Starting salary for Research Assistant in Malaysia

 As soon as I finished my last paper in UKM, I packed all my remaining stuff and headed to Kuching. I didn't even travel like many graduates these days. I started my first real job as a research assistant in Institute of Health and Community Medicine, UNIMAS. My monthly salary was approximately RM1000. That's pathetically low. But who's complaining. For one who intend to pursue post graduate study and making a career in science, research assistantship is the very first step. Mind you, it's not easy to find such post in Malaysia. I don't claim to be the best. My boss gave me the chance to work in her lab because she liked someone with totally no experience with celll culture, DNA extraction and PCR. 

 

Six months passed and a new window of opportunity appeared. I was offered the post of Research Officer and Mastership in USM, with monthly salary double of what I earned in UNIMAS. One thing for sure. To be a good researcher, learning every scientific methods of getting an answer to science is pivotal. Being a Master candidate with salary is a privilege. Even to this very day.

  

In less than a year, I'm not very happy with the lab management. Not so much of having problem with my supervisor but sharing lab with other research group got on my nerves many a times. So, a word of advice here. Try not to join a research group with no lab facilities of its own. It doesn't worth the headache. 

 

 

I applied online for a research assistant vacancy in NUS, Singapore. I had no friends in the republic. I knew nobody there. The interview was difficult but the boss was happy with my research experience. I was offered a monthly salary of almost double of what I used to earn in USM. I'm actually follow a very conservative route of making a career in scientific world. 

In less than a year, I was offered a training in Miami for two years. Here lies the problem. Research assistantship is tied to the amount of grant applied. In other words, there will be not be much increments with the increasing years of work. I quited soon to join National Heart Centre as Research Officer with salary of at least 25% more of what I earned in NUS.

Last advice from me. If you are a Science graduate, always seek for every chance of improving your scientific skills. Don't look at the low salary in the beginning. Else, forget about being a scientist. Might as well becoming a lab technician which will earn you at least half a million ringgit in five years in Singapore.