How To Choose A Profession? Koon Yew Yin

Koon Yew Yin

Publish date: Sat, 15 Aug 2015, 04:41 PM

We are all born to do some work. Even if you are born with a golden spoon, you have to do some work to while away your time otherwise you will find your life too boring.

To choose a profession is a constant puzzle to all students, career guidance teachers and even parents. Career guidance teachers and parents generally believe that the students themselves should make the choice because they have to do the work they have chosen throughout their lives. This view seems logical because they are afraid that the students would blame them if they do not eventually like their recommended professions.

Does a student know enough at this young age to make such an important choice for a life time?

Many a student thinks he knows but often wind up choosing a career that is not completely satisfactory. Some frustrated ones eventually make a change after having wasted several years. I have seen many, including my only son who did a civil engineering degree course, changed to do accountancy. He is now happily making money from his investment.

Does it make sense when a student says that he likes science and mathematics so he must be a doctor or an engineer? If a subject called ‘How to make money?’ is taught in school, I believe almost all the students would like to study this subject and finally choose the profession of making money.

Happiness is every one’s ultimate aim in life. How can you be happy if you do not have enough money? Just look at your parents, in all their lives they have been working hard for money, spending prudently and trying to save some money for their children’s education and for their retirement when they are old. So, the most important consideration is money.

Which profession pays the best salary?

According to statistics, people in the banking and financial institutions enjoy the highest income on average. There are so many banks in every town or city and invariably the top 1 or 2 jobs in every bank are accountants. Accountants can easily find employment.

There are more than 1,000 public listed companies in Malaysia and invariably the top 2 or 3 jobs in every company are people involved in accountancy or finance. Top accountants usually become Chief Financial Officers and eventually become Chief Executive Officers of listed corporations. The CEOs of public listed companies enjoy the highest salary among all professionals. Even small companies pay their CEOs a few hundred thousand ringgit per year. The larger ones pay their CEO much more.

From the internet, I saw this report from The Malaysian Business Magazine Edition August 16th, 2011:

Here is the TOP 10 Highest Paid Directors for 2010 :

Rank Name of Director Company Amount Earned (RM) Million

01 Tan Sri Lim Kok Tay Genting 106,700,000

02 Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng IOI Corp 53,100,000

03 Tan Sri Lim Kok Tay Genting Malaysia 42,150,000

04 Datuk Sri Mohamed Nazir Abdul Razak CIMB Group Holdings 12,000,000

05 Tan Sri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun Berjaya Corp 11,750,000

06 Sandip Das Maxis 10,350,000

07 Tan Sri Teh Hong Piow Public Bank 9,302,000

08 Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin SP Setia 9,113,000

09 Tan Sri Yeoh Tiong Lay YTL Corp 8,500,000

10 Datuk Sri Edmund Santhara Kumar Ramanaidu Masterskill Education Group 8,500,000

The above salaries were for 2010. Can you imagine how much they are paid now?

Many of a student would say that he does not like accountancy because it is a boring profession. What is so enjoyable for an engineer in surveying or supervising construction work in the hot sun? You must bear in mind that it is likely the employer, a contractor or developer, is a businessman without tertiary education.

Fortunately we still have people who are really interested in engineering, otherwise we will not have so many buildings, highways and other infrastructures. Among the several branches of engineering, civil engineers have less difficulty in finding employment.

In most cases, if the job pays well, anybody will not mind if the work is not too enjoyable. So, it all boils down to money, the most important consideration. The average income for accountants is more than the average income for doctors or any other profession.

Many of my scholarship applicants are not sure what they want to study. To save my time and effort, I have prepared this article for them. I have given scholarships to about 300 poor students whose family income is less than Rm 3,000 per month to help them complete their tertiary education. Some of my scholarship recipients have already graduated.

When they graduate, they do not need to work for me nor they need to pay me back the amount I spent on them. They only have to promise me that when they are financially solvent, they must remember that I help them when they were poor and they should help other poor students. I hope many of the graduates will continue to do charity when I die.

I am 82 years old. I have already written in my will that all my remaining assets will be for charity after I die. At the meantime, I am trying to make more money from the stock market.

I hope this article is helpful to you, as students, career guidance teachers or parents.

Discussions

9 people like this. Showing 24 of 24 comments

Vttttt

Tq Mr Koon :)

2015-08-15 19:19

Leong Hong Haye

A very good advice indeed.

2015-08-15 19:22

lwnlkh

I can't think of anymore rewarding job except investing when I retire.

2015-08-15 19:30

tonytony

Instead of aiming for financial reward as the only reason in choosing your career, it is best to find interesting part of that career. I know friends who after finishing their degree immediately apply job in cruising industry. They spend few years aboard cruising ships stopping at different ports in different countries. In 2 years time, they already being to Canada, US, Latin America, Europe, Britain etc fully paid vacations while working. I also have friends who are passionate about Japan, start to seek employment with Japan based companies mid of their undergraduate. You dont look at salary range alone, look at the perks given too. Europe based mnc offer many advantages such fully subside housing loans, paid vacations, medical benefit extended to your family etc. However, the sad part is, almost all malaysian based companies offer the worst employment package. Perhaps the chinaman mentality remain stubborn culture.

2015-08-15 19:49

ks55

If you don't talk about doing own business, highest paid career are non technical professionals like fund managers, financial analysts, oil traders, forex traders, IB front office with the big four, business consultants with MBB(+A), VCs. Getting into such career will catapult you into global citizen category. You will be in great demand worldwide.

