- 5 weeks ago
From job creation to cost of living, what does Budget 2026 really mean for Malaysia’s youth? Ammar Syabil, Youth Parliamentary Member of Federal Territories (Lembah Pantai), and Syaza Nazura from TalentCorp Malaysia share their take on what’s good, what’s missing, and how the budget can do more for young Malaysians.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome to It's About Youth. I'm your host, Fahna Sheh.
00:11Now, last week, Dato' Sri Anwar Ibrahim unveiled a record RM470 billion budget 2026
00:18with plenty of incentives for youths actually, from employment incentives,
00:23Rakan Muda program, social protection for gig workers, PTPTN assistance,
00:27higher education funding and so much more.
00:31So, we want to unpack all this with two of our guests here today in the studio.
00:35Right, we have Amash Abel Mohamad Azam, Youth Parliamentary Member of Federal Territories
00:40Lebalkantai, as well as Shazan Azwar Nur Azmi, AVP Group Strategy Office from Talent Corp.
00:46Thank you so much for being here, both of you.
00:48Right, very busy week last week, unpacking the budget.
00:52So, now things have settled down a little bit.
00:54We want your thoughts on the budget itself, especially with the perspective from youths.
01:00So, what were your first impression of Anwar's budget this year?
01:04Let's start with you, Shazal.
01:05Okay, so I think the budget announcement feels a little bit more matured this year.
01:12I think that's the fourth Madani budget.
01:14So, it balances the fiscal discipline but also gives a lot of attention on the youth,
01:19a lot of attention to the people.
01:21So, I think it balances the fiscal discipline and also the people, aspects of the budget
01:28and the people, the right year of Malaysia.
01:30So, the focuses that it has on AI and technology and the focus on upskilling in semi-con,
01:36it relates a lot more to our Talent Corp Impact Study that we have conducted.
01:39We did the impact study last year and we are currently doing it this year.
01:43So, we identified a lot of the high-need areas where in-demand rules are coming up.
01:48So, a lot of it are AI, a lot of it are digital-related and green-related.
01:52So, it ties in nicely with the budget, seeing that this is where the emerging jobs are coming in
01:56and seeing that the government is focusing a lot more on these rules
02:00and showcasing that this is where the future is heading,
02:04highlights the government and the ministry's trajectory towards that area.
02:08Right. So, I mean, you mentioned mature just now and these are the kind of sectors that
02:12maybe, you know, in the last two, three years of the budget are not being focused enough.
02:18But, you know, like you said, we're looking at sectors of AI, climate change, green initiative.
02:23So, I think, yeah, I do comment the government in terms of, you know,
02:27putting a little bit more attention to that.
02:29But, Amar, what's your thought on this?
02:31I think I do agree a bit from Shazza where the budget is getting more matured
02:36and Dato' Sri Anwar Ibrahim is definitely emphasizing a lot on fiscal reforms.
02:41They want to reduce the spending and get more revenues.
02:44Yes. But, however, what I'm a bit critical of is how the funds are being allocated.
02:50Right.
02:50Okay. Yes, there are big numbers.
02:53$150 million for that and a bit of millions for Raka Muda.
02:57But, my question is, is there like any past studies that shows that this sort of training programs is effective?
03:05What are the level of the success rate?
03:07The business survival rate, for example, BSN is giving a loan, giving loan-based entrepreneurships about allocation about $150 million.
03:17Right.
03:17But, is there any, I would say, impact assessment studies prior to that?
03:21Okay.
03:22Like past budgets that shows that this is actually worthwhile to be done.
03:26And, also, a bit of the training allocations for industrial boot camps under Mara, it's allocated about $30 million to $5,000 in youths.
03:45First of all, I think there's demographic blind spots.
03:48We're not, I'm not sure who are these youths that we're talking about.
03:51Are they unemployed?
03:53Are they like coming from, you know, maybe OK youths?
03:56Or, are they coming from the rural areas?
03:59And, is there any, and yes, they do say there is a guarantee for them to have a job placement.
04:05But, is it tied to the wage industry ladder where there is progress, wage progression for it?
