There are comments like, “If you think being T20 is hard, then why not switch places with the B40?” Certain people make it seem as if T20 individuals are not grateful. This is far from the truth.
Nobody is born automatically as T20. Almost every T20 person has lived the life of a B40 and struggled for 20, 30, or even 40 years before achieving T20 status. They studied hard, worked hard, managed their finances well, and progressed stage by stage. So how dare you suggest we switch places? People only say this because they see our current status, but who wants to switch to our years of struggle and sacrifices?
Stop saying we don’t understand the B40 when many of us rose from there. Stop thinking we got rich overnight.
Some even comment, “Why can’t the T20 downgrade their lifestyle to M40 or B40 level?” This is exactly what we mean by “T20 are not Crazy Rich Asians.” Do you think T20 people are living in mansions and bungalows? Earning RM12,000 already qualifies someone as T20, yet this income is not even enough to buy a RM3 million bungalow that requires RM12,500 in monthly loan repayments.
Do you know that after deducting EPF and income tax, RM12,000 leaves only about RM9,447? And do you know that an ordinary apartment in the Klang Valley now costs a minimum of RM600,000? Just the mortgage for that apartment requires RM3,000 per month. This is not a luxurious lifestyle — this is the cost of living.
Just because they are T20, they are not entitled to buy Rumah Mampu Milik (Rumawip) meant for the poor. For education, do you think T20 parents are sending their children to international or private schools? Their kids attend normal schools like any other ordinary Malaysian. They wish they could afford international school fees of RM60,000 to RM120,000 per year, but that would consume their entire annual income. They can only afford RM300 to RM500 for tuition fees. Is this wrong? Is this too much? Tuition is not cheap anyway.
Yet they still need to save and plan 20 years ahead for their children’s education. Why? Because as T20, they are not entitled to MARA or JPA scholarships (even Bumiputera T20). At the same time, non-Bumiputera students find it hard to compete equally for places in public universities. For each child, they need to invest about RM660 in SSPN. You think the cost of education is cheap nowadays?
Then there’s transportation. For a T20 household with husband and wife, just two ordinary Toyota Vios (not even luxury cars) require RM2,000 in monthly loans. You think T20 people are driving Ferraris? Just the car loans alone (excluding insurance and road tax) can cost RM2,000 a month.
Insurance is another necessity. An average family of 3–5 needs RM1,500 to RM2,000 monthly for insurance. Our public healthcare system is already overstretched. If T20 people use public hospitals, they will be accused of competing with the poor and further overwhelming the system — even though they pay 85% of the taxes collected by the government.
And just because they are T20, they still need to give allowances to their parents. Otherwise, their B40 siblings will accuse them of not helping despite being “rich.”
You want them to cut spending? Then how is the economy going to be stimulated? They are the biggest consumers. Without their spending, where do job opportunities for the B40 come from?
In this society, everybody wants a slice of the T20. Even for Hajj, they have to pay triple. Everybody seems to want to punish them just for being T20. They even have to pay higher utility bills because subsidies are being taken away from them.
Everybody wants them to sacrifice. Everybody wants them to downgrade their lifestyle when they are already living at the bare minimum and barely breathing. They work so hard to support their parents, society, the country’s tax collection, and the economy.
Stop saying they are not willing to help when they are the largest zakat contributors (especially Bumiputera T20). Non-Bumiputera taxes are also used to fund Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat.
Let’s be real. RM12,000 minus EPF and tax leaves RM9,447. Minus RM3,000 for home mortgage leaves RM6,447. Minus RM2,000 for two car loans leaves RM4,447. Minus children’s education savings and tuition leaves RM3,337. Minus insurance leaves RM1,117. Then minus toll, petrol, and utilities. How much is left for food?
How much more do you want them to downgrade their lifestyle?
Stop the envy, jealousy, and hasad dengki towards the rich. Start sympathising with their 20 to 40 years of struggle to reach where they are today. We should be a society that encourages more people to become T20, not one that punishes them.
Finally, do you know the ratio of income tax paid to fuel subsidy received?
- T20: 1 : 0.53 (for every RM1 tax paid, they receive RM0.53 subsidy)
- M40: 1 : 3.87
- B40: 1 : 61
Everyone wants a slice of the T20 — through family expectations, populist policies, or outright resentment — while demonising them as unwilling to help.
So you still want to squeeze them dry?
Stop questioning their lifestyle when that is already their bare minimum cost of necessities. Any Mat Rempit earning RM3,000 in the kampung may have more disposable income than a T20 family of 3 to 5 people living in the city.
And if all T20 were to downgrade and move back to the kampung, then who is going to be the workforce? Who will run the SMEs? Who will be the professionals? Who will drive the economy?
Stop having the illusion that T20 people are born Crazy Rich Asians. Those are only 0.000001% of the population. Even those earning RM50,000 a month cannot easily afford both a bungalow and a Ferrari — the bank will not approve the loan based on DSR.
Instead of asking the B40 to learn from the T20, you are making the B40 too comfortable with handout after handout — scholarships, discounts, subsidies, Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat, zakat, and more. Every segment of society pays attention to them just because they are poor. Every politician wants to be their hero.
Nobody speaks up for us. It is unpopular to fight for the T20. They need to be victimised, weaponised, and demonised. But whenever society, parents, politicians, or the country needs help, this is the group they always turn to for funds.
A mature society does not punish success or romanticise struggle. It creates conditions for more people to reach the T20 through better education, skills, economic opportunities, and fair policies. Handouts, scholarships, discounts, and subsidies have their place, but an over-reliance on them risks making the B40 too comfortable and dependent, rather than equipping them with the mindset and tools that successful T20 individuals used: discipline, delayed gratification, and continuous self-improvement.
Most T20 families in Malaysia are simply middle-class professionals trying to stay afloat in an expensive country while carrying a disproportionate share of the national burden.
Instead of victimising, weaponising, and demonising the T20, Malaysia should celebrate their contributions and use their stories as inspiration. Envy and hasad dengki achieve nothing. Aspiration and hard work create progress. Let us build a country where more people strive to become T20, not one that resents those who already have.
