Seeking advice from sifus here

I'm currently working for a small bank in Malaysia as a senior exec with salary of gross RM5k pm. I'm a scholar so there is a bond period attached with my employment terms. Basically, if I leave the bank before the bond period, i have to pay back. Amount is uncertain for now but in the thereabouts of RM350k - RM450k

Recently I got an offer from a big bank in SG. Offer is SGD4k. Prob gross. Position is maybe a level lower than my current position but the job scope is a bit different (currently in strategy, but the offer is for risk management, which i have a background in)

Question is, should I jump? The SG offer is tempting, but I'm worried I need to spend nearly half of my SG salary paying back the bond. What's leftover may be a bit difficult to live on, but doable if I really save. I also am tempted by the jump in career since its a bigger bank in SG (one of the 3 big banks) and the job scope interest me more than what I'm doing now.

y not?

How long is your bond? 400K - what did you study? How long you're in current role? What make you think there is no career progression here? There are few more threads on living cost in SG and their work culture. So read that too.

10 years
Studied actuarial science in london.
Worked in my co for about 3 years but about 2 years in my current role in strategy
Limited career progression in my view coz my current bank is very small and only has exposure to MY market. It's not even as big as Alliance. The other SG bank has regional presence in ASEAN and in other international markets and so seems to offer a lot for me to learn. Plus my background seems to jive with the risk management role more than my current role

Will see those living in SG threads. Didnt know they existed

I think you should.

Firstly, it is easier to switch role while you are young and this opportunity is not easy to come by.

Cost of living aside, you are making an extra RM7k a month so it only takes around 5 years to even out assuming your progress in both companies are similar. However, Sg bank give you better exposure .

Also, you are free to move around after this . The next jump might be much higher pay !

Try negotiate with your current employer to pay back with a longer terms.

I dont think you want to stay in the same role to complete your bond .

Best of luck .


p/s My guess is , you graduated from LSE , bonded by CIMB.

This post has been edited by tpleong: Oct 18 2022, 12:23 PM

True, but when I estimated my budget if I take the job, I would have very little in savings. Maybe SGD200-300 at best coz the 4k is a gross figure. True Sg bank can give me better exposure, but I feel like I'm taking a massive risk coz savings is less than now and if I lose the job in SG for whatever reason, I'm all nroke rd

Just spoke to my employer, they only allow the tenure to be for the remaining period of the bond i.e. 7 years in my case. Best they can do to help out is to do a step up structure where first year is like 2k then increase afterwards

Ps the LSE part is correct but not CIMB. Dont wanna name the bank, but its govt owned

Life is about risk . You can still afford to take it while you are young . It will be even harder when you have a family .

sgd4k for 3 years of experience really on a down side to be honest given a lot MNCs/banks/firms adjusted the fresh entry pay recently

On the positive side, can only take it as a stepping stone to singkie land and work hard for the next role/jump. Look at longer term

LSE is a good start, but the exposure in small bank could be the pain point, i.e. the experiences may not mean much to regional/global banks here

So, this step (assuming you take the role) is to break the vicious cycle of staying in under-exposed work environment. However, be prepared to get into another which is your lower than average base pay.

Hate it but that's how HK SG banks take advantage of Malaysians. ok this scene probably not only happens in banking

Mind sharing what's the new role about? Hoping it's more quantitative to suit your background. Risk management is too general.

It's interest rate risk management. So its things like modelling and monitoring NSFR, Net cashoutflow and LCR. Fairly operational stuff.

The draw was that the bank's book is very large and regional. Data science skills are needed which I dabble in. My current role does not do any of these, hence, I feel quite drawn

The 4k SGD does seem quite low in my view. If I factor in repaying my bond, I may be left with just SGD300 or less at the end of each month, which is smaller than my current savings of around RM2k. Yet the exposure is tempting

I see, it's like balance sheet management, non-traded interest rate risk book. Honestly, modelling skills requirements are not high in this area given the maturity state of banks in this region. In case you are eager to apply a lot of your maths from actuarial science

Yeah it's a tough call for that bond amount.

What about try asking to do risk management stuff in current bank and few years later you can demand higher base with relevant experience.

I haven't attempted that option, but there isn't headcount afaik in my current bank as there is already another scholar there. He also has an actuarial background and he got a bit lucky in that dept. I was pulled in strategy

The bond amount is an issue. Just got confirmation that it is around 370k and every month need to pay around ~RM4.5k (around SGD1.5k). Still seems like a tough call to make

How long is bond period? Do a total cost cycle calculation to see if its worth working in SG over bond period. Price is rising in SG, $2K per month basic expenses for a single.

It is competitive in SG, family distant are some of the negatives. Although foreigner dont need to contribute CPF, it also means you get no CPF contribution by the company.

Lower tax (!) , strong currency, and meritocracy are the positives.

This post has been edited by mea05key: Oct 19 2022, 08:38 PM

i moved to Singapore recently at age of 34, single.

maybe it is not too late to work in Singapore after completely serving your bond, considering you can apply for senior roles at that age. But from another point of view, definitely there will an issue like buying house and settling down at mid 30 in Singapore.

4k pay at SG now is a joke for mid level or senior level positions. The rental for a store room is already S$750 from what I saw. If you want to live like a normal person in a normal room (what they called common room), you will most likely spend S$1000 above. That price still you need to deal with a lot of crazy landlord.
Personally I suggest you stay for a few years in Malaysia and accumulate experience, until you can get an offer above 5k and come in as an EP holder.

Rental now for store room sudah mencecah SGD1000/sebulan.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/budg...ts-to-be-raised

Maybe TS want to check again the offer? As per the latest update, the banking / financial sector minimum pay will be $5.5k

How u are going to pay back your bond? They allow u pay by installment? Or u have to loan to pay them back?
If yes than you are basically loan to get a $4k job in SGD, and u from financial sector u should well aware about the compound interest... u will eventually paying more than what u owe them.
And 4k SGD is kinda low for what u are trading in... U are trading in a huge debt which enough to buy u a house. And dont forgot 4k is your gross income only.

How are you going to raise RM400k?

Tbh the biggest problem is your current company lowballed you and kept your pay low (probably due to the bond, since they know it’s hard for you to leave)

An LSE grad with 3 yrs exp getting just RM5k…

4k sgd is definitely on the low side.Better seek the opportunities with 6k and above with your current qualification.

Instead of yearning for merely 4k in which a garbage collector there is aldy earning, get a pro cert like FRM or SOA (since u are from actuarial background) to get yourself the bargaining chips for even higher pay. By then 10k or above is no longer an issue as SG is very qualification-centric.