Solve youth's problems now, not in 2050, gov't told

Amanah’s youth wing has urged the government to resolve the problems faced by the youth now, rather than wait for the National Transformation 2050 initiative (TN50), to bear fruit 33 years later.

“There are several major issues that should be taken seriously and resolved, without the government taking too much time,” said Amanah youth chief Mohd Sany Hamzan today.

In a statement, he listed five issues, namely: High unemployment rate amongst graduates, low wages, high cost of living, high cost of housing, and high cost of transportation.

“These major issues being faced by the people should be resolved completely, not by sloganeering for various interests. TN50 is just another way to cover up the failures of the BN-led government,” he said.

Quoting the Bank Negara 2016 annual report, Sany said youth unemployment rate has reached 10.7 percent in 2015, which is triple the national average. Among graduates, the rate is even higher at 15.3 percent.

Meanwhile, he said, a Khazanah Research Institute study had found that wages in Malaysia are growing slowly, with median incomes projected at RM1,600 per month in the middle of this year, compared to RM1,500 per month, last year.

The increase is even smaller for city dwellers at RM55, and near-zero in places like Melaka and Penang, if inflation is taken into account.

As for the cost of living, Sany claimed the cost of food is increasing faster than other goods.

Meanwhile, Sany said only 21 percent of new houses are affordable homes, while the actual demand for affordable housing is 60 percent.

As a result, 70 percent of Malaysians could not own their own homes, he said, while the slow rise of wages could not keep up with rising property prices.

He also accused the government of failing to curb the rising cost of transport including public transportation, which he said had affected the low and middle income groups.

The TN50 is meant to be a long-term vision for Malaysia’s future, similar to the Vision 2020. The government is now in the process of consulting various stakeholders, particularly youths, on what they hope Malaysia would look like in the year 2050.- Mkini