Low level of education cause of high cost of living

PARLIAMENT While many Malaysians blame the goods and services tax (GST) for the climbing cost of living, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak argued that this was caused by low level of education that limits the people's income.

"One of the main reasons that causes living cost pressure is the low level of education of a significant portion of the people," Najib told Parliament.

"Meaning, if we are only SPM graduated - we do not have diploma, degree and certain skills - we cannot find higher paying jobs," he said.

Najib said the government needed to increase the number of Malaysians obtaining additional higher qualifications, beyond the Form Five SPM certificate.

The prime minister brought up the matter when asked by Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali (BN-Bagan Serai) about the matter during the question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat.

Noor Azmi said the living cost issues were often misintepreted, particularly when some Malaysians were living beyond their means.

"This depends on how we lead our life. We want our people to enjoy a higher living standard, but sometimes they set their dreams so high that it leads to a high cost of living," he said.

[More to follow]

-Mkini