Singapore adults expect 35% pay raise after bachelor's degree

Year-end is coming fast like a bullet train. The 4-digit number is changing yet another time and very soon working adults would be expecting raise in their salary comes January. What's your expectation - 5%, 10%? I can bet all my money on you that you are expecting the highest possible.

How about a 35% pay rise? Sounds good?

In Singapore, money seem to be the biggest motivator for many to upgrade their education level. But then I suppose it is also the case in many other countries.

A quarter of Singapore adults believe they deserve 50% pay raise after first degree

Adult learners expect 35% pay raise after first degree

Singapore adult learners expect an average pay raise of 35% after attaining their first Bachelor degree, while almost one in four (23%) believed their first degree entitles them to an average increase of 50% or more in wages.

According to findings from the 2012 JobsCentral Learning Rankings & Survey, a similar portion of those surveyed (24.6%) expect to get a 50% increase and above in wages when they attain post-graduate qualifications such as Masters, PhD or MBA.

“Most employers acknowledge their employees’ new qualifications but will not automatically increase pay,” says Lim Der Shing, CEO, JobsCentral Group.

“Usually a pay increment will only be given if the employee is outperforming, underpaid or taking on new duties. So it is important to discuss wage expectations with your employer before you embark on a costly education programme,” he added.

The survey also found that the top course of study was business studies/ management, followed by finance/ investment in second place and accounting in third. Hospitality/ tourism/ F&B came in fourth position, while sales/marketing came in a close fifth.

Alright, nobody seems to like engineering courses in Singapore.


Source: Yahoo News

Samsung Africa launches Solar-powered Internet schools

Watch it Malaysia.

Because we can definitely do this and we can even surpass what they did in South Africa. We have the talents (experienced designers and installers), we have many remote areas, and most of all, we have the social obligation - and the leaders pledge - to extend similar services to the rural folks. The hilly terrain should not be too much of a challenge to transport stuff anymore nowadays. The implementation of the promised Internet Village should be intensified and do away with too much hassle.

We do not have to wait for Samsung to do CSR for us, do we?

A 40-foot shipping container-turn-school.

They did it in South Africa

Samsung has built the first-of-its-kind solar-powered internet schools in the remote rural areas of South Africa, with design specifically to thwart theft. The schools are understood to have been equipped with Samsung's tablet PCs, laptop computers, internet connection, wi-fi cameras.

Samsung reckon that, on average, less than 25% of rural areas on the continent benefit from electricity, resulting in isolated communities with limited access to education and connectivity.

The solar-powered schools are built for energy scarce environments, harsh weather conditions, and for transportation over long distances. The solar panels, made from rubber (not glass) provide enough energy to power the classroom’s equipment for up to nine hours a day, and for one and a half days without any sunlight at all. The selection of rubber material over glass is to withstand long journey into the rural areas.


KK Park, President and CEO of Samsung Africa, on the initiative:

“We have set an ambitious goal for ourselves in Africa: to positively affect 5-million lives by 2015. We believe that this can most effectively be achieved if we connect our CSR initiatives with our history and core business. With the goal to grow our business on the continent, we also know that we have to sustain our level of innovation. This can only be achieved if we invest in education to facilitate African thought leadership and to ensure we have access to a large workforce of skilled engineers in the future. The Solar Powered Internet School is a great example of this strategy at play.”

The classroom can accommodate 21 student. It is also equipped with a 50-inch electronic board.

The classroom is equipped with a smart power consumption monitor that detects if people use the solar setup to power anything that they are not supposed to, such as television sets. I think this is a good idea but being in a remote area, Samsung should provide some socket outlets for the community to charge their electric lanterns, communication tools, etc. This should serve the general public even further.

If 'power theft' is a concern, Samsung can always password-protect the power sockets.


Source: designboom and Samsung Tomorrow.

Big name brands embrace Solar Power

We have huge shopping malls around us.

While many of the popular stores and consumer brands in US embrace solar power, we seem to be more laid back about it. Even the US-based IKEA in Peninsula Malaysia have not initiated anything similar to what their sister stores back home did.

A recent report from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), in conjunction with the Vote Solar initiative, offers a snapshot of some of America's biggest companies and their varying committments to commercial solar installations.


Most big brands in US have solar PV installed on top of their roofs. Image from www.seia.org


Why bother?

Energy costs make up a significant chunk of a business's operating expenses. A solar PV system helps to reduce these costs, improve the bottom line and allow a company to focus more energy and financial resources on their core competencies.

The rapidly falling cost of solar energy has made solar an increasingly appealing investment for American businesses. Between the second quarter of 2011 and the second quarter of 2012, the average price of a completed commercial PV system fell by nearly 14 percent.3 The economics of PV have become so attractive that many of the best managed corporations, which are synonymous with low cost and efficiency, are adopting solar energy on a massive scale across the U.S. 


Covered with solar panels. Walmart, Marina, California. Photo: seia.org

Source: Website of Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) - report