Economic issues making Malaysians stressful, says research group

BANGI, November 25, 2017 -  Economic issues, comprising worries over rising cost of living, economic hardship, jobs and other related matters, remained the top most concern voiced by 72% of voters across the country.

Many Malaysians skip meals to save expenses

"Picking up from public discussion on the topic of high cost of living, we undertook a survey

between November 4 to 14 to uncover voters’ views about how the issue has affected them," said Ibrahim Suffian,  director of programmes  of Merdeka Center  for Opinion Research in a statement to release the outcome of a survey.

He said the survey found that economic stress indicators showed a slight improvement compared to

January 2017.

Principal findings on the seven indicators as follows:

(1) 29% of respondents report that they did not possess a minimum of RM500 of savings to

address any emergency, this is slightly improved from 33% in January 2017;

(2) 64% of respondents felt stressed thinking about the future, compared to 68% in January

2017;

(3)  40% report delaying or unable to make payments on utility bills such as electricity and

telephone bills – a figure that remained unchanged since January;

(4) 20% report having taken on new debt (in the form of personal loans or charging of credit

cards) – this represents a 2% increase compared to January;

(5) 15% report having encountered new conflict with the family – a 2% increase compared to

January 2017;

(6) 15% report skipping meals in order to make ends meet –a figure that has remained

unchanged since January; and

(7)11% who report needing to sell or pawn off possessions in order to meet expenses – this

figure is 1% higher compared to January 2017.

In our opinion, the survey conveys a picture of a Malaysian electorate that was largely affected by

rising costs and feeling some levels of distress in spite of the strong macroeconomic growth

numbers.

The survey also indicates between one to two out of every ten Malaysians are cutting

back on essentials such as food in order to make ends meet.

The survey was carried out by the Merdeka Center for Opinion Research between November 4 to 14, 2017 to gauge voters’ perceptions of current developments.

A total of 1,203 registered voters comprising 52% Malay, 29% Chinese, 7% Indian, 6% Muslim Bumiputra, 6% Non- Muslim Bumiputra, (from Sabah and Sarawak) which was reflective of national electoral profile were interviewed via fixed line and mobile telephones.

Respondents were selected on the basis of random stratified sampling along age group, ethnicity, gender and state constituency. The poll was funded by Merdeka Center’s internal financial resources.