Apa yang diterangkan di bawah ini mungkin ada kaitan dengan politik, tapi sebagai generasi yang bertepatan dengan apa yang diterangkan, saya rasa elok di kongsi bersama dan direnungkan. Saya tidak minta anda menilainya melalui skop politik semata-mata, tapi melihat fakta dan kebenaran dan adakah ia memang berlaku kepada diri anda sendiri, pemuda-pemudi sabah? Saya memang merasa kesannya kerana sebelum ini saya berkerja di semenanjung dan memang gaji yang diterima lebih tinggi 3 kali ganda dari gaji saya sekarang ini. jadi bagaimana kita ingin mengubah keadaan ini, tepuk dada tanya selera, itupun kalau peribahasa ini masih boleh dipakai pada waktu ini.
By Clement Lee
The Barisan Nasional has to be blamed on the low take-home pay in Sabah whereby young adults especially young graduates were the LOWEST in Malaysia even though we were blessed with abundance of natural resources like oil & gas, palm oil, timber and rubber.
We cannot see the logic why the BN-led government has failed to uplift the standard of living for Sabahans especially the young adults even though with the huge profit gained from the surge of global oil and gas prices which obviously except the present government is in total incompetence and mismanagement.
In addition, the cost of living in Sabah was one of the highest in Malaysia.
Please bear in mind that according to World Bank’s report stated that Sabah is the poorest state in Malaysia with 40% of poor Malaysian are from Sabah alone.
We from SAPP is noted our young adults parents who had spent at least more than hundred over thousands Ringgit to send their children to study oversea especially those who cannot enroll into our local university due to quota system. Unfortunately, their children graduated to come home to serve with only less than RM2000.00 per month take home pay in Sabah.
The failure of the BN-led government to uplift the standard of living for Sabahans especially young professional or semi-professional adults will eventually end up they were being pinched or got no choice, have to leave their home town to work in other higher take-home pay countries like Singapore, Australia, China, Europe and Middle East.
With referring to DE 9 Mar 2011, PM announced for those young adults (below 35 years old) whose income less than RM3000.00 they will entitle to get a full loan from 25 financial institutions for housing between RM100,000.00 to RM220,000.00 across the country. Please note that this scheme only applicable to employee but not sole-proprietor like stall owner, vegetable seller and what not.
This scheme maybe can help in certain states in West Malaysia with lower cost of living and we need to be realistic here in Sabah. How many landed property like single-terrace or double storey terrace within Kota Kinabalu area would still have a price tag selling less than or equal to RM220,000.00 nowadays? Is the government telling those young adults to stay outside Kota Kinabalu area and drive to come to work in KK with extra petrol expenses?
With referring to my statement on DE 2 Mar 2011, most of the young adult take-home pay was less than RM2000.00 per month in Sabah. After deducted other necessity expenses (this does not include Astro and Streamyx monthly subscriptions) and only left with RM150.00. How can they afford to pay for their housing installment monthly with the current BLR as high as 6.6%?
The most critical issue now is how could the presence government to improve the young adult take-home pay in Sabah especially those working in private sector which is the lowest in Malaysia especially those graduates?
How could the BN-led government to help the private sector in Sabah to reduce their expenses with high inflation cost that affecting them daily and to improve their productivity in order for them to increase the take-home pay for their employees? For example: company tax reduction, subsidy in machinery, staff training subsidy just to name a few.
Where were those profits made from our oils & gas and subsidy cut from petrol money to help to improve our public transport system like a good bus-networking, train or MRT in all the major towns in Sabah?
Clement Lee is a member of the SAPP Youth Exco and Api-Api CLC organising secretary
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