On the housing question:

1. If it's acknowledged that the fundamental problem of unaffordability is wages, why is that not tackled head on? Why is wages always pushed to the back as a "long-term" issue, but housing pushed to the front as requiring "quick fixes"?

2. For example, how many employees in Berjaya (or the private sector in general) are in the "B40" and what's the plan to increase their wages? Let's start with that?

3. Why is this being sold as a new and unorthodox idea? The lobby for multigenerational loans & lowering of development charges to build tiny homes have been around for some time. They have not worked.

4. If transparency is key, can BMF share the gross development cost so that we can have an idea of where the cost pressures are coming from in housing construction/provision? What's the profit margin of this project when sold at the proposed prices?

5. The affordability question always conflates house ownership and decent housing as policy objectives. You can own a house that is dilapidated and you can live in a decent house without owning it. We should prioritise decent housing; ownership is only one way to achieve it.

6. B40 shouldn't be deprived of decent housing just because they can't own it. But they shouldn't be compelled into ownership either if it means being tied to multigenerational loan and reduction in overall standard of living as a result of the purchase.

7. The road to hell is paved with good intentions-this is perhaps rife in the housing sector. It often falls back to the gov to bail out private or mixed-dev ventures when these "win-win" projects don't work. Hear the critical voices, they are not just mere moaning & complaining.

8. Since this thread has gotten some traction, let me add a few responses to the "let the market decide" argument (or "no one is forcing you to buy").

First the "market" has already decided (the bulk of unsold properties are in the "affordable" range): https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2020/10/01/developers-baffled-by-overhang

9. So, 2nd, you're pricing the B40 out, but using the narrative of "helping the B40" to lobby for the extension of loan tenure to 60y (currently not allowed).

BNM has said it as far back as 2016 (or further) that "access to financing" is not the issue:
https://www.bnm.gov.my/-/responsible-lending-guidelines-ensures-borrowers-affordability

10. Third, when the market "speaks" (i.e. developers can't sell their properties), instead of letting the market adjusts (i.e. lower house prices & developers absorb losses), they argue for the lowering of price thresholds for foreign investors. https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/lowering-foreign-buyer-price-thresholds-could-boost-property-sales

11. Fourth (and final point), government has to step in by organising housing expos and do all sorts of stuff to help developers clear unsold properties. Um, but at whose costs?

https://www.edgeprop.my/content/1465813/kpkt%E2%80%99s-first-home-ownership-expo-be-held-march