COMMENT | Ah Hock did not plan to be a “business owner”. He planned to live a simple life.

When his uncle fell ill, the family shop in Sungai Buloh had no one else to keep it running. A small hardware and building materials shop, the sort that sells cement, pipes, wiring, paint and the little items people only notice when something breaks.

Ah Hock stepped in, first to help for a few months, then stayed because the bills did not stop just because the old man could not stand behind the counter anymore.

He is in his mid-40s now. His life is not complicated. Work, family, payroll and suppliers. Make enough to keep the shop open, pay the rent, pay staff on time and put aside whatever he can for two children who have grown up too fast.

His son made it into a public university after STPM, but his daughter did not. That is the household reality behind every policy debate. One path is affordable. The other path is expensive but urgent. Private college fees do not wait for policy stability.

That is why, when the government talks about “helping SMEs”...