Consumers are suffering. Receiving lower incomes and facing severe increases in their costs of living, consumers are struggling to sustain their quality of life. It is no wonder indeed that in the “Suara Rakyat Malaysia” survey, the number one issue of concern for Malaysian voters was cost of living and prices of goods – 57% of respondents chose that as their number one concern. Second, at 49%, was “job opportunities and salary rates”. Clearly, Malaysian workers who are also consumers are suffering insufficient wages and an increasing cost of living.
So will this election give hope to the rakyat? Or is it going to be business as usual after the electoral victory.
Fomca chooses to be optimistic.
Here are eight suggestions that Fomca hopes the new government will prioritise, to lessen the burden of consumers in Malaysia.
Food prices and food security. The number one concern of Malaysian consumers is the increasing price of food. This price increase especially impacts the low-income group as the proportion of their incomes spent on food is higher than those at the higher income levels.
After years of underinvestment in food crops, resulting in excessive dependence on imported food, the government should make agricultural production a priority. Food security should be a major priority in the new economy to ensure supply of affordable food to all.
The supply chain should also be liberalised to ensure open competition at all levels of the food supply chain. It cannot be denied that, monopolistic practices and price manipulation exists at many levels of the food chain, resulting in excessive price of food for consumers.
Research and development is also crucial to ensure the viability of the sector to ensure farmers get a decent income as well as attract the next generation of farmers.
Healthcare: The current public healthcare system is overburdened. Patients have to wait too long to get access to treatment and access to specialists. Private healthcare is too expensive and (apart for doctor’s fees) unregulated. Thus most low- and middle-income folks are dependent on the public healthcare system. In the Suara Rakyat Malaysia survey, 38% of voters indicated that healthcare was of one of the major areas of concern.
Fomca calls on the government to increase healthcare expenditure to at least 5% of the GDP. The present healthcare system needs to be upgraded, with special attention given to maintaining medical professionals and specialists in the public sector. This, along with improvement in hardware such as building new hospitals, upgrading existing centres, new and upgrading of medical equipment, will undoubtedly improve personnel morale and efficiency in providing healthcare to the people.
Public transport: Consumers want a public transport system that is reliable and comfortable, has shorter commute time, access to route and time information, infrastructure such as bus lanes and some conveniences such as walkways.
We want a government committed to:
• Increasing services (more vehicles, more vehicle-miles);
• Improving services (more comfortable, convenient, reliable);
• Incentives to use public transport (lower fares);
• Transit-oriented development (walkways, development around transit station and corridors).
Housing: 31% of the voters in the Suara Rakyat Malaysia survey indicated that housing was a major area of concern. Fomca calls on the government to ensure that priority is given to homes Malaysians can truly afford.
The number of affordable homes being built is way below the demand for new households. The government needs to intervene and regulate the private sector to supply more affordable homes. Policies should make speculation expensive, to protect first-time home buyers.
Housing is a basic right of consumers. It is the government’s role to ensure that all Malaysian have access to affordable homes. The government should also focus on promoting a thriving rental market, so that renting becomes a viable option for consumers.
Banking and insurance: The National Consumer Complaints Centre has been receiving an increasing number of complaints on banking and finance issues. Stronger regulation is needed.
Areas where there is greatest need for enforcement and regulation are:
Information design and disclosure:
• Consumers should be given financial information that is clear, sufficient, reliable, comparable and timely.
Contracts, charges and practices:
1. Ensure products and services are comprehensible
2. Ensure the availability of simple standard products
3. Ensure minimum standards for key products
4. Ensure consumers give their informed consent
5. Ensure contracts are fair
6. Protecting consumers from aggressive marketing
7. Protection of consumer data and privacy.
Regulating insurance premiums, especially medical insurance, to ensure that insurance is affordable to all.
Climate change and environment: 20% of consumers chose “climate change and environment’ as a major issue of concern. In early August 2021, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a scientific body under the United Nations, released a major new report that the world cannot avoid some devastating impacts of climate change, but it suggests that there is still a narrow window to keep the devastation from getting worse. It raises without doubt that “it is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land”. Observed increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is directly tied to human activity – largely the burning of coal, oil and other fossil fuels. The impacts are being felt in every corner of the world.
Even in Malaysia, we are certainly facing the effects of climate change. We are suffering torrential rain and flooding in months which previously used to be the hottest months in the year. Further, flooding is occurring in areas that had never faced flooding before. Excessive temperatures and flooding are becoming more frequent in Malaysia.
The report suggests that aggressive, rapid and widespread emission cuts, beginning now, could limit the warming beyond 2050. In the most optimistic scenario, reaching “net zero” emissions could even bring warming back slightly under 1.5°C in the second half of the century.
Net-zero emissions will be achieved when all greenhouse gases emissions released by humans are counterbalanced by removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere in a process known as carbon removal, for example, through restoring forests.
The new government must be committed to promoting sustainable production and consumption at all levels of society.
Digital financial literacy: Digital financial literacy has become an increasingly important aspect of education for the digital age. Consumers will need to have a higher level of financial sophistication to make effective use of financial technology (fintech) products and services, and to avoid fraud and costly mistakes.
The decentralised nature of fintech implies that consumers will need to have increasing financial sophistication to process financial information. Digital financial literacy implies the knowledge of financial products and services, the awareness of digital risks and the ability to mitigate those risks, and the awareness of consumer rights and redress mechanisms.
In the light of the increasing number of scams, consumers should be aware of digital financial risks and how to mitigate these risks. Individuals need to understand the additional risks that they may incur when using digital financial services, which are more diverse but sometimes harder to spot than those associated with traditional financial products and services. Users of digital financial services should be aware of the existence of online fraud and cyber security risks.
Fomca calls on policy makers to formulate and implement a National Programme for Digital Financial Literacy to empower all consumers to fully take advantage of the digital economy, understand the risks, and take measures to mitigate these risks and, finally, to better understand their rights as consumers and be aware of where to go to seek redress if they feel that they have suffered losses due to the digital economy.
Consumer and financial education: To face these challenging times it is vital that consumers are empowered with the attitudes, knowledge and skills to protect themselves and thrive in this challenging economic environment.
Fomca hopes that the new government will be committed to empower consumers through nationwide, evidence-based consumer and financial education.
Hope?
Secretary General, Fomca
