OCTOBER 11 —We refer to the recent statements made over the salary of fresh graduates and the 2015 National Budget presented by the Prime Minister in Parliament today.

Keadilan Youth wing views with great concern the fact that with a starting salary of RM2500, fresh graduates cannot make ends meet. Telling fresh graduates to tighten their “belts” and live unlavish lifestyles is a clear attempt to sweep dust under the carpet.

The reality of situation is that an individual who earn about RM2500 a month are facing harsh economic realities of inflation, sky high property prices, ever increasing fuel rates, burdening childcare costs, and the looming threat of the new GST. Furthermore many local graduates have the added burden of repaying their PTPTN education loans, and this can take up to RM300 a month.

The government is ignorant of the fact that in Klang Valley, having a car is not a luxury but a necessity. Many graduates cannot pay the high price of accommodation near their workplaces in the heart of Kuala Lumpur hence they live on the outskirts to save costs.

The 2015 National Budget unveiled today made no attempt to address the serious issue of economic hardships faced by graduates earning low salaries. Keadilan Youth views the BR1M offer as attempt to hide the truth of the situation and not face the facts! A one-off cash hand-out can never be a sustainable long term solution to a serious economic problem. It only bodes more trouble in time to come.

Whilst we view the Youth Housing Scheme as a nod in the right direction, Keadilan Youth is highly apprehensive of the feasibility and only short term benefits of the scheme. What happens after the two year period of RM200 subsidisation is over? Is BN encouraging property buying with zero-entry-costs? This scheme seems to suggest that BN government is aware that young couples cannot even save the required 10 per cent downpayment required to purchase a house!

Keadilan N Youth is also very concerned that young couples are allowed to use up their precious life savings in EPF to pay for housing loans? What then becomes of their long term financial stability and retirement fund?

We feel that these are signs that the BN government is in a state of denial amidst grave economic challenges facing fresh graduates and young families today.

Keadilan Youth is also concerned that Malaysia is going down the path of a massive brain drain of talent, as young families and fresh graduates seek greener shores in other countries. It is undeniable that countries like Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia all offer better starting salary, have solid education systems for children and offer stable and affordable housing policies.

*Sangetha Jayakumar is vice-chief of Keadilan Youth ** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.