KUCHING: The federal government is committed to alleviating the challenges faced by the people.
Addressing the government’s primary challenges, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof highlighted the strategy of providing subsidies to the people as a means of reducing their financial burdens.
“However, it is very important not to rely entirely on subsidies because this action can endanger the country’s financial sustainability.
“If we depend on subsidies, then our country’s income will not be sustainable,” he said.
He said this when officiating the State-level Livelihood Carnival at Dewan Hikmah Kuching here today (Sept 17).
In an effort to overcome this challenge, Fadillah emphasised the need for solid support from Malaysians.
He encouraged cooperation and engagement with various organisations, including non-governmental organisations (NGOs), to reorganise the national subsidy policy.
“We will determine that the financial sustainability of the country will be maintained. We will continue to develop our country and continue to help the people,” he said.
Meanwhile, touching on the programme here, Fadillah revealed that it is a pilot programme to help Form 6 and Vocational College students for a period of three months by crediting RM50 per month to them through e-wallet.
He pointed out that more than 74 percent or 70 thousand students out of 94,000 Form 6 students are from B40 households.
“Many of them are students with good academic performance but due to difficulties and various factors, they choose to continue their studies at the Form 6 level.
“Therefore, the government wants to help to ensure that they continue to excel in their studies. Their success will eventually translate into bringing their families out of poverty,” he said.
Following this, he added that this programme was implemented in 13 locations throughout Malaysia involving a total of 4,829 students.
“In Kuching,this is the last location involving a total of 400 students consisting of 300 Form 6 students and 100 Vocational College Diploma students.
“I hope that this programme will be welcomed by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance. Although this is a pilot programme, it is its success that deserves to be highlighted,” he said.
