INSTEAD of spending his retirement with his grandkids, Alias Mohd Jamil is driving a taxi while his wife runs a lunch delivery service to make ends meet.

Although his adult children are working and earning salaries, Alias does not want to burden them by asking them to financially look after him and his wife.

“As long as I am able, I do not want to burden them. They have their own families to take care of,” said the 56-year-old pensioner from Senai, a town on the outskirts of Johor Baru.

Alias’ views reflects those of more than half of Johorean respondents (51%) in a study commissioned in January, that they are worse off financially now compared to a year ago.

The findings tally with studies in other states, which show that bread-and-butter issues, such as cost of living, stagnant wages, and housing affordability, are the top concerns among voters in the run-up to the 14th general election. 

Johor is a battleground state in GE14, and the opposition Pakatan Harapan coalition believes it can bring down this Barisan Nasional fortress by calling attention to weaknesses in the ruling coalition’s management of the economy.

The survey done by Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research also showed that 64% of the 1,007 respondents in Johor were dissatisfied with the federal government’s handling of the economy.

More than 62% believed that economic conditions had worsened compared to a year ago, while 22% said that it was better. 

A significant number of Johoreans also did not take kindly to a question on whether they agreed with a national leader who advised the public to be thrifty in the face of high inflation.

Some 47% of those surveyed disagreed with this advice while 51% agreed with him.

“Sentiments towards the national economy were largely negative …  This is in stark contrast to the robust macroeconomic growth numbers recorded for 2017,” said the Merdeka Centre.

Financial analysts and the government have estimated that the country’s economy grew between 5.2% and 5.8% in 2017, which defied earlier expectations.

Prime Minister Najib Razak has touted these growth numbers as proof of his government’s sound handling of the economy.

Indians hardest hit

About 55% of the survey’s respondents were Malays, 38% Chinese and 7% Indians aged above 21 years old. Almost half, or 48% were aged between 21 and 50.

A majority, or 66%, had an income of RM4,000 and below, while those earning less than RM2,000 a month made up the largest group of respondents at 36%.

Eleven per cent earned between RM4,000 and RM6,000 a month, while only 6%, or about 60 people, said they made more than RM7,000 a month.

About 63% live in urban, areas while 61% said they received the 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) scheme.   

The negative perception of the economy generally cuts across ethnic lines, with a majority of those in all communities saying that things are worse off than a year ago.

About 52% of Malays thought the economy had worsened as compared to 76% of Chinese and 62% of Indians.

Indians respondents seemed to be the hardest hit, with 61% of them saying they were financially worse off, as to compared to 52% of Chinese and 49% of Malays. 

At 35%, Malays had the largest group of respondents who said their finances had improved, while 21% of Indians and 15% of Chinese said the same thing. 

About 32% of Chinese respondents said their situation remained the same, compared to 18% of Indians and 16% of Malays.

Seventy-two per cent of Chinese respondents were dissatisfied with the government’s handling of the economy, followed by 66% of Indians and 53% of Malays. – February 21, 2018.