Life in Kuala Lumpur as a fresh grad

Let us assume that Daniel has just graduated from any college with a degree of four years.

Generally, the starting salary for fresh grad working in Malaysia is around 1800 - 2800 (after deduction due to epf and socso). Quite a big range so depending on where Daniel chooses to work or in this case, where he will be accepted to work since his result is not that good. However, he is a sweet talker and may be able to "dillusionize" the interviewer.

I believe with all my senses that working in the banking industry offer the highest pay for fresh grad in malaysia. higher than that is to work for international company like slumberger but the work is hell. you will not be staying anywhere for too long and for the first year you will be put into rigorous tests and exercises. once you passed everything, you will be posted just anywhere in the world. a friend to told about a friend of his who has to work in the middle of a dessert in sudan in a contenna for three months, then off for few weeks.

so back to salary pay, here are some that i know for new exec inclusive of allowances:

• petronas - 2500
• tnb - 2200
• powertek - 2200
• govt - 2900
• cimb - 3100
• Motorola - 2600
• audit firms - 1800++ (not sure)

so lets say daniel chooses to work in powertek, because the office is in menara maxis, which is very close to his home in jalan ampang, and he got to see chicks in KLCC. with 2200, the pay is quite low.
before he even touch the money about ~300 is deducted from his salary which is for epf and socso. the epf requires that 11% of your salary to be deposited into your epf account. so now at the end of month, daniel will receive 1900 for the month pay.

since daniel has no family in KL, he has to rent a room at about 300 which is ok and comfy. not too grand but good enough for single like daniel. he also has to pay installment for his car which he bought just after graduation, well, his father sponsored the deposit of 10% and now he has to pay the installment at 400 a month. for a month petrol, he has to pay about 300 since he likes to go out in the weekends, see some friends, make some loves and watch some movies. additionally, everyday he spent about RM15 for food, i.e. 4 for breakfast, 6 for lunch and 5 for dinner or in other possible combinations. but in average he need to spend about 15 a day for food. thus, for a whole month, 15 x 30 will equal to 450.

the basic spending will be = 300+400+300+450=1450
with 1900, he is left with = 1900 - 1450 = 350

so 350 left to spend, what about weekends? one could easily spend extra 50 every weekend. say you want to treat those special friends of yours, or just watching movies, play pool, bowling, buy new clothes, etc.. man i have no money left... what about the bills you have to pay? the phone, utilities, and so on. the bills may easily reached 100.

so basically, to live life comfortably as a fresh graduate living in kuala lumpur, 3000 is a good start for salary. some people just dont have a choice because he or she is bonded by contracts due to the sponsorship during their study and now have to work at a particular company for a certain number of years. poor 'em.