Budget 2024 should focus on good governance thesundaily.my - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thesundaily.my Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Menghadap Duli Yang Maha Mulia Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong XVI, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah Ibni Almarhum Sultan Ahmad Shah Al–Musta’in Billah.
The need for budgetary governance thestar.com.my - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thestar.com.my Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A baby dilemma Bernama
PETALING JAYA: When it is impossible to get out of the house, a roll between the sheets would have been the next best thing.
However, a post-lockdown baby boom is unlikely.
With higher priority now being given to education and career opportunities, and easier access to contraceptives, a “baby bust” may actually be on the horizon.
Recently released data from the Department of Statistics shows that the birth rate has dropped from 4.9 babies per woman in the 1970s to just 1.8 in 2019.
If the downward trend continues, Malaysia will very soon be an ageing society and this will put the economy under a lot of strain, given the dwindling manpower to drive it.
The recent turn into this new year was especially poignant because we passed 2020; I vividly remember when Mahathir launched Vision 2020 back in 1991 and the sense of bravado it fuelled at the time when our economy was growing at 8% to 10%, and apparently only 7% was needed to get us to developed-nation GDP per capita by 2020. Vision 2020 wasn’t just about the economy, it also envisioned a “united” Malaysian nation or a bangsa Malaysia by then. We achieved neither and, sadly, our politics has become so dysfunctional it is hard to imagine how we can turn things around.
To get straight to my main point: I am of the view that Malaysia needs a system reset or nationhood recalibration. I just don’t think you can deal with social cohesion on its own, it is too intertwined with our politics and economics. Even the most harmless reform idea is quickly racialised and sometimes translated in religious and economic terms. It then becomes a political challenge and it has been a lo