The COVID-19 pandemic that struck us globally, including Malaysia really had a great impact on us, especially in the economy aspect.
With movement restriction that was introduced to contain this pandemic, many business activities are stopped. Worse, many lost their jobs due to companies cease to operate and reducing income.
Despite the negative impact that we faced, there is a silver lining in this life test. One of it is the development of digital lifestyle.
This pandemic seems to have spur the development of this lifestyle.
New norm of working
With movement control order, a lot of companies start adapting the new norm work policy which is work from home.
For the younger generation, this may be a normal policy because start-up companies have already adopted this style of work. However, for older companies especially the government agencies, this can be challenging.
Like it or not, we need to evolve to adapt to the new way of life. All activities are done online or digitally such as meetings, documentation, human resource management and many more.
Indirectly, this actually saves a lot of cost such as usage of power, office space and work force.
Online business opportunities
The downside of decreasing cost for companies is letting go of employees. However, with everything can be done online, there is actually online business opportunities that can be explored.
Moreover, with the new way of life, people prefer to buy things online to avoid close contact.
With introduction of various initiatives from the government and agencies for those who want to start their own business, this more or less help them to generate income and do small businesses first.
Besides that, they are also given guidance and training to further develop their businesses.
Increase in financial literacy
In this challenging economic situation, many are cautious in their financial planning. Cautious here means controlling their spending.
In addition, we spend more time online and are more likely to encounter financial planning knowledge without having to find it very hard. For example, when we open the Facebook, there are always sharing content from the financial experts.
This can be proven by the increase in family and general takaful participation of 29.6% and 16.4% respectively compared to life (12.2%) and general insurance (-1.3%).
Besides that, the investment industry also has changed from traditional to digital form.
Various legitimate investment instruments in Malaysia have been introduced digitally such as robo-advisor that can manage our investment using artificial intelligence technology (AI). With this, for those who do not have the time to monitor the investment can benefit from this technology.
More interestingly, there are many financial applications that can help consumers record all of their spending transactions. Therefore, consumer can manage their spending wisely.
With the help of technology, consumer can make the right decision. For example, there is a takaful calculator function offered in Great Eastern Takaful website where consumer can know the contribution estimates based on their own objectives.
Online learning
Today, we can get knowledge from online courses. When the school is closed, learning is done virtually.
Teachers also benefit from the technology advantage to ease the teaching process.
There are also generous parties who help those affected from the pandemic that provide various online courses for free.
Starting from school lessons to business topics offered, with easier access to these knowledge, the life status will be elevated.
Of course, this dynamic change won’t help to solve the problem within a short time. However, in the long term, it will definitely bring benefits to everyone.
Source:
1. https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/catalyst/covid-19-could-be-an-accelerant-to-digital-transformation/article31238517.ece
2. COVID-19: the changing fortunes of industries and how businesses can thrive (linkedin.com)
3. https://thefinancialbrand.com/102670/digital-transformation-requires-a-culture-of-innovation/
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