PETALING JAYA: A growing “wallet-first” trend in several key areas of public life risks disadvantaging the M40 and B40 groups, says MCA.
In its Budget 2026 memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Oct 5, the party said Malaysia can rebuild its fiscal strength without jeopardising the rakyat by prioritising equal access to the critical areas of education, equitable healthcare and community-led urban renewal.
The memorandum, prepared by MCA’s think tank, the Institute of Strategic Analysis and Policy Research (Insap), was based on feedback from online surveys and face-to-face consultations with Malaysians nationwide for several months.
“Budget 2026 must not mark the beginning of a wallet-first nation. It must restore the principle that public institutions exist to serve people, not profit,” Insap said in a statement yesterday.
Budget 2026 will be tabled in Parliament tomorrow.
MCA said that while the economy appeared stable, access to essential services was becoming increasingly tied to affordability.
“The gap between those who can afford opportunities and those who cannot is widening. This inequality is now visible in classrooms, hospitals and neighbourhoods,” it added.
The party raised concerns that higher education was turning into a costly privilege, as public universities rely more heavily on direct intake or open channel admissions that come with unsubsidised tuition fees.
“For many STPM graduates and M40 families, the traditional merit-based UPUOnline path is narrowing.
“As opportunities shrink, access is increasingly determined by the ability to pay rather than merit,” it said.
MCA proposed capping direct intake admissions to public universities at 10%, safeguarding UPU quotas and ensuring that all revenue from direct intake programmes is channelled into scholarships and talent development.
It also urged the government to increase allocations to the Higher Education Ministry to reduce universities’ reliance on income from direct intakes.
“Education must remain the great equaliser, not a revenue tool,” it said.
MCA also cautioned that the Health Ministry’s plan to expand private wings in public hospitals under the Rakan KKM initiative could create a two-tier healthcare system.
“Those who can pay will receive faster and better treatment, while others are left waiting,” it said.
The party called on the government to abolish such two-tier privatisation and instead invest in specialist training, elderly care and strategic subsidies for private hospital services to ease congestion in the public healthcare system.
“Healthcare should never be built around who can pay more; it must serve those who need care most,” it said.
On urban redevelopment, MCA said the proposed Urban Renewal Act must include safeguards to prevent developer-led projects from displacing small traders, tenants and long-time residents.
It said renewal projects should be community-driven, led by management corporations and residents’ associations rather than being profit-driven.
“These worrying patterns point to a nation slowly divided by affordability, where the B40 and M40 are squeezed further away from basic opportunities,” the party said.
“The shift towards monetising essential services is an invisible tax – paid not through official forms, but through lost opportunity, higher costs and poorer access,” it added.
