How to lose an argument

Najib is wrong in saying that the educated are not pressured by the high cost of living.

COMMENT

Some people go to great lengths to argue a case, unaware that the points they make sometimes reinforce their opponents’ arguments.

This was what happened to Prime Minister Najib Razak when he told the Dewan Rakyat that Malaysians with high academic qualifications were unlikely to struggle with living costs.

“One of the biggest reasons for high living cost pressures is that the people still have low education levels,” he said.

“If we have only an SPM qualification and do not have a diploma, degree or skills, we won’t be able to get jobs that pay well. We want to increase the number of Malaysians who have extra qualifications. When people have better qualifications, they can earn more.”

He was responding to a question about the effect of the current cost of living on the lifestyles of Malaysians.

Najib’s statement has only a sliver of truth. Education does matter, but having paper qualifications does not guarantee a comfortable life.

He is dead wrong when he says college or university graduates are not struggling to make ends meet.

Indeed, some of the worst hit by the skyrocketing cost of living are those in the middle class, a large number of whom are university graduates. They are made to bear taxes and do not receive the BR1M handout.

Perhaps, in order to see that less education does not equal less success in life, Najib should look within his own party, where a politician with a Form Three qualification can become a menteri besar.

Najib also seems to have ignored complaints made about the quality of Malaysian education. There is no denying that many of our university graduates live miserable lives because no one would employ anyone whose education did not equip him with useful skills.

Hence, higher education does not guarantee a better quality of life. Certainly, it doesn’t help that the government is dragging its feet on making English a compulsory pass subject at SPM level.