04:13Are these companies registered under the progressive wage policy?
04:16Because the issue right now is, is low wages among youths.
04:20Right.
04:20I think here, I showed about like 70%, or 80%, I'm not mistaken, roughly, approximately, where our youths, medium wage, is about lesser than $2,000.
04:31Okay, that's highly worrisome.
04:34And, for me, I think, yes, there is physical discipline, but it might be a bit populist, I would say.
04:44Yeah, because I...
04:45Most budgets are.
04:46Yeah, most budgets are, but, you know, we're expecting from Datuk Siwa Nobari,
04:50as a reformist, who always chant about reformism, so I'm expecting something more strategic other than just big numbers.
04:59I mean, it's good, it's great that you highlight this because, yeah, you know, everyone gets excited when there's cash assistance,
05:05and when there's big numbers, especially, you know, you're looking at, you know, 40 million more for Rakan Muda, for example.
05:12That's, it's big numbers, and you would think it would trickle down, but I like how you highlight the thought process that goes into some of these measures.
05:19Are they being taught well enough?
05:22Are there being comprehensive studies being done on the impact assessment that you mentioned just now?
05:26So I like that, yeah, calling ANOA and reformists and making sure that, you know, these are actually reformist strategies, right?
05:33Yes, because it's a structural issue.
05:34Yes, definitely, definitely.
05:36Right, so I guess that goes to my next question, which is, you know, concentrating on youth itself, right?
05:44So do you think this year's budget really reflects the priorities and struggles of Malaysian youths?
05:50And which specific initiative do you think that you can nitpick, either in education, PTPTN reforms, for example, job creations, you know, job guarantee schemes,
06:01or even cost of living issues because, like you mentioned, living wage, progressive wage, and all that.
06:06But where do you think are most beneficial with regards to this budget, or where do you think needs a bit more work?
06:14Maybe, Amar, we can start with you.
06:16I'm going to go for PTPTN.
06:17So I know they're allocating about a huge amount of funds to waver the undeserved youths, right, the students who will be pursuing their education.
06:29But I think when it comes to pursuing your higher education, it's more of a systemic issue, rather than giving cash assistance.
06:39For example, I think there's always complaints saying that in UITM, the admission of students there,
06:44masuk, masuk, Mercedes.
06:46Yeah, those are really systemic issues.
06:49That means there's something wrong with the vetting process.
06:51Right, okay.
06:52Yeah, so because we are very income-based, rather than asset-based.
06:55So whatever your income is stated there, $5,000, or $10,000, or $20,000, it might not actually reflect your wealth.
07:03Maybe you're actually more than that.
07:05Maybe you're actually lesser than that.
07:07Yeah.
07:07Okay, so that is, it's quite rigged in that part.
07:10And also the scholarship system, I think there are still students who pursue education internationally,
07:19and they receive Mara scholarships here and there, and they are spending more than they're supposed to.
07:25And my question is, how are we getting so much money from this?
07:28So I believe so that our system meritocracy is very rigged.
07:32And I think Datuk Suwan Ombrahim also stated about this, regarding the tyranny of merit.
07:37And when one student came out about the matriculation thing, right, that issue.
07:41So I don't see how does it reflect Anwar's philosophy right now.
07:45And I think he really need to revise on this part.
07:47I mean, so you're saying not just to look at, you know, every year to look at how we can give discounts,
07:53but to look at the structure of PT-PTN loan itself, whether or not it's really serving the undeserved communities, right?
08:00Okay.
08:01Shahzad, what about you?
08:02Are there any specific measures that you think are beneficial in the budget,
08:06or requires a little bit of nitpicking with regards to youth?
08:10Well, from a talent course perspective, the implementation of likes, so the internship facilitation,
08:18the internship matching grant, to see it being in the budget again,
08:22is a showcase of like, this is where we want to make sure that students who have to undergo internships get paid for it.
08:30We don't want to fight for unpaid internships.
08:32So this is their step up into the workforce.
08:35So we want to make sure that they have the proper support needed.
08:39So the likes fund is for SMEs.
