Found a brand new job offer in Bangsar South

Yeah you can get by fine with RM4000. At Bangsar South there is the newly built KL Gateway Mall and Apartments. The apartments rent out for around RM3k for 900 sq ft size with 2 bedrooms and the condo has a gym, nice pool, jacuzzi, hydrotherapy equipment in the pool etc. You may be able to negotiate a lower rental because while Block 1 was completed 6 months ago, Block 2 has only just been completed and landlords who are now decorating their apartments will be keen to rent out quickly and may be prepared to negotiate just to get their first tenants in.

Downstairs in the mall there is a big supermarket (Village Grocer) and shops and places to eat. However, you might want to do your own cooking or find some mamak places to eat outside which will be cheaper than eating in the mall. There are lots of other condos in that area to choose from. The LRT train station is a few steps away from the mall so transportation to other places is easy. Trains to the massive Mid Valley Mega Mall/Gardens take just a couple of minutes to get there and those malls have everything.

I think with a salary of RM4000 you should find accommodation at a lower price. You can rent rooms or studio at RM1000+. That is a salary of a average local Malaysian so you should be fine

Shehajaz wrote:

I think with a salary of RM4000 you should find accommodation at a lower price. You can rent rooms or studio at RM1000+. That is a salary of a average local Malaysian so you should be fine

I understood that accommodation is paid or provided by the employer and the salary of RM4k is on top of that.

Thanks for everyone's response.
I am really disappointed about salary because company HR person contact me back and informed me RM 4000 is over budget and they can only offer me only RM 3200. Did that offer reasonable to work as a PHP software engineer ?

Is accommodation separate.. That salary seems low

I am afraid to say that coming to work via the Foreign Worker system does sometimes result in lower salaries than those companies who will hire through the professional employment pass system. This is because often immigration agents are used and those expenses get back-charged to the employee :-((

Sometimes it should be viewed as a lifechanging opportunity to get a job offer in Malaysia. I think you can live off RM1200 per month with paid housing (and hopefully utiities) so the rest will be savings.

If you are coming on a FW basis, I hope that the employer is NOT going to expect you to pay the levies..... in fact perhaps that is what changed their mind about your salary. But of course, the levy is only paid ONCE and not every month.

You will have to submit an annual income tax return on the revised salary - do check that the employer is going to deduct and submit your tax for you on a monthly basis - because without that it can be a real headache and involve you in costs to take care of it yourself.

Frankly speaking, it is very "mickey mouse" to change the salary offer like that - it does raise the question about how professional and reliable the company actually is.

They told me accomodation can provide.

Then it should be fine

The accommodation is probably worth about RM500-800 per month which may account for the salary being reduced. However, the lower figure may mean you are actually sharing a room with one or more other people.

Hi,
With RM 3200 + company accommodation you can live happily if you are not looking for luxury life style.
But for an experienced PHP developer, this salary is quite low.
Its ok the start with if you don't have any offer... later after 1 year you can find new job in KL on better pay. Make sure your they don't bound you in employment contract.

Dear Gravitas thnak you very much for your time. I just asked to pay me at least RM 3500 per month. I am a php programmer with 2 years of industry experience. So kindly tell me with my expected salary what else should I aske from them to provide me ? Does it reasonable to ask to pay my internet, light bills and insurance scheme for me ? And I need separate room to stay without share with others. May i ask about that also ?

Fayzandotcom is an experienced member here so do rely on what he proposes. The devil is in the detail - so it's not demanding anything to just ask what type of accommodation they had in mind and to say you would need your own room. Internet//mobile phone/electricity/water will be around RM300 per month. Less expensive (e.g. RM150-200) if the costs are shared across the other tenants.

Do ask about income tax deduction. They should tell you that for the first 182 days the tax deduction is 28% currently. That makes quite a hole in your salary for 6 months, but it can be equalised over the whole tax assessment period i.e. Jan-Dec eventually.

I would advise you to become highly sensitive to reading contracts and small print on everything you encounter - to make sure there are no financial surprises.

Hello gravitas. As of your concern they told me taxt deduction for the 1st 182 days would be 28% and it should pay by myself. So which means RM 3200 X 28% = RM 896  taxes should pay. After 6 month company will decide to adjust salary. and within this month treat me as a probation employees. And also my contract period is 12 months.

asela28sl - this is not a good suggestion by the company - they are mandated to deduct the tax from your salary monthly (plus the value of the housing they have offered you will also be taxed in addition to the RM896 per month deduction). http://lampiran1.hasil.gov.my/pdf/pdfam/02_2017_2.pdf

This is a link to a document the tax office produces to help tax payers understand their resposnsibilities http://lampiran1.hasil.gov.my/pdf/pdfam/01_2017_2.pdf

The company need to work this all out to give your over all tax position and make the deduction before paying your salary into a bank account.

The company is behaving in a very strange manner and considering they apparently have offices in at a good address, is this job offer authentic?  Have they asked you to pay any money to get hired?

I really do hope they arrange your work permit correctly and you get your Visa with Reference done in SL before setting foot outside your country.

Thank you dear Gravitas. You and others are helped me a lot by giving suggestions. All the suggestions walk me to the clear cut decision. Thank you very much friends.

That's a good offer for me, especially they provide you an accomodation. I'm living in south bangsar now and I worked near Vertical. It is a good place to work. If you want a bit expensive foods in mall/ cafe restaurant, Nexus is accross your building. Lots of good foods there, the price is not that expensive. If you want cheaper, Suria Food court can reachable by walking distance in avenue 7 The Horizon, if you want street food, you can walk further to medan selera Bukit angkasa. Free shuttle bus around Bangsar South is available if you want to go to nearest Mal, KL gateaway or LrT station in Universiti. If you want to take a walk, there is a bridge that connect the office building to Kerinchi station. You can use Bus or Uber/ Grab (they always have promos). Enjoy your new life and work here. If need help, can contact me. Cheers...

I think the salary is low and its worse that the company changed the offer after it appears you accepted the job. Try to fight that.

Second, since they propose to change the salary, you really must approve your accommodation too. They lowered the salary, so now you will share a hostel with construction workers and maids? Better check all that. Where exactly do they intend to put you to live, or are they proposing a separate allowance and you find your own? If, for example, im just thinking out loud here, the real offer is 3200 + 800 for accommodation, this isnt going to work.

Third, money goes quite fast in Malaysia. 4K on top of an apartment is OK if you are careful how you spend. Do you have a wife and children coming too?

RM 3200 for a software engineer is to little, especially if you are a foreigner.  You can survive but you can't save anything unless you are really prudent.  I won't take the job.