Money matters.

What made me stood up the other day was that I saw being advertised in the local press where just to see a show by a local popular female Malay singer of the day it would cost RM500.00 for the best seat, RM 400.00 the next best and RM 250.00 for common seats. At a hotel. So I suppose a dinner will be included. Mind you, USD1 = RM3.80. Now isn’t that a lot of money to pay to watch a show?

People may say why worry, its their money, but still I thought its a lot of money to spend like that. This is in view of other considerations and the earning powers of workers in Malaysia. I am not talking of those in Europe, USA or Japan where the earning powers and the spending pattern is different. I remember seeing shown on local TV about a group coming from overseas having a show in one of the biggest outdoor stadium in this country where youths (children more like it) pay RM100.00 a ticket to watch. And they said its worth it because the group was from overseas. Their reasoning? If they have to go overseas to watch the shows it would cost them more. Weird logic to me? But what was at the back of my mind was on how much do their parents earn? Or is the money their own, I mean the children’s? Or are these working children? Or are they young adults spending their hard earned cash? Or are they just spoilt brats?

Its a wonder to me how people in this country spend a lot of money just like that. In Kuala Lumpur for example the upper crust of the population shop at KLCC, or KL Plaza or some big shopping complexes and the lower crust at Chow Kit Road or Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. What they buy maybe something similar, the former branded and the latter not branded or sometimes counterfeit brands. But the quality of the products? I don’t know but from my naked eyes the difference is very small. After all most of the products are manufactured locally but branded differently. Perhaps I am wrong, so some one may correct me there.

What I can see is that in Malaysia, the earning power is not that strong but the spending power is very strong. I stand corrected here in my views, and the amount that I will quote but I am not far from what I shall quote and the figures that I shall mention. Lets see the wages. The PM earns about RM 20,000.00 per month and a normal MP about RM 6,000.00 - 7,000.00 per month, give and take. (But this is not a fair comparison as these politicians earn other money somewhere else. In this country people go into politic to be rich). And big corporate figures earn from RM50,000.00 to about RM100,000.00 per month, give and take. But the common man earns about RM300.00 per month, may be up to about RM2,000.00 per month, give and take, with overtime and other side business. And the majority of us Malaysians are these common men bracket. A new Graduate may earn from RM1,700.00 K to RM2,500.00 per month, depending on where he/she works and on the CGPA obtained. That is not a lot of money considering deductions like car loan (most have), house loan (if any). And cars and houses in this country are not cheap. A good car may cost as high as RM70,000.00, for local car like Proton or up to RM120,000.00 for a good imported car but assembled locally. And not within reach for them on imported foreign assembled cars, but may for those probably assembled in a SEA country. And interest rate varied from 2.8% per annum to 3.5% per annum for cars. Loans can be taken up to a period of 9 years. And house price are now all above RM 250,000.00, and loan can be taken up to a period of 25 years. And interest rate, I don’t know. Imagine the amount of money having to be forked out of the monthly salary.

Though cost of living in this country is still cheap, but with low earning powers it is felt by the wage earners. Not only the wage earners but even by private business men. House rent may vary from RM1000.00 to RM 5000.00 per month depending on the house type, locality and furnishing. Flats and apartments are as expensive especially those with all facilities provided. And cost of a meal depends on where you eat. A common man may eat at about RM10.00 per meal, in KFC or Mac, and for a good satisfying meal though you may pay as low as RM7.00 per meal including drink at a local food place. Or if you go to eat at stalls you may pay as low as RM5.00 per meal. But of course the condition may be different, hot and dusty and may not be so hygienic.

Medical facilities is very expensive for a man on the street unless he goes to a Government hospital, which are many. But even the Government is thinking of charging its patients when they enter a Government hospital. A private Doctors visit may cost you RM50.00 on average, per visit with medicines included. A major surgery may cost you up to RM40,000.00 per surgery, depending on what surgery is done on you. Thus, many Co. have medical benefits thrown in its employment conditions, but with all sorts of other conditions thrown in as well to discourage workers from seeking private medical treatment. Medical Insurance are unreliable, they do not pay fast enough when the patient need the money most.

Clothing are quite cheap in Malaysia, if you are willing to buy the local manufactured items. And these locally manufactured clothings are good, T-shirts for example may only cost you RM50.00 for a reasonably good quality ones. The normal T-shirt, no-collar, might just cost you RM30.00 each. Shoes, we have the local brand Bata, which is of reasonably good quality. You need not buy Reebok or Adidas or what ever fancy names you have in the market. Unless you want special shoes for specific functions or activities.

