The Creation of a Malaysian Middle Class
Everyone wants to be middle class. I don’t know why, but if you ask just about anyone on the streets, they’d say that they’re from the middle class. Upper-middle class, lower-middle class, middle-middle class, there’re so many distinctions of middle class just so that we can fit everyone into this category which seems to be in vogue.
After all, who doesn’t want to be in the middle class? It’s a good place to be in. In some ways. Sure, those in the middle class are financially independent, they live generally comfortable lives, and they are not embroiled in the bitter class struggle between the upper class and the lower class.
So with this broad description, I’m kinda asking what it is to be middle class? Historically, it is defined as simply white collar workers. But that definition is way outdated because I wear a blue collar to work at the office. I mean… Heck, it’s too restrictive a definition because even dispatch guys would be white collar workers. Officially, it’s defined as a group of people that’s neither at the top or the bottom of the social hierarchy. That’s really broad, and can apply just about to everyone, except those at the very top or bottom of the social hierarchy. But there are other clear indicators. They possess some sort of economic independence, and usually attained tertiary education. They are typically professionals of some sort. And of course, they typically own homes, drive their own cars and typically have some sort of hedonistic twist to their life, that their enjoyment of life should somehow compliment their existence.
Typically the middle class is fraught with some dangers. I mean, well, the Marxists called them fat, lazy and over-pampered. They’re referred to as having bourgeois values, and googling that sort of leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I like to ask, what’s wrong with being middle class? In fact, the middle class is often the catalyst for change, as they are the ones who are typically well-educated, socially and environmentally conscious and are present in large numbers that they are a sizable force by themselves.
We don’t need to look far for examples of middle class people changing the world around them. Take Malaysia for example. Independence was gained not by the ruling class or the working class, but rather the middle class. Yup, Tunku Abdul Rahman may have been of royal descent, but he was mostly a middle class guy, he worked like the rest of us as a Malay District Officer, then became a lawyer, and I’m really sidetracking here but you get my drift.
Then again we gotta look at the global perspective, and that today’s movements aren’t actually led by the upper class or the lower class, but rather the middle class. Environmentalism for example, is a rising concern, and it started out with the middle class, before it became the topic du jour. So it is, that middle class tends to spawn the greatest activists and change within a society. They are the ones most in tuned with the happenings around the world, and they are typically at the forefront of a great wave of change.
On top of that, a middle class is good for the local economy. They are great drivers of growth, mainly because as a group they have the largest purchasing power, and they are more resilient to economic shocks. They would account for the largest portion of private consumption, and hence a country’s economy would be less exposed to external and international risks.
So with all of that, where does Malaysia’s middle class stand? I can’t seem to find any numbers out there on the Internet, and I do consider myself pretty good at surfing the data tsunamis. But I don’t know, maybe it’ll just be good to assume that if you earn above RM30,000 per year, you’re in the middle class? Doesn’t quite seem that way, because it doesn’t quite qualify enough for ownership of a house, car and kids. But thereabouts, and you sort of get my drift.
First step to creating a Malaysian middle class should be through education. Remember the defining conditions of being in the middle class? Tertiary education is one of them. Unfortunately, I shall sidetrack on a diatribe and decry the state of education in Malaysia. The formal education in Malaysia is in a sorry state, and sometimes just from the official examination results announced, one has to question the effectiveness of these exams. Heck, all I’m saying is that if you get 16 A1s in the Malaysian equivalent of O levels, then is that the success of the student? Or the failure of the examination system.
What is the use of thousands of people getting straight As when Malaysia in itself does not produce enough intellectual people of international standard? I question the effectiveness of the examination system, and the fact that we only seem to produce students of a certain kind. As a person who has undergone this system, I kinda deplore the rigid structure of it that seems to glorify only exams at the end of the day.
A simple fix to this would simply be a lot more transparency in the scholarship process. But that’s weak sauce, and we need to give room for students to explore their options from a very early age. Abolish some of the earlier exams, and allow a more flexible curriculum. Indulge in the arts, or compete in the sciences, I don’t care. As long as they strive for some sort of differentiation at a younger age, that they might be able to find what they like and work for it.
