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Friday, October 10, 2014

Drastic subsidy cuts main concern for Malaysians

While Malaysians collectively groan over the recent fuel subsidy cut, the lower-income group has a real fear – that further cuts in Budget 2015 will raise the cost of living beyond their stagnant incomes. ‎
Already feeling the pinch from last week's petrol price hike, low-wage earners are‎ now worried that Putrajaya may slash more subsidies for basic necessities in today’s budget, and hope that there would be mechanisms to regulate the rise in living costs.
"We hope the price of goods won't rise after this. We small traders are just hoping for that one thing," said Zaki, who sells kuih and lives in Sungai Buloh.
Last week, the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperation and Consumerism‎ announced that the price of the RON95 petrol and diesel would increase by 20 sen as part of the subsidy rationalisation plan to reduce the national deficit.
Petrol now costs RM2.30 a litre compared with RM2.10 before, while diesel costs RM2.20 compared with RM2.
Lawyer Michelle Yesudas, 27, said the lower-income group would bear the brunt of further subsidy cuts and hoped the government would not touch basic necessities such as oil, salt and rice.‎
"The government must also ensure developers provide more low-cost houses so that everyone can own a home," she said.
The working class say they are already finding it hard to make ends meet as they juggle family needs, business overheads, and inefficient public transport that forced them to rely on personal vehicles – factors that make it hard to stretch their wages.
Factory supervisor M. Surendran said his monthly income was not enough to cover the needs of his growing family.‎
Surendran, 49, said the government should be more understanding of the difficulties faced by low-wage earners and introduce allowances to offset rising living costs.
"What the government gives us is not enough. They should introduce transport allowances. My daily commute to work depends on my salary alone.
"The BR1M (1Malaysia People’s Aid) handouts are just one-off. I have three children who are still studying," he told The Malaysian Insider.‎
He said the government should introduce incentives to enable blue-collar workers to live more comfortably.
"Right now our salary is low. If both the prices of goods and our salary increase at the same time, then things would all right. But our salary stays the same.”
Those who are small traders and hawkers said they were unable to make comfortable profits as they have to deal with price controls on their goods and the wholesalers they buy from.
Ramli Ali, a hawker, said ‎that despite struggling with paying more for daily expenses, he was unable to increase the price of his own goods as they were monitored by the local authorities.
He said that while his profits shrank further, he had to cover the cost of his workers' salaries as well as miscellaneous expenses.
"With the petrol price going up, we've had to bear with the rising cost of goods but our prices remain the same.
"We must maintain our prices because they are monitored by the local authorities. If we want to increase them, we have to notify them. We cannot just increase as we please," said Ramli, who operates a kiosk near the Prime Minister's Office in Putrajaya.
‎Burger seller Azhari Musiran from Shah Alam said that ‎the government must be serious about controlling prices among wholesalers, as this would affect the cost of other goods.
‎He said raising‎ the price of his wares was a last resort as he did not want to jeopardise his sales.
"What I noticed is that the power is in the government, but wholesalers also wield extra power. We can't even control the economy.
"We traders feel guilty. We don't want our customers to complain. But if we don't increase prices, we won't earn any profit," he told The Malaysian Insider.‎
Khoo Gee Hong, 60, said he wanted the government to increase the (BR1M) cash vouchers for senior citizens, saying they had contributed immensely to the country.
He said the increase in BR1M was important, given that senior citizens relied on the cash vouchers to purchase necessities.
"BR1M‎ for the elderly must be increased, and it can't be at the rate it is now. Just give it to us," said Khoo, who retired as a construction site supervisor for a private firm.
Khoo said he knew that a rise in prices of goods would be unavoidable after the government slashed the fuel subsidy. But he urged the government to rein in profiteering.‎‎
He said the government should also improve public transport for Budget ‎2015.
"Our transport has never been good. Without a car, life would be difficult. This is unlike in the old days. Now, even taking a bus is hard," he said.
Borhanizam Awang Ngah, 26, said Budget 2015 needed to look into the welfare of retired private sector employees so that their future was secure.
"Set up an organisation that can help increase their pension to at least RM1 million‎.
"The government should make it compulsory for private sector employees‎ to have life insurance and medical cards to ensure that there are no longer poor Malaysians," said the financial adviser for a private firm.
- TMI

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