Survey finds stagnating income, rising expenses

Most Kuala Lumpur urbanites are claiming that their incomes have either stagnated or decreasing, according to a self-report study.

At the same time, the respondents in the study also claimed that their expenses have increased by an average of 11 percent.

The respondents attributing the cause to the goods and services tax (GST) and the weakening of the ringgit, said UCSI Poll Research Centre CEO Ngerng Miang Hong.

Ngerng, who presented the findings of the study, said that while GST is a well-accepted tax system worldwide, there should be 'tax neutrality', whereby those who lose out under the system are compensated by other means.

“Under the GST, those earning below RM2,000 in (monthly) income are directly and indirectly being taxed. Why do we talk about those earning below RM2,000? Because when it comes to income tax, those earning below RM2,000 are not taxed.

“Something has to be done (to help) these groups in terms of fiscal policy,” Ngerng (photo) told reporters in Cheras today.

Those with a monthly personal income of below RM2,000 comprised 53.8 percent of the survey's 692 respondents.

Of the 692 respondents, 159 were surveyed online and the rest asked to fill a short questionnaire when approached at major transport hubs such as KL Sentral and Terminal Bersepadu Selantan, shopping malls like Mid Valley and Sungai Wang Plaza, and night markets around Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley.

Most of the respondents, 41.2 percent, were private sector employees and another 39.9 percent were students.

The survey was conducted over a period of two weeks from late February.

One of the survey questions asks respondents to estimate the rate of increase in their expenses in various areas, to which respondents ranked food and clothing as the categories facing the highest increases, followed by transportation.

10 percent increase in transport costs

On food and clothing, 36 percent of respondents claimed to have experienced increases of between six and 10 percent, while another 27.5 percent said they have seen increases exceeding 10 percent.

Meanwhile, 26.9 percent of the respondents claimed to have seen increases of between six and 10 percent in transportation expenses, while another 22.7 percent experienced increases of more than 10 percent.

Ngerng noted that the purported increase in food and clothing expenses exceeded the six percent standard rate under GST.

As for transportation, he said this may be attributed to the slew of increases in toll, train and LRT fares last year.

On income, 39.6 percent of respondents claimed that their income has stagnated.

Another 17.6 percent said their incomes have decreased by less than five percent, while 23.6 percent claimed that their incomes decreased even more than that.

Only 19.3 percent of respondents reported an increase in their incomes.

Meanwhile, when questioned by reporters on the sampling methods and the representativeness of the sample used in the survey, Ngerng conceded that there are weaknesses in the survey.

This includes self-reporting bias, and the lack of time and resources for conducting the survey.

Nevertheless, he insisted that the findings were reflective of what urban Malaysians in Kuala Lumpur and elsewhere experience.

“I would say this is a snapshot of the rakyat's experience. It is quite a typical example of urban life. Similar results would also be achieved in places like Malacca, George Town and Johor,” Ngerng added.

-Mkini