Stop Telling Every Young Malaysian to Learn Coding

How coding came into my life

The internet has pushed one simple story for years: technology is the future, software engineers earn well, you can work remotely, you do not need a traditional background, therefore everyone should learn to code. It sounds logical, and it makes a great advert. After teaching, talking to and watching hundreds of people try to enter tech, I no longer believe that story is completely true.

I studied finance. I was not the kid coding at 12 or building computers. I came to technology later, through startups, venture capital and business, and I noticed that almost every ambitious idea eventually touched technology. Reaching more customers, launching a product, serving thousands of people without hiring thousands: all technology. If I wanted to be a founder, understanding it would give me leverage. So I taught myself.

At first it felt like a superpower. You have an idea in your head, open your laptop and slowly turn it into something real. No factory, no millions of ringgit, no permission from anyone. Learning to code genuinely opened a world of opportunities for me: understanding developers, building products, communicating technical ideas, making better founder decisions. It is part of why Sigmaschool exists. So I am the last person to tell you coding is not worth learning. But I have also seen the other side.

Loving the outcome, hating the process

I have seen people force themselves to learn coding because they heard it pays well. They did not enjoy sitting with a bug for two or three hours. They did not enjoy breaking a hard problem into small pieces, or constantly learning new tools. They did not enjoy the work. They enjoyed the idea of the outcome: the salary, remote work, a flexible lifestyle.

When it got hard, they assumed something was wrong with them. Another motivational video, another course, a different language. Web development, then data science, then cybersecurity, then AI, then project management, then digital marketing, chasing whichever version of tech might finally feel easy.

The simpler truth: maybe coding was never their path, and that is fine. Not everyone who struggles with coding needs more discipline. Sometimes they are forcing themselves into a career that does not match their strengths. We would never tell every young person to become an accountant, a doctor or a salesperson. Yet because tech is growing, we decided everyone should become a developer. That does not make sense.

Tech companies need far more than engineers

A growing industry needs many kinds of people. Tech companies need people who sell, market and design, who understand customers, and operators, recruiters, project managers and leaders who hold it all together.

Some of the most valuable people I have worked with could not build an app from scratch. But they could talk to a confused customer and find the real problem in ten minutes. They could turn a messy operation into a clear process. They could turn an average campaign into qualified leads. They could sit with prospective students, understand their fears and dreams, and help them make a good decision. Those are extremely valuable skills, and businesses pay for valuable skills. Coding is one of them, not the only one. Our guide to tech jobs that don't require coding lists many of them.

Choose the pain you are willing to tolerate

Young people are often told to chase the hottest industry instead of understanding themselves. AI is growing, so learn AI. Engineers are well paid, so learn programming. Cybersecurity has a shortage, so go into cybersecurity. They rarely ask the more important questions: what kind of problems do I enjoy solving? What work gives me energy? What am I naturally better at than others? What kind of pain am I willing to tolerate for a long time?

Every great career has pain. Coding has pain, sales has friction, operations has chaos, marketing has uncertainty, management has people problems, and entrepreneurship has all of them at once. Do not choose a career because it looks attractive from outside. Choose the game whose hard parts you can live with.

When I was teaching myself, I spent hours on why something did not work. One character could break the entire application. One misunderstood concept could waste an afternoon, and the computer did not care that I was tired. But I found that process strangely satisfying. Not always enjoyable, but satisfying: being confused and then making it all make sense. That told me coding suited me. If you want to test the same thing for yourself, read am I smart enough for tech? and which tech career fits me.

Understanding technology vs becoming a developer

Even then, I knew I did not want to be a software engineer my whole life. I was not as deep as many engineers. I wanted to build businesses, and coding was a tool that made me a better founder. That distinction matters: you do not have to turn every useful skill into your entire identity.

You can learn enough code to communicate with developers, prototype an idea, automate parts of your job, and understand what technology can and cannot do. That alone makes you far more valuable, without becoming a professional developer.

Everyone should understand technology. Everyone should look at a business problem and ask how technology could solve part of it. That is basic career literacy now. In the same way you do not need to be an accountant to understand money, you do not need to be a developer to understand technology. The people who do well over the next decade will often be those who combine technology with another valuable skill: a salesperson who uses AI to prepare and follow up, a marketer who understands data and automates the repetitive work, an educator who personalises learning, an operator who builds systems. That combination is often worth more than another average programmer.

Why coding for the money is riskier now

A few years ago, knowing the syntax and how to stitch code together was valuable in itself. Today AI generates that in seconds. Developers are not disappearing, but value is moving. The valuable person understands the problem well enough to know what to build, can judge whether AI's answer is right, finds the hidden mistake, makes trade-offs and takes responsibility when something breaks.

That is why learning to code only because you heard it pays well is more dangerous now than five years ago. If all you can produce is basic code, you are competing with machines that produce it instantly. Your advantage has to come from somewhere deeper: technical judgement, business understanding, communication, or taste.

Some people are built for it. They enjoy going deep, they love building and problem-solving, and they keep going when things break. For them software development is an incredible career, and Malaysia and the world still need great engineers. I feel that pain myself when hiring. The profession is not dead. It is becoming less forgiving to people who entered it expecting easy money.

Our responsibility, and yours

Education companies, mine included, have a responsibility to be honest here. It would be commercially convenient to say everyone should become a developer. But I do not want anyone spending months and real money on a path that is wrong for them. When we speak to prospective students, the question should not only be "can they afford it?" but "do they understand what the work involves, will they put in the hours, do they actually want to build, and are they choosing it for the right reasons?" Getting someone to enrol is easy. Helping them build a career is not. It is part of why we only accept around 30% of applicants.

Young Malaysians are under enormous pressure: parents want security, living costs are rising, houses feel out of reach, social media shows people successful at 23. So when a "safe" opportunity appears, everyone rushes at it: computer science, data science, crypto, cybersecurity, now AI. But careers are not stock tips. By the time everyone agrees something is obvious, the easy opportunity may be gone. The better strategy is a rare combination of skills. Coding did not make me Malaysia's greatest engineer. It combined with finance, education and startups to create opportunities coding alone never could.

So no, not every Malaysian should become a developer. But every young Malaysian should understand how technology is changing work, get comfortable with modern tools and AI, try shipping something with AI, and build proof they can add value. Becoming a developer should be a deliberate choice, not a reaction to a TikTok video or a parent hearing tech salaries are high. The cheapest way to find out whether you are one of the people who love it is to try the real work. Our free trial lets you do exactly that with no card and no commitment.