But I think a more serious and permanent fix to this state that we have right now would simply to change the teaching medium to English. Simply just cut through all the bullshit and get straight to the crux of the matter. The Malay language is cumbersome and ineffective in giving form to the kind of information that we need. And on top of that, we simply do not have the kind of population or economic power to instill our language as the de facto language regionally or internationally.
Long gone is the stigma that English is the language of colonial masters or erosion of culture. Instead it has been and still is an enabler for social mobility and upward progress. By looking at the rich areas in Malaysia, we see that English is predominantly spoken in these regions. Is it simple coincidence? Co-causality? Or rich people speak English and English speakers are rich? I rather believe not. I think English is an appropriate medium of instruction, as many industries today embrace it.
For one, the finance industry and banking world embraces English wholeheartedly. So do most research and high tech projects. IT does use English, though they seem to speak more in program code than anything else. But you sort of get the drift that English is rather widely used. Heck, so what if 1.2 billion people are from China and they speak Mandarin when the language of professionals seem to be in English? That’s kinda all I’m saying. So let’s not keep our graduates at a disadvantage by teaching them a language that will only be used locally. Why give them a ceiling at the prime of their life? It’s counter-intuitive to tell them that the world would one day belong to them, when they can only compete among themselves.
It’s time to get our heads out of our asses. This isn’t about race or national identity or culture. This is about progress and doing what is necessary to survive in this world. If there’s anyone to blame, it’s the world. But it is simply just the way things are, and we have to adapt to make sure we are constantly relevant. However, the current ruling powers in Malaysia seem to want to delude everyone into thinking that everything is so tranquil and stable within their own borders that they failed to see that the world has long passed them by. And it’s time, I believe, for the Malaysian middle class to find their own voice, and rise collectively. We have to believe that we can do something about the state of affairs, and we have to believe that there are equal opportunities and that the liberties and freedom of the Constitution is rightfully ours. We have to believe that change is possible. If recent political developments have anything to show, it is that one man can truly make a difference.
After all, who doesn’t want to be in the middle class? It’s a good place to be in. In some ways. Sure, those in the middle class are financially independent, they live generally comfortable lives, and they are not embroiled in the bitter class struggle between the upper class and the lower class.
So with this broad description, I’m kinda asking what it is to be middle class? Historically, it is defined as simply white collar workers. But that definition is way outdated because I wear a blue collar to work at the office. I mean… Heck, it’s too restrictive a definition because even dispatch guys would be white collar workers. Officially, it’s defined as a group of people that’s neither at the top or the bottom of the social hierarchy. That’s really broad, and can apply just about to everyone, except those at the very top or bottom of the social hierarchy. But there are other clear indicators. They possess some sort of economic independence, and usually attained tertiary education. They are typically professionals of some sort. And of course, they typically own homes, drive their own cars and typically have some sort of hedonistic twist to their life, that their enjoyment of life should somehow compliment their existence.
Typically the middle class is fraught with some dangers. I mean, well, the Marxists called them fat, lazy and over-pampered. They’re referred to as having bourgeois values, and googling that sort of leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I like to ask, what’s wrong with being middle class? In fact, the middle class is often the catalyst for change, as they are the ones who are typically well-educated, socially and environmentally conscious and are present in large numbers that they are a sizable force by themselves.
We don’t need to look far for examples of middle class people changing the world around them. Take Malaysia for example. Independence was gained not by the ruling class or the working class, but rather the middle class. Yup, Tunku Abdul Rahman may have been of royal descent, but he was mostly a middle class guy, he worked like the rest of us as a Malay District Officer, then became a lawyer, and I’m really sidetracking here but you get my drift.
