KUALA LUMPUR, June 27 — If you can’t fathom what the RM1.1 billion (RM1,100,000,000) value of luxury items and cash seized from Datuk Seri Najib Razak-linked properties means, let Malay Mail help put things in perspective.
At its simplest, it translates to over 122 million Big Macs, but that’s just the beginning.
Malay Mail crunched the numbers for you and here’s what you can get, based on the Department of Statistics Malaysia’s 2017 estimates of 28.723 million Malaysian citizens and 7.7 million Malaysian households:
Food
1. Fast food chain McDonalds’ Big Mac burger, which The Economist uses to compare the purchasing power of people in different countries, is priced at RM9 for an a la carte order in Malaysia.
So with RM1.1 billion, you can get over 122 million or 122,222,222 servings of the Big Mac, or effectively four each for every Malaysian man, woman and child.
For the cheapest McDonalds’ McValue meal set (RM5.95), you can get 184,873,949 of these sets or six for each Malaysian.
If you prefer fried chicken, KFC’s two-piece option can be had for RM9.35, so RM1.1 billion means 117,647,058 (117 million) plates of this.
Maggi Mee
2. At RM4.90 for a five-packet pack of the instant noodle Maggi Mee, RM1.1 billion would be equivalent to over 224 million or 224,489,795 of these packs.
If that’s too mind-boggling, that works out to seven of these five-packet bundles for each Malaysian or about one month’s supply if they eat a packet daily.
It also means every household can get 29 of these five-packets pack (145 packets), or just about 4.8 months’ supply each if each household eats one packet daily.
Rice
3. Based on the cheapest 5kg pack of rice (RM12.89) available locally, RM1.1 billion can buy you 85,337,470 (85 million) packs, which means every household can get 11 packs or one pack for 11 months.
Based on the cheapest 10kg pack of rice (RM23.99), over 45 million or 45,852,438 packs can be bought. This means each household can get five packs of this rice.
Cash
4. If you are the type that likes cold hard cash, RM1.1 billion will be equivalent to RM38.30 for every Malaysian or RM142.86 for every Malaysian household.
5. For the 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) that has since been rebranded, the Finance Ministry said on April 5 that RM6.12 billion in cash aid was approved for over seven million or 7,084,726 applicants.
BR1M recipients are divided into three categories eligible for RM1,200, RM900 or RM450 cash aid for 2018.
RM1.1 billion could have paid for about three million recipients’ share of RM450.
Cars
6. Based on the cheapest base models of local car brands, RM1.1 billion can buy 32,746 Proton Saga (priced RM33,591.03 for Standard MT model) or 48,625 Perodua Axia (priced RM22,621.78 for 1.0 Standard E— Manual model).
7. The same RM1.1 billion can be used to purchase 1,946 units of luxury carmarker Mercedes-Benz’s S-Class limousines (based on 2018 price of RM565,256 for the S-Class Sedan model).
Internet, phones
8. RM1.1 billion could have been used to get over three million or 3,256,365 Malaysians free mobile data for a year (based on the cheapest mobile postpaid plan on the market at rates of RM28.15 per month).
If it’s for one month, RM1.1 billion is enough to fund free mobile data for over 39 million or 39,076,376 people, which outstrips the current estimated Malaysian population of over 32 million.
9. Looking at Samsung’s latest flagship smartphone model, the Galaxy S9+, RM1.1 billion is enough to buy 307,348 units ( RM3,579 for 64GB model). In other words, it is enough to buy three units for every one of the 88,889 registered voters in Najib’s constituency Pekan.
It can also buy 265,124 units of the S9+ 256GB model (priced RM4,149) or with all 88,889 Pekan voters able to get 2.98 units each.
For Apple’s iPhone X, RM1.1 billion can get you 226,477 units of the 64GB model (RM4,857), and alternatively 197,663 units of the 256GB model (RM5,565). Regardless of model, each of the 88,889 Pekan voters can get two units each if RM1.1 billion was spent on this phone.
10. Housing
Under the federal government’s affordable homes scheme 1Malaysia People’s Housing Project (PR1MA), the range of property prices can range from a RM385,000 apartment in Kuala Lumpur to a RM118,888 terrace house in Sungai Petani, Kedah, based on checks of the PR1MA website.
Using RM1.1 billion, you can give 2,857 units of the RM385,000 apartments to Malaysians, or alternatively give 9,252 units of the RM118,888 terrace house to Malaysians.
11. Student loans
For the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN), a parliamentary reply on November 23, 2017 showed that RM63.327 billion worth of student loans was approved for over 2.7 million or 2,778,906 students as of September 30, 2017.
As of end September 2017, an average of RM17,759.10 and RM32,722.38 was loaned out to students at public and private higher learning institutions, respectively.
Based on these averages, RM1.1 billion would be enough to fund 61,940 students at public institutions or alternatively 33,616 students at private colleges and universities.
RM1.1 billion alone would not be enough to settle all outstanding PTPTN loans, as the same parliamentary reply shows that there was a total outstanding PTPTN loan amount of RM18.97 billion owed by 1,900,743 Malaysians as of September 30, 2017.
12. Moderation
Want to be a bit thrifty and emulate current Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s simple lifestyle?
RM1.1 billion will translate into over 91 million or 91,743,119 pairs of the Bata sandals (RM11.99) that Dr Mahathir was spotted wearing, roughly three pairs each for the country’s entire population.
The sum would also buy over 271 million units of Dr Mahathir’s writing instrument choice: the Pilot Ball Liner pen (RM4.05).
In other words, every Malaysian can get nine of these pens, or alternatively every household can get 35 of these pens.
13. Idle money
Even if you don’t do anything with the RM1.1 billion and just leave it in fixed deposit in a bank for one whole year, you would earn millions of ringgit.
Using RinggitPlus’ online calculator for fixed deposits, one will be able to earn interest of RM46.75 million at Bangkok Bank after one year at interest rate of 4.25 per annum, or RM44.55 million at Affin Bank after one year at interest rate of 4.05 per annum.
To read more about the total breakdown of the 12,000 pieces of jewellery seized from Najib-linked properties, click here. Police said they were shocked at the value and amount of items seized.
