Budget 2027 must place greater emphasis on raising young Malaysians’ incomes instead of relying mainly on additional aid to ease mounting cost-of-living pressures, the Dayak Transformation Organisation (TRADA) said.
Its president, Joseph Ninting, said the challenges facing young people now extend beyond rising prices, with wages and economic opportunities failing to keep pace with the cost of building a life.
He said the situation was particularly worrying as the median salary for workers aged 25 to 29 fell five per cent from RM2,206 in 2019 to RM2,095 in 2024.
The age group is also the only one that has yet to return to its pre-pandemic median wage level, he said.
“These figures point to a deeper challenge. Malaysia does not simply need more jobs, but better-quality jobs that offer higher wages and clear career pathways so young people can improve their standard of living,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.
Joseph said Budget 2027 should move away from measuring success based solely on the number of jobs created and instead focus on creating high-value careers that provide better incomes.
He proposed that government incentives, particularly for companies investing in Sabah and Sarawak, be tied to factors such as wage levels, local hiring, skills transfer and career advancement opportunities.
Among the sectors he identified as having potential are artificial intelligence (AI), digital services, advanced manufacturing, renewable energy, engineering, modern agriculture and other high-value industries.
“Sabah and Sarawak should not merely become suppliers of manpower to other states.
“We need to create an ecosystem that allows young people in Sabah and Sarawak to build sophisticated, high-skilled and well-paid careers in their own home states,” he said.
Joseph also called for wider access to grants, scholarships and soft loans to help young people pursue upskilling and reskilling programmes in areas including technical and vocational education and training (TVET), AI, data analytics, cybersecurity, automation, advanced manufacturing and green technology.
He said the government should also strengthen collaboration between universities, polytechnics, TVET institutions and industry players to ensure training for future jobs is more accessible to young people.
On housing, Joseph proposed a more comprehensive “First Home for Youth” initiative covering affordable housing, rent-to-own schemes, financing guarantees and assistance with upfront homeownership costs.
He said efforts to increase incomes must go hand in hand with measures to address the cost of living, as subsidies and targeted assistance could not serve as long-term solutions.
Joseph cited rising food prices as another indication of the pressure faced by households, noting that the price of nasi lemak increased by 81.3 per cent and chicken satay by 113.7 per cent between 2011 and 2024, compared with overall inflation of 28.7 per cent.
He said the government’s long-term goal should be to ensure young people’s earning power grows faster than the cost of living.
“Young people are not asking the government to solve every problem for them. What they need are the skills to compete, access to capital, jobs that offer meaningful wages and realistic opportunities to own a home.
“Budget 2027 must give Malaysia’s young people a genuine opportunity not merely to survive rising living costs, but to progress, achieve prosperity and build their future in this country,” he said.