Lesser career will be medical doctors(consultant), lawyers, engineers, accountants, pharmacists, university professors, IT specialists,.......etc...etc....Of course, all these professionals can run their own businesses, that will fall under entrepreneurs and not career professionals.

Think big, make the world your home.

2015-08-15 20:34

tonytony

Sure, talk is cheap. Try telling your son to be ceo, oil trader, forex trader, or become global citizen category.

2015-08-15 20:44

calvintaneng

A good article.

However, the emphasis on money first is putting the cart before the horse. The answer should be, "Finding One's Own Passion in Life".

Someone says, "If you can find a job which is your passion, and get paid for it. Then you don't need to work for the rest of your life." That's why Warren Buffet tap dance to work.

How to find your life's calling or vocation?

The Answer is found in the Bible

"The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable (Romans 11:29)"

To Every everyone born on planet earth God has given gifts - both humans & animals.

God made the fish to swim & the birds to fly. They will be happy where they are. A fish out of water cannot be happy while the bird can sing on swaying branches in stormy weather.

A human is given gifts. How do we discover our gifts, then? By finding the passion!

Let me illustrate:

Years back when I was working in KL an MAS Steward was my next door neighbour. MAS vans would come and fetch him to Subang Airport. He would be away traveling the world. But that was not his passion.

His passion was to organize diving trips in the East Coast of Pahang and Trengganu.
To save cost he, his wife, children and his friends would set up tents on the seashore & do their diving and snorkeling among the beautiful corals. It was so carefree and so much fun. I wished I could join them. Only if I have the time.

Then one day he told me he had resigned from MAS! What a shock! How are you going to survive without a proper paying job? He said that he is happy with the small salary giving coaching lessons to divers. Moreover, he told me during air turbulence his head hit the ceiling of the plane a few times when MAS planes hit air pockets & suddenly dropped a few hundred feet! That's no fun at all. So he resigned (Maybe he escaped MH370 & MH37 fate later)

I was doing extremely well as a professional car wholesaler. Then one evening while still in KL surfing the internet these words hit me like a tornado "Failure's hard but success at the wrong thing can lock you in forever" (Under Discovering Your Life Purpose and Destiny in www.mindreality.com). These words shook me up! Do I intend to sell cars all my life? No. That's Not what I want in life. So I left a lucrative job for Spore! And I switched to my passion now! My passion of pursuing what I really love to do. I feel very fulfilled & happy now.

Warren Buffet used to buy shares of companies. He even used Berkshire to buy out the entire company! After having made billions $ Warren asked these former owners to stay on as CEO. They got their billions. Do they need the money? No. They do the job not because of the money. They did it for the joy, the satisfaction & the fulfillment.

So first find a passion. Your life's calling is within your gifts. Your gifts will show the way. Never mind about the money path. It will come later as an outgrowth of your gifts & calling.

2015-08-15 20:47

tonytony

Post removed.Why?

2015-08-15 21:06

tonytony

Post removed.Why?

2015-08-15 21:09

Equityengineer

Success on others eyes is not your success. Would still believe do the thing you are passionate with but we all have different responsibility in life. We can't simply walk away from this. I think mostly in this category.

2015-08-15 22:06

kkw812004

ks55,do u mind sharing what does your son do for a living?RM 400K salary per annum or per month ? Is he happy at what he's doing now? Considering he's paid well for his work at such a young age

2015-08-16 11:30

kshit

Post removed.Why?

2015-08-16 11:32

apanama

Dublin after hit by financial crisis, accountant also no job..hahaha..money is a tool to make you a fool if u r too obsess with it. Most of us will loss more. :)..however, its not about win or loss that made this country and nation developed. Its all about your DIGNITY. if you have tonne of money, but you cheat. Manipulating stocks etc etc..what for..hehehe..or worst still insider trading .hahaha...just chill n relax..you win more..good for you..you loss..just get up stand up and fight..:)

2015-08-16 11:48

Karenng

Dear Mr Koon Yew Yin, I am very touch by your sharing. Your good intentions and motives to help especially the poor really inspire me. I always enjoy reading your postings. At your age, you still have the passion, desire & energy to help and to advise as and when necessary. May God bless you always in all the good you do. Have a nice day.

2015-08-17 11:39

skyz

"I have prepared this article for them. I have given scholarships to about 300 poor students whose family income is less than Rm 3,000 per month to help them complete their tertiary education"

In the end of the day, its just an article to highlight the above

2015-08-17 11:52

kmohan62

Mr.Koon..keep up the good work...good advice unfortunately there some who are born just to criticise others for the sake of criticizing ...let's have some pity on those souls.

2015-08-17 13:54

murali

Post removed.Why?

2015-08-17 14:39

timetokoon

Post removed.Why?

2015-08-17 14:42

murali

Post removed.Why?

2015-08-17 19:36

btlooi

be an Uxno politician and waiting for donation is much more easier.

2015-08-18 18:30

pharker

If given a choice of balls to lick, timetokoon and murali din get their share..that's why got so pissed. Improve their act and may be they will get some BJ, toherwise amy have to settle DIY HJ

2015-08-21 17:39

murali

Pharket,hope u happy licking old balls,....enjoy

2015-08-21 20:09

pharker

Murali...so sorry noboady wants your balls..people prefer lick old balls than your stinking balls...so pitiful...sour grape crybaby

2015-08-25 11:50

Im Jinyao Hong

Dear Mr. Koon, I have read through your biography and I was touched by your intention to help us student from poor family to get through these hardships. I am a civil engineering student from UTAR and I will be like you one day in the future. May God bless you and your family.

2015-09-27 16:12

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