Newspapers are getting a bit expensive. It used to cost less than RM1.00 for a daily newspapers a year or so ago but it has since arisen to RM1.20 and some to RM1.50. But the news are basically the same, news is controlled in this country and so newspapers print similar news. You buy a newspapers you will know all the news for the day already. The only exceptions are the supplements in the newspapers, even these are also controlled, so you may not have similar supplement but you may see the same article in a different newspapers the next week or the next month. And magazines are expensive, and again you see one you see them all. Months in and months out. Except that the may change the faces of the models or the locations of the photographs taken.

Books are also expensive. Locally produced/published books are cheaper, say RM30.00 to RM50.00 each but the quality of the content may not be that high and the authors are not well known. Though I must admit some of the local books authored by local authors make very interesting readings. But these are also controlled in a sense, so nothing that is considered sensitive can be mentioned. Imported books are expensive, say RM70.00 to RM100.00 each or even over depending on the publishers and the pages of the book. This though cannot be avoided as the prices of these books are quoted in foreign currencies, BP1.00=RM7.50 on an average, and USD1.00=RM3.80. And the vendors/importers have to have their margin so they sell these at quite a high price, most beyond the pocket of the locals. Though I suppose in their home countries these books are cheap comparatively, in their own currencies. Bear in mind that the earning powers of these foreign people are much higher than the earning powers of Malaysians. Even if their cost of living is higher. They also have other advantages; like state welfare and tax rebates.

Raw food is quite cheap in this country. But even then with about RM1000 a month you can hardly buy anything luxurious, food wise. Fish is cheap during good seasons, say from RM15.00 to RM 25.00 a kilo, for normal fish, though good fish has now risen to between RM40.000 to RM50.00 a kilo. But fresh water fish is cheap, at the market close to large bodies of water, a river say, you can still get good river fish for an average RM35.00 a kilo, though the exotic ones may be up to RM80.00 to RM100.00 a kilo, especially those ones liked by the Chinese. And meat depending on whether its local or imported. Some local beef may cost as low as RM15.00 a kilo depending on what cut. Imported beef from India is cheap, frozen and come in bulk. But those beef and lamb from Australia and NZ are expensive, again depending on the cut. They may range from RM25.00 to RM50.00 a kilo.

I must admit though that I do not go shopping, my wife does all the shopping for food. I just follow sometimes. So what I write here may be challenged, but I am sure I am not too far off.

Education for children is expensive. Firstly at kindergarten level you pay a lot for facilities, though in the rural areas where such facilities may be semi-available they may be for free or for nominal sum. Bear in mind that in the rural areas the people are poor, if being charged beyond their means they will not send their children. But in town where both parents may be working children are mostly sent to kindergarten. I do not know what it costs nowadays but in my days when my children were small I used to pay up to RM100 each per month. Then children will be required to go for Primary education. This is made compulsory by the Government and Primary Schools are many, both in the rural areas and in the urban. In theory these are for free but in reality you have to fork out quite a tidy sum. The transport cost, miscellaneous school fees for school activities and then the text book fees and school stationery required. In addition the school uniform. All these when added can be quite expensive to parents with many children. And at Secondary Schools, which is also made compulsory by the Government, the cost tends to climb. The children have grown up and there is more needs for schools activities and the like. Next come the Colleges or Universities level when almost everything you have to pay for. It may cost you a couple of RM thousands at the start a close to that sum per semester. Some parents cannot afford this so many grown up children do not go to the Universities for reasons of economic. Many may get scholarships (Bumiputras especially) if they have good examination results for the University entry, and many also take loan, either from the Government revolving funds or from commercial banks. Scholarship you need not pay back unless you do not complete the course but loans you have to pay back. I know there are many who cannot pay back their loans either due to their own carelessness or just do not want to pay or cannot pay because of no job (which can be excused) or that they do not earn enough to live comfortably.

All in all, it is pretty expensive to live in Malaysia, the cost of living may be lower than that of other countries as compared to those in Europe or the Americas but the earning power is less, except for small percentage of population in the society. There is a great gap from those who earn a lot to those who earn less. The Government is trying to bridge the gap, they have been successful in some ways, but with rising costs, and some contributed by natural inflation, making the gap seems to be stagnated. But even then living in Malaysia is not that unpleasant economic wise.