By SARENRAJ RAJENDRAN
brats@thestar.com.my
THE recent cut in fuel subsidy and the impending implementation of GST made the Prime Minister’s budget announcement all the more intriguing.
While I don’t think many young people would have bothered tuning in for the entire live telecast of the announcement on TV, many news websites have come up with nifty infographics summing up the budget, allowing us to get a pretty good idea of what next year’s budget has in store for us.
And young people would do well to get familiarised with the budget early, as those who will be finishing college soon will need all the support we can get.
For example, those of us in our early 20s can look forward to a RM50 increase in BR1M assistance to RM350, along with a one-off GST cash assistance of RM300. Some of you might scoff, but these things do add up.
Looking further ahead, my goal is to establish a startup, and with just some simple research, I was able to find out about Cradle Fund. This agency under the Finance Ministry manages RM100mil to assist local entrepreneurs.
On top of this, I could also seek assistance from the Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC). Both organisations provide guidance to budding entrepreneurs as well!
It really doesn’t take much to find out all this and plan your finances for a better future.
Unfortunately, many of us would rather whine and complain (especially on social media) at every bit of negative news.
So, maybe it’s time we all just chilled a little, do our homework, learn to plan our finances better and make the best out of what we have.
The writer is a member of The Star’s BRATs young journalist programme. To find out more about BRATs, and to read all their stories, go to rage.com.my/brats.
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