Then again we gotta look at the global perspective, and that today’s movements aren’t actually led by the upper class or the lower class, but rather the middle class. Environmentalism for example, is a rising concern, and it started out with the middle class, before it became the topic du jour. So it is, that middle class tends to spawn the greatest activists and change within a society. They are the ones most in tuned with the happenings around the world, and they are typically at the forefront of a great wave of change.
On top of that, a middle class is good for the local economy. They are great drivers of growth, mainly because as a group they have the largest purchasing power, and they are more resilient to economic shocks. They would account for the largest portion of private consumption, and hence a country’s economy would be less exposed to external and international risks.
So with all of that, where does Malaysia’s middle class stand? I can’t seem to find any numbers out there on the Internet, and I do consider myself pretty good at surfing the data tsunamis. But I don’t know, maybe it’ll just be good to assume that if you earn above RM30,000 per year, you’re in the middle class? Doesn’t quite seem that way, because it doesn’t quite qualify enough for ownership of a house, car and kids. But thereabouts, and you sort of get my drift.
First step to creating a Malaysian middle class should be through education. Remember the defining conditions of being in the middle class? Tertiary education is one of them. Unfortunately, I shall sidetrack on a diatribe and decry the state of education in Malaysia. The formal education in Malaysia is in a sorry state, and sometimes just from the official examination results announced, one has to question the effectiveness of these exams. Heck, all I’m saying is that if you get 16 A1s in the Malaysian equivalent of O levels, then is that the success of the student? Or the failure of the examination system.
What is the use of thousands of people getting straight As when Malaysia in itself does not produce enough intellectual people of international standard? I question the effectiveness of the examination system, and the fact that we only seem to produce students of a certain kind. As a person who has undergone this system, I kinda deplore the rigid structure of it that seems to glorify only exams at the end of the day.
A simple fix to this would simply be a lot more transparency in the scholarship process. But that’s weak sauce, and we need to give room for students to explore their options from a very early age. Abolish some of the earlier exams, and allow a more flexible curriculum. Indulge in the arts, or compete in the sciences, I don’t care. As long as they strive for some sort of differentiation at a younger age, that they might be able to find what they like and work for it.
But I think a more serious and permanent fix to this state that we have right now would simply to change the teaching medium to English. Simply just cut through all the bullshit and get straight to the crux of the matter. The Malay language is cumbersome and ineffective in giving form to the kind of information that we need. And on top of that, we simply do not have the kind of population or economic power to instill our language as the de facto language regionally or internationally.
Long gone is the stigma that English is the language of colonial masters or erosion of culture. Instead it has been and still is an enabler for social mobility and upward progress. By looking at the rich areas in Malaysia, we see that English is predominantly spoken in these regions. Is it simple coincidence? Co-causality? Or rich people speak English and English speakers are rich? I rather believe not. I think English is an appropriate medium of instruction, as many industries today embrace it.
For one, the finance industry and banking world embraces English wholeheartedly. So do most research and high tech projects. IT does use English, though they seem to speak more in program code than anything else. But you sort of get the drift that English is rather widely used. Heck, so what if 1.2 billion people are from China and they speak Mandarin when the language of professionals seem to be in English? That’s kinda all I’m saying. So let’s not keep our graduates at a disadvantage by teaching them a language that will only be used locally. Why give them a ceiling at the prime of their life? It’s counter-intuitive to tell them that the world would one day belong to them, when they can only compete among themselves.
It’s time to get our heads out of our asses. This isn’t about race or national identity or culture. This is about progress and doing what is necessary to survive in this world. If there’s anyone to blame, it’s the world. But it is simply just the way things are, and we have to adapt to make sure we are constantly relevant. However, the current ruling powers in Malaysia seem to want to delude everyone into thinking that everything is so tranquil and stable within their own borders that they failed to see that the world has long passed them by. And it’s time, I believe, for the Malaysian middle class to find their own voice, and rise collectively. We have to believe that we can do something about the state of affairs, and we have to believe that there are equal opportunities and that the liberties and freedom of the Constitution is rightfully ours. We have to believe that change is possible. If recent political developments have anything to show, it is that one man can truly make a difference.
