BY DATO’ ABDUL HALIM HUSSAIN
The recommendation for people to renting a house for extended periods of time is not a brilliant idea.
For me, the UMNO / BN government seems to not understand that OWNING A HOME IS A BASIC NEEDS for each individual who have started to work.
The suggestion by Datuk Johari Ghani had disappointed the people and the youth because it is not the way to deal with price increases and cost of living.
HSBC Holdings PLC, London recently reported that 93 per cent of Malaysians still do not have their own house based on the ‘Beyond the Brick’ study.
This rate is a high figure and people especially the youngsters must not delay the time until they have the capability to own their own house.
Actually, waiting until you can afford is a WRONG STEP because HOME PRICES WILL NOT DECREASE, INSTEAD THE PRICE WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE.
Malaysian House Price Index continued to rise 5:36 per cent in the third quarter of 2016, although lower than 7.35 per cent in the same period in the previous year.
House prices increase more than household income since 2015, recorded a double-digit growth between 2012 and 2013.
Therefore it is an advantage to buy a house at a young age due to the bank loan period can be extended up to 30 or 35 years old and could reduce the monthly payment every month.
Indirectly, the house will be an asset to the buyer for which they would be able to bring a lot of benefits in the medium and long term.
Datuk Johari suggested for long-term rentals because he worried that the youngsters will be bound by high commitment at a young age with the burden of house and car when they should try to focus on career and business.
Do Datuk Johari realise that the youth are being forced to buy a car because UMNO / BN government failed to provide an efficient public transport for them to go and return from work.
As the Finance Minister Johari Ghani should propose the elimination of GST and TOL, decreasing the oil prices at a reasonable rate, free higher education, controlled house prices, increase the labor productivity in order to get higher wages, eliminate waste, leakages in budgets and corruption prevention.
Other measures of good that can be started are including giving personal financial management education to students in the early stages of school to university level.
Umno-BN government failed to educate students today and before on ways in financial management, such as buying a house procedure that requires financial preparation from early stages.
The effect, people at an early age do not know that to buy a house at least require a deposit of at least 10 percent of the current price.
When people only knew it needed money to buy a house in the adulthood, eventually they failed to keep the dream of buying a house.
Instead, the house is an asset that can help them to have a property to be inherited.
It is more unfortunate when Johari Ghani said that people should rent houses for long periods, while the houses now will continue to be purchased and owned by the rich.
For how long the people need to have a stable financial, when the real estate prices rising from time to time?
Assume that if the people followed the minister recommendations of waiting ten years to save money first, can he buy a house at a price that has increased in the same period?
I believe if you asked a financial experts and real estate investors, of course most of them will say the best chance to own a house is today, not tomorrow!
Ministers do not seem to understand the concept of supply and demand of properties which are usually rising.
If he sincerely wants to help people, especially the Bumiputera, he should explain the importance of saving deposits and searching for a source of income that allows people to pay house installments on schedule.
Similar to the Minister of Education, the subject of financial education should have been taught in school. Young people should be taught about CCRIS, CTOS, Debt-to-Service Ratio (DSR), as well as budget preparation by all levels of income (small, medium and large income).
Through financial education, home ownership will increase for the next generation. Through financial education, the potential number of bankruptcy will also decrease.
Through financial education, people can judge the ability of the Second Finance Minister who was addressing the country’s economy which is experiencing price increases and high cost of living.
It shows the reality of Datuk Johari and UMNO / BN government have failed to understand the suffering of the people and the aspirations of young people by even suggest measures that worsen the economic situation of the country.
*Dato’ Abdul Halim Hussain is the Head of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Balik Pulau Branch and former Speaker of DUN Pulau Pinang.
Umno-BN Government disappoints the younger generation in housing issue
