Cost of Living In Malaysia ….. RM3k income a month.. Is it enough ?

I’ll try to do some calculations here. In Malaysia the average family income is RM3000 (Father works, mother doesn’t). I understand there are a lot of families whose incomes don’t reach RM3000, but to make things simple, let’s take RM3000 as the figure. Okay, let’s start rolling with a family which has a father, a mother, a daughter, and a son. Ngam-ngam, calculation starts…

• Electricity and water bill RM100 (no air-cond, no home theatre, no water-heater)

• Telekom and Handphone bill RM100 (cannot make a lot of calls one you know? NO Streamyx also)

(Streamyx is probably this country’s only broadband provider, it monopolizes the entire market and rules with an iron fist, however its services are crappy and it is also known as Slowmyx and Screamyx by Malaysians)

• Meal for the whole happy family RM775 (3 meals on RM25/day, RM25 for 4 persons???)

• Papa makan during working hours RM155 (RM5/day, RM5 can eat what?)

• Car repayment RM400 (a Proton Saga Aeroback, 7 years repayment)

• Petrol RM300 Bring son to school, only can afford one car running, no school bus. The public buses are unreliable.

• Insurance for the whole family RM650.

House repayment RM750 (Low cost housing repayment for 30 years, retired still have to work to pay for house! all developers should just give me one for free !)

• Tuition RM80 (got that cheap meh?? No, I don’t think so)

• Children’s pocket money @ school RM20 (RM1/day, my children are too good to eat bread !!)

• School books and etc etc. RM100 (there’ll always be extra to pay for in school)

• Younger children milk powder RM50 (cannot have the DHA, BHA, PHA or any of the high-formulated milk powders because it’s just too expensive!)

• Miscellaneous RM100 (shampoo, rice, sauce, toilet paper)

• Oh wait!!! I have to stop here, so… No Astro (another of Malaysia’s only satelite cable TV provider that rules the country with an iron fist, with equally crappy services and lousy shows), no movie at the cinema, no DVD, no CD, no online, cannot eat KFC, cannot eat McDonald, cannot go to the park for walks during weekend (petrol expensive), no chit-chat on phone with parents/grandparents, etc…

• Let’s use a calculator to total it up… CRAP! RM3610 already! And the sum hasn’t even been deducted by the EPF* and government tax yet!

• The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) is a savings scheme for your retirement. As a member of the Fund, you have the right to ensure that your savings is managed properly and is always safe. For the uninitiated, EPF is also a kitty litter used by the government whenever they see a need to assist the unfortunate very fortunate ones (those worth a big fortune, like billionaires) who have fallen on hard times so that they can continue leading a lifestyle of glamour and luxury (how can you expect them to give up their Bentley for a Proton?!?)

• How to survive lar? Our Deputy Prime Minister ask us to change lifestyle? How to change? Don’t eat? Don’t work? Don’t send children to school and study? Besides that, I believe that there are millions of Malaysians which still don’t earn RM3000 month!

• What is this? Malaysia Boleh? Despite the slogan (a rather lame one) being meant to drive Malaysians to achieve greater heights, we have most often than not turn the meaning the other way around to mean that ‘anything can happen in Malaysia, because despite all that we’re somehow still alive and kicking!