Last Friday, October 23th, 2009, The August House was once again in clamour upon the presentation of the 2010 Budget delivered by the PM. In particular, the budget seems unfriendly since it indirectly involved the rakyat the like of which the previous budgets had done before - no bonus for civil servants, no dramatic decrease hike in consumers' daily needs such as in goods, supplies etc. Click here and here for news coverage.
However, in a bigger picture, the 2010 budget which is proposed to be allocated around RM191.5 billion, 11.2% lower than 2009 Budget estimated RM215.7 billion should be considered timely. Why? Simply because the year 2010 is still in blurry and 2009 has thought us a lot. Here for full speech of 2010 Budget.
What happened in 2009? The Malaysian economy is an open economy leading it to be vulnerable to external trade and international capital flows. Hence, as result of the global financial crisis alone, Malaysia's exports fell sharply at 23.4% in the first quarter of 2009. Similarly, the Industrial Production Index (IPI) declined at a rate of 12.7% coupled with an amount of RM3.6 billion decreased in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) the same year (source: 2009 Economic Report). These alone remarkably made us in shambles.
Though the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected that the economy is going to expand by 3% in 2010, pre-emptive measures should always be at hands to minimize further repercussions in the country.
As the PM mentioned in his speech, the budget is seen to be of a value-for-money budget. It is meant to cut down wastage in terms of expenditure and creditworthiness to control inflation and enhance overall revenue. By doing so, the government wishes to strictly decreases fiscal deficit which is projected to be 5.6% GDP compare to 7.4% in 2009.
The people must know that their purchasing power and value of money depreciates with time when inflation comes into picture. The RM1 today is nothing compared to the RM1 our forefathers used to spent 40-50 years ago. My grandpa used to tell me that during his time, a bowl of 'kolo mee' - Sarawak special made noodle - only cost him 20cents. Meaning, having RM1 in hand at that particular time already made him popular among the ladies! Nowadays, things change and the change is inevitable. RM1 is just a cup of 'air sirap' costing you, say 80cents. Like it or not, that's how it works and it will continue to work the way it is.
The scope of this article intends to view only the educational part of the budget dealing especially with higher education learning answering questions like why is this budget important to us (graduates/students)? Why should we bother and what can be done of it?
So, what is there in 2010 Budget for students? Generally, I would say nothing much but at least they are i.e. the government promised 30 of the country’s creme de la creme students to be awarded National Scholarships strictly based on merit, which will allow them to further education in world-renowned universities commencing next year. The universities are also granted own autonomy in certain areas pertaining to R&D in accordance with the emphasis to better competency.
Also, those who get National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) loans will also see the loans being converted to scholarships beginning next year — if they graduate with first class honours! Buckle up guys! In addition, all university students will be offered a netbook package of RM50 per month for two years, including free broadband service. Here for the news.
As you can see, the economy bothers us a lot especially to those who are going to graduate next year in 2010. Unless we are aware of the situation around us, we'll be forever left behind lacking in one of the best thing you & I wished to have more than anybody else: money.
Many think that economy matters only for the economists, however, I believe that the time has come for everyone to at least has the knowledge about money. The sooner you realized this, the lesser the opportunity of you folks being deceived straight down under your nose!
Till the next posting.