08:42So for smaller companies who pay intern 600 ringgit minimum, will pay half of it for a year.
08:47So they can claim up to 3,600 for the funding that they pay for the interns.
08:52So we also have the MySIP, which then companies can still claim double tax reduction and everything.
08:58So for talent course, we champion that paid internship.
09:01We don't want students to go to universities.
09:03There are even some cases that students have to pay companies to intern.
09:07Because some companies say, we actually have to fork out money to train you.
09:10So you have to pay us to train you.
09:13So we don't want that to happen to students.
09:14We want to make sure that they get structured internship.
09:17Right.
09:17Okay.
09:18I mean, I think what both of you are touching here are more on employment and cost of living
09:25issues as well, you know, when it comes to paid internships and also higher education,
09:30so higher education fund and also PTPTN.
09:33So those are sort of core issues when it comes to, you know, how youths go about, you know,
09:39in today's world, in today's scene.
09:41So let's talk about beyond some of these core issues, right?
09:45Do you think there are sufficient attention given to quality of life issues?
09:49So we talk about young people these days, you know, we've seen it in the news, mental health,
09:54for example, or even housing affordability.
09:58What are your thoughts on this particular areas?
10:01Shazal, we can start with you.
10:02I think from perspective of Talent Corp, what we champion for companies to focus on when
10:09it comes to employees, not just the youth, but talents in general, is trying to advocate
10:14for flexible working arrangement.
10:16And I think with the Gen Zs and the younger generation, that's their focus when they try
10:22to look for a job is I don't want to just find a job for the sake of having a job.
10:26I want to find a job that is closely related to what I want, what I enjoy doing, but also
10:31offers that flexible working arrangement because, yes, we all worry about mental health.
10:35We all worry about having that flexibility in case something happens to your family,
10:39you need to take care of work from home, or even with some, you see some companies offering
10:44support for young mothers, or offering support for people with funding for personal development,
10:49with funding for mental support.
10:51So you see that a little bit more.
10:53So we try to advocate for companies and going with them.
10:56Do you think that is highlighted enough in the budget, you think?
10:58Not so much, so that is something that we hopefully, we get to see a little bit more highlights
11:03of being able to support that and advocating for that a little bit more structurally.
11:09Right.
11:10Aman, what about you?
11:11So maybe I'm going to touch on mental health first a bit.
11:14So I think the recent cases that we see where from tree to children, very graphic, she was
11:22raped.
11:23Yeah.
11:24And I think this actually goes back to the exposure of, also goes back to the factor of
11:30social media, where pornography is very rapid and widespread in the internet.
11:35And that actually influences the cognitive mentality.
11:40Yes.
11:41And I'm not just saying this out of theory.
11:44Actually, there are cases in autism centers where, well, children, because they watch the
11:49source, they re-animate it.
11:51Yeah.
11:51There have been a lot of studies on this.
11:53So this is happening from preschool to even secondary schools, and I believe even the
11:58tertiary education between the students.
12:01So I think the problem here, what I see in the budget here, it's more allocated to soft
12:06support mental health rather than a durable support.
12:09Right.
12:10Okay.
12:10So there are existing civil societies like Malaysia Against Pornography.
12:14I've worked with them before.
12:16Not work exactly.
12:17I mean, like collaborate, me as a student leader.
12:20So we actually go to schools and give awareness on the dangers of pornography, digital literacy
12:27and so on and so forth.
12:28So this actually, the government should really look into this existing strategic initiatives
12:35and scale it up.
12:36That's why I believe.
12:37And maybe one day embed a sex education that is tailored to our generation and our culture.
12:46That is very important.
12:47Do not follow what's the Western Union model.
12:50Follow our model.
12:51It has to be Sharia-based and so on.
12:54Okay.
12:54And regarding housing affordability, maybe I want to touch a bit on the Urban Renewal Act.
13:01It will intersect with the Urban Renewal Act.
13:03But I think we know for sure that there is schemes to give loans for the young generation
13:11to buy houses and so on.
13:14But the problem right now is there comes the URA, Urban Renewal Act, where buildings will
13:21be renewed.
