03/09/2026

THURSDAY | SEPT 3, 2026

3

RM1.2b aid must reach small traders o Fomca urges transparent access to financing as it provides crucial support to operators Ű BY HARITH KAMAL newsdesk@thesundaily.com

PETALING JAYA: The government’s RM1.2 billion boost for microbusinesses risks missing the very traders it is meant to help if access to the funds is weighed down by bureaucracy, the Federation of Malaysian Consumer Associations (Fomca) observed. Its CEO Dr Saravanan Thambirajah said the additional RM1 billion in microfinancing and RM200 million Geran Sejahtera Madani could provide crucial support for hawkers, small grocers, night-market traders and home-based businesses grappling with rising operating costs. However, he said the government must ensure application procedures were simple, transparent and accessible, particularly for smaller operators outside major cities and those with limited digital literacy. “The key issue will be implementation. Assistance must be easy to apply for, transparent and accessible. “We should avoid complicated procedures and documentation that may discourage the very small traders the programme is intended to assist.” Saravanan said information on the schemes must also reach traders beyond major urban centres to prevent assistance from disproportionately benefiting businesses with better access to digital services or professional help. He said clear monitoring mechanisms should also be put in place to establish who received the assistance and whether the funds Parliament Open Day to give public first-hand experience KUALA LUMPUR: The Parliament Open Day, scheduled for Sept 12-13, aims to bring Parliament closer to the public and allow visitors to experience the “House of Democracy” first-hand, said Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul. He said the two day event would also mark Parliament’s 67th anniversary and National Month. “Parliament is where democracy begins, as it brings together representatives of the people. We want people to experience Parliament first hand rather than simply viewing it from a distance. Come inside and see for yourselves. This is Parliament, this is your House,” he said during an appearance on Bernama TV’s Ruang Bicara programme on Tuesday night. He said the Dewan Rakyat would not sit on the day, allowing for various exhibitions and public engagement activities. More than 40 ministries and agencies, including Perbadanan Pr1ma Malaysia, Residensi Wilayah, MyFutureJobs and Bank Rakyat, will participate in the open day, offering visitors information and services related to careers and financing. Johari said Parliament had introduced various institutional reforms in stages, including the 10 Parliamentary Special Select Committees to allow MPs to examine bills in detail before they are passed. Youth development is also a priority for Parliament, he said, with initiatives including exposure to house proceedings, participation through the National Service Training Programme and stronger governance of the Malaysian Youth Parliament. “We have a dedicated building for the Youth Parliament, where young people aged 18 to 30 are given the opportunity to learn and prepare for a future as an MP.” On Parliament’s institutional autonomy, Johari said the government’s agreement and recent approval of the Parliamentary Services Act marked a significant step towards restoring autonomy after 33 years under executive oversight. – Bernama

running businesses from home. Saravanan said microfinancing presented a separate concern, as assistance in the form of loans could create further financial pressure if repayment terms were not appropriate. “For microfinancing, affordability is equally important. We should not solve a cash-flow problem by creating another debt problem.” He said financing should therefore come with reasonable repayment terms and proper financial guidance to help small businesses manage the funds sustainably. Saravanan said the measures could help businesses manage immediate cost pressures, but should form part of a wider effort to strengthen the financial resilience of households and micro-enterprises. He said Budget 2027 should look beyond direct assistance by addressing the structural costs faced by families and small businesses, including food, housing, transport, utilities and healthcare. “Targeted assistance should continue for vulnerable households, but it should complement structural reforms rather than replace them.” He added that the government should ultimately measure the success of its assistance not simply by how much money was distributed but by whether recipients became more financially secure and better able to withstand rising costs. Looking ahead to Budget 2027, Ferlito said the government should establish a clearer and gradual path away from broad price subsidies while strengthening targeted assistance for those who genuinely need it. “The priority should be to establish a credible and gradual exit from broad price subsidies, beginning with fuel, while allowing prices to become increasingly market-determined.” He said this would allow Malaysia to preserve market signals while continuing to protect vulnerable households through targeted cash transfers or vouchers. Ferlito also cautioned that government-led initiatives in areas such as artificial intelligence and microfinancing should be assessed according to whether they ultimately improve productivity and capital allocation, rather than simply increase public spending. The prime minister announced the six measures on Sunday, including the restoration of the Budi95 quota to 300 litres, a 50% increase in school maintenance allocation for 2027, free AI application subscriptions for 100,000 youths, RM1 billion for public healthcare digitalisation, a higher e-Invoice exemption threshold and an additional RM1 billion in microfinancing. – by Harith Kamal is a resilience capability,“ he said, urging researchers and defence planners to focus on translation velocity, the speed at which basic discovery is converted into field-ready countermeasures. He outlined four main structural friction currently hindering national health response – speed asymmetry, operational physiology gaps, data-to-decision delays and institutional seams. A solution, he said would be a mission-driven network that brings together academia, healthcare providers and defence logistics to shorten the “five clocks of resilience”, which are time to detect, understand, counter, deploy and recover. – Bernama

