The Valley Girl: Money Matters

By some stroke of genius, I filled up my tank the night before the fuel prices went up. The next day, on the way to an event, traffic jams of epic proportions abounded in our fair city. For those of you tucked away from the madness, it looked like a Spielberg-esque, War of the Worlds. Aliens coming, get gas, flee!

Sometimes in my moments of temporary insanity, it feels as though there’s a weirdly apocalyptic undertone this year what with a global food crisis on the brink, fuel prices on the uptake, changes in established governments and political upheavals all over the world. It has become a decidedly interesting year. If not a little scary.

The decision of the Malaysian government to eventually remove the oil subsidy is warranted. Let's face it, prices are rising for everything, everywhere, and no one is going to be unscathed by these changes.

However, in Malaysia I think it is important to note that we are net oil exporters, and the justifications about how much more expensive gas is in Singapore and Thailand is a rather weary, unacceptable one, and thus, the protests and the indignant reactions from the very well-informed Malaysian public that have suddenly developed a keen sense of smell for the very fishy. 

Of course, much of this also has to do with the general skepticism and frustration we have all built against the government that has come to roost with a vengeance, 51 years later. The last time the prices went up, we were told to "Ubah gaya hidup" or to change our lifestyles. At one protest I attended, I spoke to a charming older Malay gentleman who told me that there really wasn't much to change when you had already been living from hand to mouth.

As a young adult living in KL, I’m sure many of us can relate to this on some scale. We don't earn much in the grand scheme of things. My family often thinks I spend carelessly, and while it's true I'm completely in love with clothes and books, things are extremely different for our generation than it was perhaps even 30 years ago.

Our parents entered into a climate with a burgeoning economy where they earned far less than us, yes, but things were affordable then. You could buy a house in a prime area like Bangsar or Damansara Heights for less than RM 50,000, and most of our parents did so as early as their late 20s. I'm approaching 25, and I did some math with some friends the other day. If we were to think about buying something in KL, maybe even a modest 1,700 sq feet apartment, it would set us back almost RM200,000 - RM350,000. So short of moving to Batang Kali and spending thousands of ringgit commuting it’s no surprise that we still live with our parents and we are called the "renting generation." Landed property? Let's not even go there. So even for a modest abode, we'd be paying anywhere between RM1,500 - RM2,500 for a large chunk of the rest of our lives.

Our monetary obligations have either been met with defiance or with submission. There are some that continue to try and make more money, effectively contributing to the ambitious corporate race and their buying power as bright, young professionals. But, there are also a lot of us, young, urban Malaysians, who have chosen to eject themselves from these situations, out of choice.

Many have left stable jobs this year, to make time for what matters most them. Their art, music, photography, activism, counseling abused children, film, an independent business in cupcakes or necklaces, another degree in Comparative Religion or Fashion Merchandising – just to live out their dreams, despite the persistent wailing and hand wringing from the side of their deeply concerned parents.

For either group, the ‘rebels’ or the ones still in the race, there is no right or wrong choice; it’s about what makes you happy, as clichéd as it sounds. Either way, we’re all trying in our way to make this place better, consciously or otherwise, because it is in our favor to see our country survive, as it is tied to our own survival.

So the price hike throws a damper on many things. That fabulous new car, dinners at hip KL watering holes, a disturbing reduction on boozing and clubbing (for me and my beloved Guinness, at least), less shopping (I have nothing to wear!), but as long as these changes are not met with apathy, as long as we spend time realizing what is truly important to us and continue to make informed choices on the positions we take as young Malaysians, we’ll be just fine.

During last 12th General Elections, in my work as the founder of a voter education group on Facebook, my peers often told me that they didn’t register or vote, because they believed it wouldn’t make a difference. But, it’s not about making a difference; it’s about having a choice. And we do.

Three months have passed, and it has made all the difference.

Text Michelle Gunaselan

Michelle Gunaselan is thinking of expressing her democratic right to freedom of expression on 5 July. She can be reached at meeshlet@gmail.com