13:22And of course, the market price is going to increase.
13:25Yeah.
13:25And this is going to disrupt the youths, particularly in actually finding an affordable house.
13:32So I think what's happening right now, where the bill is trying to be revised, because
13:38it wasn't passed, hopefully there will be more legal safeguards for the youth particularly.
13:47So maybe have a representation from the youth, particularly the youth councils of youth leaders
13:56to actually have a say in the re-engagement sessions.
14:00Right.
14:00So youth representation.
14:02Youth representation is very important.
14:04And yeah.
14:05Okay.
14:05I mean, from what I'm getting here is, it's not just, you know, having the measures at
14:11hand, but also looking into how we can make it into more long-term strategies, make it
14:17more durable, like you mentioned just now, the key word there.
14:20I think sustainable.
14:22Sustainable, yeah.
14:22And also more comprehensive, right?
14:25Touches on every angle that we might not see right now.
14:29We're going to discuss a little bit more about some of these challenges, but we'll go for
14:34a quick break first.
14:35Okay.
14:35Hello and welcome back to It's About Youth.
14:52I'm Fahena Shea and today I'm joined by Ammar and Shaza to talk about Budget 2026 and what
14:58it means for youth.
14:59Right.
15:00We've talked just now before the break about higher education, about internships, about
15:05employment, about cost of living.
15:07So we've talked about quite a lot of things before the break, but let's talk about where
15:13the budget lacks, right?
15:16When we talk about specifically areas or strategic sectors, maybe the creative industry, digital
15:22economy or climate action, some of the examples, those are my examples, but feel free to use
15:27yours.
15:27But do you feel some of these areas or strategies or in your opinion, which one of them are either
15:35overlooked or significantly underfunded when it comes to the budget?
15:38Well, maybe underfunded for the care economy.
15:44I think there is a fund allocation for women for childcare tax relief.
15:50Okay, good.
15:513,000 ringgit legal aid for 5,000 single mothers is great, but I think they omitted informal
15:59employers.
15:59So these are only for taxable income.
16:01That's true.
16:02So I think there was a recent news that came out.
16:03I think you saw a woman with three childs riding a bike, e-hailing services.
16:11So why?
16:13Because daycare is very expensive for the informal employers.
16:16Because obviously the informal employers have low, not low wages, I mean low assets.
16:21You know, they don't have much of the money, the money, the purchasing power to pay for
16:26this expensive daycare.
16:27So I think from the expenditures that's already been divided to operational and developmental,
16:34maybe some funds there where the unutilized budgets can actually be used to create, to
16:41funnel it to a special project where rumah-rumah kebajikan that is funded or subsidized by the
16:48government so that the informal employers can pay, can pay lah.
16:56can pay the funds, the, the, the, the, the prices.
17:00Yeah.
17:01So, because it's very dangerous, you know, there are also recent cases where the truck just
17:06went through a child, right, kajang, kajang tol.
17:09So this is, this could compromise the livelihoods, nyawa lah, of our children.
17:17So I think this is a part where it's underfunded.
17:19It's underfunded and it's often overlooked, right?
17:22Because when we talk about informal, informal workers, we talk about social protection, we
17:28talk about, you know, how we can include them in Perkiso, how we can offer them gig workers
17:34protection and all that.
17:35But we don't look far beyond to care economy, to probably single mothers who are informal
17:41workers.
17:42So we don't look far beyond what's already like one scope, like informal workers, right?
17:48We don't look the sub, you know, what's, who are in the informal workers, the demographics
17:52in informal workers.
17:53So you're right to highlight the fact that it is underfunded and often overlooked.
17:58Plus it's 21% of the economy are informal employers.
18:01Okay, that's more worrying and I was kind of shocked like how did the Medali government
18:06did not look into this or put it in, maybe they looked into this, but they are still
18:12in the process of studying it, the hotspots of where informal employers are.
18:17But yeah, I'm quite disappointed.
18:18Why is it not in the budget 2026 lah.
18:21Well, as a mother myself, I can say child care is very expensive.
