Pirateer: A Malaysian Career Path.

I was passing through Engadget’s Archives looking for Tablet-PC reviews when I saw this posting about an “Engadget Store” in Malaysia. There is absolutely no affliation between the physical store and the online website. If you read both the new posting and old posting at Engadget’s site, you will find that there are literally hundreds of comments from shocked readers.

Many self-proclaimed graphic experts even went so far as to ‘prove’ the image was photoshopped. Ironically, they were proven wrong when two videos of the store were finally posted to prove that the store indeed did exist in Malaysia’s Midvalley Mall.

I am not the least bit shocked. We Malaysians have been pirating anything and everything in Malaysia since before I was born!

We have pirated computer games, pirated movies, pirated clothes, pirated electronics, pirated watches, pirated bags, pirated shoes, pirated handphone (aka cellphone) accessories, pirated books, and the list is endless. In fact, pirated goods are so abundant in Malaysia that you would be hard pressed to find original goods!

Pirating goods in Malaysia is no longer just a black-market activity that takes place in back-alleys and secluded stores, it has now mutated into a huge ‘broad-daylight’ market in Malaysia! You can find pirated goods at many Malaysian malls, you can find them at Malaysia’s famous night-markets, you can find them anywhere! You don’t even have to find them, they come looking for you!

Many would speak about how piracy leads to loss in a nation’s economic growth. Let’s look at it from a more interesting perspective.

Can you imagine all the jobs that piracy creates in Malaysia? Here is a quick list I came up with:

• Manufacturing - People who actually do the copying/pirating of products.
• Logistics - People to handle the logistics of distribution. After all, it must take significant skill to distribute illegal goods without being caught.
• Sales/Marketing - People who do the actual selling or running of stores that sell pirated goods.
• Finance - People who come up with the initial capital requirements and finance many stores.
• Material Suppliers - People who supply pirateers the materials they need to run their businesses.
• Public Relations - You even need people who handle the ‘other people’ (ie. the cops and other authorities) who would otherwise prevent pirateer business.

The next time someone asks you what Malaysia is famous for; don’t think about our export businesses, our world famous beaches, or even the grand Petronas Twin Towers. Instead, tell them about the Malaysian Pirateers and how they bring more variety of goods to the Malaysian people.