Tag: Malaysia

We’ve heard often over the past few years that cost of living has been increasing and that the Government needs to do something quick to address this problem. 

However, the real issue is not the cost of living: it is an issue of the Quality of Life. In short, our Quality of Life has not kept pace or improved as compared to the cost of living. Why do I say this? Well, in simple terms what matters is whether our income exceeds our costs. In reality, costs will always increase, it is a fact driven by increasing demand for scarce resources. So the key is whether (a) we are earning more to cover these costs; and (b) whether the costs we’re paying for is something we value and improves our lives. Continue reading “The issue is Quality of Life, not Cost of Living. Focusing on Cost alone is a dangerous exercise in minimization. We must shift the narrative and conversation.”

We live at a time when the cost of living continues to increase. More importantly, increases in household income are falling short of the increasing costs. Yet, governments state that the economy is growing and improving. So why isn’t this growth felt by the ordinary people?

The economic benefits are disproportionately experienced by society. This is mainly due to the limited reallocation of wealth. Which means, the rich continue to get richer, and the poor continue to get poorer. Wealth remains with the same class of society as it has always been. If we look at the Forbes’ list of top 20 richest Malaysians, it is quite obvious that the richest people in Malaysia have been the richest people in Malaysia for quite a long time. There are very few new wealth, “new-economy” wealth. I’m not saying that this is bad or good, but if we want the economy to create new wealth, we need to create conditions for resource, capital and wealth to be re-allocated. 

Naturally, there is a short-term option and a long-term solution to solving the cost of living issue. The short-term term option such as subsidies, handouts etc is only temporary given that not much will change to raise household income. Continue reading “Creating 21st century ready jobs and new wealth creation”