18:25And I think, yes, the tax relief does help, but it does not help for, okay, for parents
18:30who have multiple children.
18:32One kid going to daycare or to preschool, you fork out a lot earlier in the start.
18:39So yes, you have Tabika, you have Tadika, Kemas and all that, but the quantity for kids
18:44to go there is very limited.
18:45So a lot of parents tend to opt for private childcare.
18:48So to fork out every single year on annual basis and then waiting for the tax relief later
18:54on that it disrupts the financial money for financial flow, cash flow for these parents
19:00because not every family can afford to fork out 2,000 to 3,000 annual registration for
19:06every single child.
19:07And then just getting that 3,000 once a year.
19:11So you have to fork out money first and then you only get back part of it as a tax relief.
19:16So that hurts a lot of people.
19:18So being able to support that.
19:19You don't have a constant lifeline.
19:21Yes.
19:21Your lifeline only comes like one shot like that.
19:23Yes.
19:23So that makes it hard for a lot of students.
19:26And I think we talked about earlier that the budget focus, yes, because we are going
19:31into the world of AI.
19:32So everything, all the focus is shifted into AI in Semicon and there's always a lack
19:37of focus or emphasis on the creative industry, on the gig economy.
19:41Like we talked about gig economy people, they need protection beyond just signing up for
19:46the self-registration on Sokso as a freelancer.
19:51But the creative economy people, they are always on the lower end of, there's less upskilling
19:58opportunities for them, there's less funding for them, there's less wages for them because
20:03it's like, oh, you're in arts or you're in mass comm or you're doing painting or you're
20:08doing drama.
20:09So you're not important.
20:11We look at the tech, we look at the science people because they're a little bit smarter
20:15than you.
20:16So for these people, they get all that comments on a daily basis.
20:19So it hurts to be like, oh, we want to help, but then the government should kind of look
20:26into, don't just focus, yes, the world is going into AI, but what are you doing with
20:31all these other people who, we cannot all go into AI because then there won't be any
20:36jobs available to cater to every single person in AI.
20:39We need a balance between the creativity, the arts, the humanity and everything else.
20:43Right, more inclusive.
20:45Yes.
20:46Okay.
20:46I can, because you said about, you know, the talent pool is more focusing on STEM, that's
20:54being encouraged by the government.
20:55And you can see that for KU programs where they are going to train about 11,000 youths,
21:01unemployed youths, focusing only on the sectors that's on semiconductor.
21:07Because it's sexy.
21:08It's sexy for the industry.
21:10For the industry, which is, okay, we understand we must go by the industrial demand, but how
21:16about, you know, balancing it with what are the demands from the supply side?
21:21Right.
21:22Yeah, that must be taken into account because, you know, Madani is all about, you know, humanity
21:28is about a humane part.
21:30So we need to take serious consideration on that.
21:34And maybe I want to add this one part because we're talking about industries and, okay, this
21:39is, I know, I know, I know, Telangkok with industries and in a very diplomatic way,
21:45engagement sessions and so on.
21:48But for me, Dato' Sri Anwar Bahrain, the Madani government needs to be a bit stern
21:52with the private sector, but not the private sector as a whole.
21:56But certain companies who are not paying their employees that fairly based on the profits
22:05that they have generated.
22:07Right.
22:07So there are reports where it was published in the Edge.
22:11I think the auditor general found out, okay, there's one company, I don't know what
22:14company it is, company A lah, let's just say company A.
22:16They had a strong valuation, generated a lot of profits, but their employees are still
22:22having wages lower than RM3,000.
22:26And Anwar kept on saying that, let's put the threshold on RM3,000 to all the private sector.
22:30He kept on saying that.
22:31He wants that transition.
22:33So rather than just saying it, preaching about it, how about have a policy or maybe a new
22:41particular law to be gazetted, where for this sort of companies, should receive some
22:46kind of a, you know, maybe penalty.
22:49Slap on the hand.
22:50Yeah, slap on the hand.
22:51Kenapa tak ni?
22:52Right.
