HANYA 100 INDIVIDU MILIK 76% KEKAYAAN MALAYSIA

Hanya 100 Individu Milik 76% Kekayaan Malaysia – Kamal Salih BANGI, 21 Jun 2015 – Cabaran utama bagi Malaysia menjadi sebuah negara maju menjelang tahun 2020 adalah hakikat bahawa pengagihan kekayaan negara adalah sangat tidak seimbang atau kurang sama rata, dengan hanya lima belas keluarga memiliki 76% daripada Keluaran Dalam Negeri Kasar (KDNK). Pakar ekonomi dan Pengerusi Yayasan Mahkota Tan Sri Datuk Dr Kamal Salih berkata umumnya ekonomi yang lebih maju akan mempunyai produktiviti yang agak tinggi dan penyebaran sama rata kekayaan di kalangan sebahagian besar daripada golongan pendapatan. “Bagaimanapun, di Malaysia, mungkin kira-kira 100 individu memiliki 76% daripada kekayaan negara,” kata Kamal dalam ucaptama pada Persidangan Antarabangsa 2 CHREST 2015: Transformasi Modal Insan Untuk Daya Saing Global yang dianjurkan oleh Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia ( UKM) di sini dari 10 hingga 11 Jun. Menurut beliau Malaysia masih duduk di dalam apa yang sesetengah ahli pakar ekonomi anggap sebagai satu ‘perangkap pendapatan sederhana’. “Dalam usaha untuk beralih ke status negara maju, daya saing negara harus sama pertumbuhan tinggi yang mampan dalam ekonomi dunia bukan jumlah sifar. “Pertumbuhan yang lebih tinggi daripada yang dicatat sekarang  diperlukan, dan ia memerlukan jauh lebih banyak peluang pekerjaan bagi  meningkatkan nilai kekurangan buruh. Akibatnya gaji akan naik dan  menyebarkan kekayaan. “Produktiviti kami perlu ditingkatkan, perdagangan kita perlu ditambahkan. Permintaan untuk barang-barang kami perlu meningkat bagi kita  mencapai wawasan 2020. Pertumbuhan potensi kami menunjukkan penurunan. Kita tidak dapat mengekalkan pertumbuhan antara 4.5% hingga 6% “, beliau menjelaskan. Menurut beliau, pertumbuhan yang berterusan membawa kepada penghapusan kemiskinan. Walau bagaimanapun, petunjuk itu tidak membawa sebarang erti, katanya, kerana pertumbuhan 5% setiap tahun tidak memadai. Apatah lagi, kata beliau, pada suku ini, pertumbuhan itu sebenarnya menurun sebanyak  4.5%. Kemiskinan masih wujud dan kemiskinan relatif bermakna mereka yang menerima pendapatan 40% dibawah masih merupakan 20% daripada jumlah pekerja, Kamal berkata. Mereka yang dianggap sebagai ‘kelas menengah’ dan ke atas, terdiri daripada 10 hingga 15% daripada golongan pendapatan, hanya memiliki  14% daripada KDNK negara. “Jika anda mahu mencapai pertumbuhan yang saksama, anda mesti mempunyai keterangkuman pada peringkat 40% yang bawah,” kata beliau. Melangkah ke hadapan, adalah munasabah bahawa ketidaksamaan ekonomi boleh memperluaskan di Malaysia dalam masa terdekat memandangkan cabaran semasa dalam pasaran buruh, perubahan dalam dasar pendidikan, dan pengukuhan dasar fiskal untuk mengurangkan defisit persekutuan. Kira-kira 30 ahli akademik, sebahagian daripada mereka pelajar pasca-siswazah, telah mengambil bahagian dalam persidangan dua hari itu yang diselaraskan oleh Pusat Pengajian Sumber Manusia (CHREST), Fakulti Ekonomi dan Pengurusan UKM. Ia telah dirasmikan oleh Timbalan Naib Canselor (Hal Ehwal Pelajar dan Alumni) Prof Datin Dr Noor Aziah Mohd Awal. Turut hadir ialah Ketua CHREST Prof Dr Rahmah Ismail dan Pengerusi Prof persidangan Prof Dr Azman Ismail.

Only 100 People Control 76% Of Malaysia’s Wealth – Kamal Salih BANGI, 21 June 2015 – A major challenge to Malaysia becoming a developed nation by 2020 is the fact that the country’s wealth distribution is very skewed and unequal, with only fifteen families controlling 76% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Economist and Chairman of Yayasan Mahkota Tan Sri Datuk Dr Kamal Salih said generally the more developed economic would have comparatively high productivity and a good spread of wealth among most of the income levels. “However, in Malaysia, maybe about 100 individuals own 76% of the country’s wealth,” Tan Sri Kamal said in his keynote address at the 2nd CHREST International Conference 2015: Transforming Human Capital For Global Competitiveness, organised by The National University of Malaysia (UKM), here from June 10th to 11th. He said Malaysia is still sitting in what some economists call a ‘Middle Income Trap’. “In order to move to a developed nation status, the national competitiveness should equal sustained high growth in a non-zero sum world economy. “Higher growth than the current gain is needed, and that requires massive job creation, raising the scarcity value of labour. As a result wages rise, spreading wealth. “Our productivity should increase, our trade should improve. Demand for our goods should rise in order to achieve vision 2020. Our potential growth showed a decline. We have not been able to sustain that growth of between 4.5% to 6%”, he clarified. According to him, sustained growth leads to elimination of poverty. However, such indicators have not be forthcoming, he said, because 5% growth annually would not be enough. As a matter of fact, he pointed out, in the present quarter, the growth actually went down by as much as 4.5%. Poverty still persists and relative poverty means those in the lower 40% of wages still constitutes 20% of the population, he argued. Those who are deemed as ‘middle class’ and above, that is between 10 to 15% of income earners, only have 14% of the country’s GDP. “If you want to achieve an equitable growth, you must have inclusiveness in the bottom 40%,” he said. Moving forward, it is plausible that economic inequality could widen in Malaysia in the near future given current challenges in the labour market, changes in education policy, and consolidation of fiscal policy to reduce the federal deficit. Some 30 academics, some of them post-graduate students, were taking part in the two-day conference coordinated by the Centre for Human Resource Studies (CHREST), the Faculty of Economics and Management of UKM. It was officiated by Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Student Affairs and Alumni) Prof Datin Dr Noor Aziah Mohd Awal. Also present were Head of CHREST Prof Dr Rahmah Ismail and Chairman of the conference Assoc Prof Dr Azman Ismail.  “Consumer associations should play a greater role and not only expect the government to control prices. “In a lot of cases and issues, businesses were seen to get the upper hand over consumer organisations,” he explained. Senior Assistant Director of Customs II, Mohammad Sabri Saad expressed concern about people doubting the validity of the prices charged after GST. “When the SST system was used, taxes were not collected in a transparent and comprehensive, resulting in the low levels of revenue. Now with the GST, we should be able to collect RM220 billion. We target RM2 to 3 billion more than the target by April, said Sabri. Enforcement officer from the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry M.Gunaselan mentioned that the number of complaints from consumers on the prices of goods is on the rise. “More than 2,000 complaints received since April. Every day at least 10 calls received. The main complaint is price manipulation, with 60 cases of open investigation,” explained Gunaselan. Datuk Zaini Hassan of the Utusan Group was acting as the moderator of the forum jointly organised by UKM, The National Professors’ Council, RTM and Utusan Malaysia.