Ringgit & sen

A childhood friend, whom I haven't caught up for some time, asked me out for breakfast last weekend. it's been a while since we talked and shared about each other's lives. i see him and his family occassionally when they visited his father, who is my neighbour, and i assumed that life was going on well with him.

Well, not as well as i thought. both of us have always been keen on financial management and used to exchange ideas on how to grow our assets and limit the liabilities. a couple of years ago, he started investing in real estates and have a few properties now to his name. so it was with a surprise when he told me that he's trying very hard to survive with his and wife's combined income. especially after his daughter arrived, expenses have mounted and he's trying to juggle the bills as much as possible.

As we talked, i thought to myself, something is wrong somewhere. the maths don't jell. here is a couple with an income of about RM8K a month but struggling to make ends meet. yes, cut down on outside dinners and entertainment. buy only what is necessary, and pay what is needed. still, can't enjoy a relatively comfortable life...

He reminded me of a conversation i had with another group of friends a few nights earlier. i was told to observe the queues at toll booths. most of the time, the queue for cash is longer than those with "touch & go" card or using smart tag. one reason being, my friends said, was that most people would rather pay on cash everytime than to fork out a lump sum of money to top up the card, what's more to invest in a smart tag, which cost more than RM100.

Also, the friend said when he was at the petrol station, he overhead a guy requesting for RM5 worth of petrol to refill his motorbike. do you know how far can RM5 go?? not much, the most would last for half a day drive in the city ...

I thought of the time when i was in school when i was given a few ringgit everyday as allowances and i could save up to hundreds of ringgit at the end of school year -- which usually ended up to buying something for myself for Christmas :) that few ringgit could buy me two meals a day as well as pay for bus fares to go home. with that few ringgit now, one probably could only afford a packet of nasi lemak and teh tarik.

When i was having lunch in SS 17 a couple of months back, i was horrified to find that my glass of sour plum juice cost me RM2.00 when it was previously RM1.80 at the most expensive hawker's stall. if i were to calculate, that is like 10% increase in just the drink alone. this afternoon, i had a bowl of pan mee in a hot stall, and that cost me RM5.50. it used to be only RM4.80. that is almost 15% jump.

And to think that my salary has only increased less than 5% ... how can it beat inflation???

If really, our economy is doing well and the nation is prospering, then the distribution of wealth must be channelling somewhere. the question is exactly where? definitely not to my friend, who's trying to bring up his daughter and be a filial son to his retired parents at the same time ...

Put politics aside, we need to consider the future sustainability of the nation. when people on the street is finding it more difficult to pay for car loans, or even afford a home for themselves, then perhaps the economy is not doing as well as it should be or sounded to be. the false impression we get during festive seasons, or sale periods would not last forever. we should be thinking of how productivity could improve and to be less dependent on foreign investments.