22:53So making sure that the profit trickles down, make sure nobody is abused and making sure
22:58that nobody is left behind.
22:59Nobody is left behind, they're audited properly, they know, you know, what they should be earning
23:07based on where the company is at the moment.
23:10Yes, exactly.
23:11Right, right, right.
23:12Yeah, definitely.
23:13I mean, I'm all for that.
23:15Definitely.
23:16Go ahead.
23:17Because you see a lot of the gap is between the lowest earning and the highest earning,
23:23which is usually the head.
23:24And then you don't include the nepotism, the tectocracy and all that.
23:28That's a whole different story.
23:29That's a whole different story.
23:30I don't want to go there.
23:31In an hour for that.
23:33We don't have much time, unfortunately.
23:35So I'm going to sort of sum it up to this.
23:39If you are in the hot seat right now, right, what one budget policy, if you are a minister,
23:47you are drafting the budget right now, you know, if you could recommend one concrete policy
23:51or initiative that the budget next year can improve on, especially for youth, what would
23:58that be?
23:58So I guess from my perspective, if we want to include, we want to push for a policy for
24:05youth employability and flexible fund.
24:06So this can help support because I know not every company has the capacity to offer flexible
24:13working arrangement or to actually train these young graduates, especially small companies.
24:18So being able to have that youth employability or flexible fund for companies to tap into
24:23so that, okay, we're going to offer flexible working arrangement, work life practices for
24:27our talents, our employees, so that everybody is able to can have that flexible working arrangement
24:34at work and something that is a little bit conducive to them.
24:37Because when we talk about flexible working arrangement, it's not just, oh, you can work
24:41from home two days a week.
24:42Or, oh, yes, you can come in at 10 o'clock, but then you have to leave a little bit later.
24:46But it's also catering to the different needs of people.
24:48So you might have autism people or you might have people who have ADHD or KU having tables
24:54that can go up and down.
24:55So I have that at home, but it's not cheap.
24:58So to support these companies, to offer those kind of arrangements to their employees would
25:06be useful.
25:06Because I had a friend who had ear infection and so she had to go and get earpugs and
25:12everything.
25:13So we had to do a lot of adjustment at work.
25:17So like we used to work in the school, so they had to lower the volume of the school
25:21bell, move her into an office with softer equipment.
25:24So at least the voice does not bounce off the wall so much.
25:28So catering to that is not something that a lot of companies can do.
25:31But having that flex work funding policy to actually say that, yes, companies provide
25:36this for your employees.
25:37Here's some money for you to kickstart that.
25:40And Telecorp can be helping that out.
25:42I mean, flexible working arrangement is being put into law just recently.
25:45It's being put in wording into law recently.
25:48But we don't really see the outcome of it or what is being done.
25:53Rather than just working from home.
25:55Is it just four days, three days at home?
25:58Yeah, you're right.
25:59Let's go, Ammar.
26:00Last from you.
26:02I think I did mention about the ambiguous targeting of the funds.
26:06And I also mentioned about the absence of monitoring.
26:10What's the progression, the impact assessment out of this sort of initiatives?
26:14Why are these funds allocated to this, I don't know whether it's strategic or not, these initiatives?
26:20I think there should be a youth monitoring unit to actually monitor and reassess the success rate
26:30of this particular initiative that's been allocated with Budget 2026.
26:34So that for the next budget, it will be something that's more meaningful, more strategic,
26:40rather than having big numbers on the screen, being preached about.
26:46So that's one of the things that I would advise the government to do.
26:51So the youth representation as well as a committee or a group of people that can really look into execution
27:01and implementation and impact assessment and monitoring.
27:05The reporting part of it.
27:06The delivery plans is very important.
27:07It needs to be robust.
27:09Unfortunately, that's all the time we have.
27:10And I thank you so much, both of you, for giving your input on this.
27:14And we hope that it will be carried forward to next year as well.
27:17Hopefully.
27:18Fingers crossed.
27:19Right.
27:19That's all the time we have.
27:20Thank you so much.
27:21Thank you for having us.
27:22Thank you for having us.
27:23And that's all from me.
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