Are many Malaysian youths today living beyond their means?
Well, based on the parliamentary statement issued yesterday (Aug 4), many youths are believed to have a lack of care in managing their income and salary.
This was revealed a parliamentary written reply by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar yesterday, in which a total of 17,599 people have been reportedly declared bankruptcy between 2020 and May this year, with men accounting for 73.7 per cent (12,970) and Malays comprising 58.3 per cent (10,267) of all cases.
In the statement, the minister cited women accounted for 4,607 cases, with 22 cases under unknown genders. As for breakdowns by race, 4,447 cases involved Chinese, 1,321 Indians, 1,516 Malaysians of other races and 48 foreigners.
The highest number of bankruptcies declared by age group happened to those between 35-44 with 6,681 cases, followed by 45-54 (4,819), 25-34 (3,171), those aged 55 and above (2,823), and finally youths aged 25 and below (46). A remainder of 59 cases involved unknown ages.
The highest number of bankruptcies occurred in Selangor (4,164), followed by Kuala Lumpur (2,203), Johor (1,987) and Sabah (1,642).
Speaking to a good cross-section of youths and based on the information at hand, it could be surmised many do not place a precedence on the importance of owning their own home but rather make unwise investments which have led them to be declared bankrupt.
While the majority of them acknowledge that apart from saving, buying a house is actually a priority that deserves attention even if the individual only earns RM3,000 a month, but this does not seem to be practised, clearly.
There exist certain common causes as to why youths do not place emphasis of owning a home, among them are due to an expensive car has been bought. The car loan instalments incurred already consumed at least 30% of his or her salary. And, this is besides petrol, toll, maintenance and other costs.
There are some cases where some 50% their income is spent just for a car.
The residual income, after the car loan repayments leave very little or almost nothin in savings for them, resulting in most not having any money in the bank as they have to spend their money on food and other essentials.
There seems to be a lack of commitment at their end, as most would broke during the last week of every month.
Some youth aim too high.
They choose houses worth way more than RM300,000 and after their monthly expenses, have not enough left over to service their housing loans, the led to legal action being taken against them.
There seems to be no clear understanding of what affordability means among most of them too.
There are youths who also said that as people with a salary of RM3,000 and above are not eligible for BR1M, so, it’s difficult to save. Some say that BR1M can cover the cost of living which is increasing day by day. But. This is far from reality.
Another issue brought forward by these youth is that parental expectations seem to be too demanding and cannot be met.
One even said that his Mom and Dad had told him to buy a landed property only, which is far more expensive, or to live with them.
It’s easier to rent than to have the burden of a long-term loan, so say some youth. But, isn’t shelter a basic need and isn’t better to one’s house.
The mindset of the youth, seem to be another obstacle against turning them into bankrupts.
Many of them seem to think that a monthly salary of RM3,000 puts them in a higher strata in society and they want to start impressing others with certain luxuries like a flashy car, clothes, mobile phones and a decadent lifestyle. There must be wisdom.
