's Giga Texas factory near Austin in 2021. Two witnesses watched in horror as their fellow employee was attacked by the machine designed to grab and move freshly cast aluminum car parts. The robot had pinned the man, who was then programming software for two disabled Tesla robots nearby, before sinking its metal claws into the worker's back and arm, leaving a 'trail of blood' along the factory surface. The incident - which left the victim with an 'open wound' on his left hand - was revealed in a 2021 injury report filed to Travis county and federal regulators, which was reviewed by While no other robot-related injures were reported to regulators by Tesla at the Texas factory in either 2021 or 2022, the incident came amid years of heightened concerns over the risks of automated robots in the workplace. Man crushed to death by a robot A man was crushed to death by a robot in South Korea after it failed to differentiate him from a box of vegetables in 2023. The victim, a robotics company worker in his 40s, was inspecting the machine's sensor at a distribution centre for agricultural produce in South Gyeongsang. The machine, which was lifting boxes of peppers onto a pallet, grabbed the man with its arm and pushed him against the conveyer belt, crushing his face and chest. The robot appeared to have malfunctioned and identified the man as a box, police sources said at the time. The victim was transferred to the hospital but died later, according to the South Korean Yonhap news agency. Robot kills worker at Volkswagen plant A robot killed a contractor at one of Volkswagen's production plants in Germany in 2015. The man died at the plant in Baunatal, about 100km (62 miles) north of Frankfurt, VW spokesman Heiko Hillwig said. The 22-year-old was part of a team that was setting up the stationary robot when it grabbed and crushed him against a metal plate, Hillwig added. He said initial conclusions indicated that human error was to blame, rather than a problem with the robot, which can be programmed to perform various tasks in the assembly process. He said it normally operates within a confined area at the plant, grabbing auto parts and manipulating them.
