Despite the current political and economic hiccup with the challenges brought by the haze confront us, our country is peaceful, and life goes on normally. For this, we are thankful to all Malaysians, especially the younger generation, who take the challenges calmly while demanding more social and political changes through the democratic processes. There are many essentials that need to be put in place or strengthened, such as food security, social protection and the need for political & economic reforms for greater creation & social inclusion. Indeed, the basis is none other than addressing horizontal inequality.
I learned from Malaysian eminent economist & former Chancellor of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Dr. Anuwar Ali, who is currently the Chairman of National Wage Council, that “The past decades of development have not allowed us to raise salaries of workers, including our graduates, and the self-employed much above the poverty line. Hence, incomes and standards of living have declined and livelihoods have appreciated because families have low savings, which are unable to sustain them for a few months. As such, many in the Middle 40 income group have dropped below the poverty line to join the Bottom 40 group. The Malaysian experience of relying on labor-intensive foreign investments, while all right as short-term and medium-term solutions, are not the answer to long-term concerns for sustained economic development and, more so, to address horizontal inequality.”
As a management educator, I found these illustrate a major fault in our development philosophy, that social and economic improvements thus far are not sustainable in the long run. Not in the way how the Germans, Japanese & South Koreans overcome their constrains, weaknesses, putting them in the top ranks of countries with the highest per capita incomes in the world. So, all of us, especially workers & graduates, have a duty to remain united Malaysians.
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