17 Mei 2019

Press Statement by MCA Spokesperson Mike Chong Yew Chuan

Use incentives, not restrictions, to encourage PTPTN repayments

It is startling that there is now a proposal on bringing back the PTPTN travel ban blacklist alongside new restrictions like barring the renewal of passports, road tax and licenses. This move must have disappointed the many voters who supported Pakatan Harapan last general election.

Before GE14, a majority of the public is captivated by the sweet promises of PH like promising free higher education for all, which cost BN the popular vote. The people should be reminded that most of PH promises are populist in nature and impractical for implementation.

PH did lift the PTPTN travel ban upon seizing federal power, but within a year’s time, suggestions to reintroduce the blacklisting policy have now been floated around.

MCA urges the PH government to reject PTPTN Chairman Wan Saiful Wan Jan’s proposal, as it is directly at odds with the PH manifesto.

This possible U-turn by the PH government can be seen as a drastic measure to save PTPTN which is said to be RM40 billion deep in debt, an amount much higher than what 1MDB has sustained.

It must be pointed out that the challenges that PTPTN face today are created by PH leaders themselves, especially when some of them incited their supporters to not repay their loans, in addition to promising writing off loans when they become the government. These are all factors into why PTPTN now records an ever-dwindling loan repayment rate.  

Hence, we call upon the PH government to try harder, do better in fixing their mistakes by encouraging loan defaulters to pay back through incentives like how BN used to do; and not through single-faceted restrictions.

Furthermore, the job market is a tough nut to crack now due to the recent slower economy, where we have seen foreign investors withdrawing and shutting down their operations in Malaysia. Do not burden fresh graduates with unnecessary restrictions when the PH failed to even implement the RM1,500 minimum wage as promised.

Mike Chong Yew Chuan
MCA Spokesperson

-MCA Online-