(Kuching, 6th) The government's decision to grant a one-off RM100 Rahmah Basic Assistance (Sumbangan Asas Rahmah, SARA) to all Malaysians aged 18 and above has received positive responses from the academic community.
This aid, announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar, will be distributed in February, ahead of Chinese New Year and Ramadan, to help ease the people's living cost pressures.
The RM100 SARA assistance is part of a series of economic and institutional measures announced by the Prime Minister yesterday in Putrajaya during his New Year's address to civil servants.
In the short term, this cash assistance is expected to boost domestic consumption, especially during festive and school reopening periods when expenses are higher, helping the public cope with spending on basic and daily necessities.
Dr. Fadilah Siali, Senior Lecturer at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), described the RM100 assistance as timely, helping families manage increased expenditures with the start of the school term and during upcoming festivities.
In an interview with the Sarawak Forum Daily yesterday (January 5), she said: "Although this amount may not fundamentally change a household's long-term resilience, it can provide immediate liquidity, ease daily stresses, and support basic consumption."
She added that, by guiding spending through the MyKasih system to ensure the aid is used for essential items, the assistance not only helps families but also supports local retailers and stimulates small-scale economic activities.
Fadilah also pointed out that this broad-based assistance measure shows the government is actively responding to the challenge of rising living costs and is complementary to long-term economic strengthening policies.
On the other hand, Dr. Asmaw Husna, Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and Business at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, also welcomed the announcement, considering it a positive short-term economic stimulus.
He said: "From an economic perspective, the SARA assistance can boost domestic consumption, especially in the retail and essential goods sectors, providing a certain degree of support for economic growth."
However, he emphasized that achieving sustainable long-term growth would still require policies that create jobs, improve productivity, and expand investment.
Asmaw Husna noted that institutional reforms are equally crucial, including increasing transparency, strengthening regulatory certainty, and improving governance, to consolidate investor confidence and economic stability.
He also stressed that educational reform is urgent and must be aligned with the future needs of the workforce, especially in digital skills, science and technology, technical and vocational education, and lifelong learning.
He believes that implementing major reforms may face challenges such as bureaucratic delays, financial constraints, cross-departmental coordination, and public expectations for rapid results.
Both scholars agreed that, when implemented in parallel with structural reforms, timely assistance measures like SARA will help improve household well-being, support small businesses, and promote social inclusion across the nation.
This aid, announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar, will be distributed in February, ahead of Chinese New Year and Ramadan, to help ease the people's living cost pressures.
The RM100 SARA assistance is part of a series of economic and institutional measures announced by the Prime Minister yesterday in Putrajaya during his New Year's address to civil servants.
In the short term, this cash assistance is expected to boost domestic consumption, especially during festive and school reopening periods when expenses are higher, helping the public cope with spending on basic and daily necessities.
In an interview with the Sarawak Forum Daily yesterday (January 5), she said: "Although this amount may not fundamentally change a household's long-term resilience, it can provide immediate liquidity, ease daily stresses, and support basic consumption."
She added that, by guiding spending through the MyKasih system to ensure the aid is used for essential items, the assistance not only helps families but also supports local retailers and stimulates small-scale economic activities.
Fadilah also pointed out that this broad-based assistance measure shows the government is actively responding to the challenge of rising living costs and is complementary to long-term economic strengthening policies.
On the other hand, Dr. Asmaw Husna, Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and Business at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, also welcomed the announcement, considering it a positive short-term economic stimulus.
He said: "From an economic perspective, the SARA assistance can boost domestic consumption, especially in the retail and essential goods sectors, providing a certain degree of support for economic growth."
However, he emphasized that achieving sustainable long-term growth would still require policies that create jobs, improve productivity, and expand investment.
Asmaw Husna noted that institutional reforms are equally crucial, including increasing transparency, strengthening regulatory certainty, and improving governance, to consolidate investor confidence and economic stability.
He also stressed that educational reform is urgent and must be aligned with the future needs of the workforce, especially in digital skills, science and technology, technical and vocational education, and lifelong learning.
He believes that implementing major reforms may face challenges such as bureaucratic delays, financial constraints, cross-departmental coordination, and public expectations for rapid results.
Both scholars agreed that, when implemented in parallel with structural reforms, timely assistance measures like SARA will help improve household well-being, support small businesses, and promote social inclusion across the nation.