Fomca said simpler procedures are needed for grants under the government’s aid for microbusinesses so that smaller operators are not left out, especially in rural areas and those with limited digital literacy. – SYED AZHAR SYED OSMAN/THESUN

reached genuine micro and small businesses. The government recently announced an additional RM1 billion in microfinancing, raising total microfinancing facilities for 2026

from RM5 billion to RM6 billion. It also announced the RM200 million Geran Sejahtera Madani to assist hawkers, small traders, night-market traders and mothers

Relief measures not substitute for reform: Economist PETALING JAYA: The government must ensure its latest six economic measures do not become another cycle of short-term relief that postpones the harder task of cutting expenditure and undertaking structural reforms, an economist observed. conditions. He said the government should therefore distinguish between measures that removed obstacles to productive activity and those that simply subsidised their consequences. subsidies, where a return to market-based pricing could become more politically difficult after consumers had become accustomed to government-supported prices.

Ferlito was also cautious about interpreting the six measures as evidence of a definitive shift in economic strategy, saying Budget 2027 would provide a clearer indication of the government’s fiscal direction. “At this stage, I would be cautious about interpreting the package as a definitive change in strategy.” He questioned whether Malaysia could credibly claim to be pursuing fiscal consolidation while government expenditure continued to grow. “So far we have not really seen a clear strategy of fiscal consolidation, which should be based mostly on lower expenditure. “Every year, the biggest budget ever gets announced. So, how can we seriously speak of consolidation?” Ferlito also warned that measures introduced as temporary relief could become increasingly difficult to withdraw once households and businesses adjusted their financial decisions around them. “Temporary measures have a tendency to become politically difficult to reverse, particularly subsidies.” He said this was particularly relevant to fuel

Centre for Market Education CEO Dr Carmelo Ferlito said while some of the measures could strengthen Malaysia’s economic capacity, others risked merely cushioning households and businesses from deeper economic problems. He said the true test of the package would come with Budget 2027 which should set out a clearer and credible path towards fiscal consolidation, reduced reliance on broad subsidies and stronger productivity-driven growth. “Reducing the e-invoicing burden on smaller firms is positive because it lowers compliance costs. Investments in school infrastructure and healthcare digitalisation can also improve capacity if they genuinely raise efficiency rather than simply expanding expenditure.” However, Ferlito cautioned against relying heavily on additional government spending to address cost-of-living pressures. “The economy cannot become fundamentally cheaper through government expenditure,” he said, arguing that sustainable improvements in living standards depended primarily on productivity growth, investment, competition and institutions that allowed prices to reflect economic

Health security essential as ‘strategic national capability’ BANGI: Health security must no longer be treated purely as a medical or public-health issue, but as a strategic national capability essential to defending the country’s sovereignty under prolonged pressure, said Armed Forces Health Services director-general Lt Gen Datuk Dr Zulkeffeli Mat Jusoh. Malaysian Society of Pharmacology and Physiology and the 1st Advances in Research & Clinical Medicine of Today symposium yesterday. He pointed out that recent global crises have demonstrated how biological threats move faster than administrative institutions and policy frameworks, underscoring the urgency of bridging the gap between scientific laboratories and operational environments.

Zulkeffeli stressed that a nation’s defence relies directly on the biological resilience of its citizens. “A nation that cannot protect the biological functioning of its people cannot protect its economy, sustain its military readiness, preserve public confidence or defend its sovereignty under prolonged pressure.” He said this at the 39th Scientific Meeting of the

He cautioned that scientific achievements lose their strategic value if they fail to function under severe operational stress, such as during extreme heat, high altitude, resource limitations or disrupted supply chains. “A therapy that works under operational stress