VIDEO | 2.15 min

While politicians argue over how much Malaysia's gross national income (GNI) per capita has increased by over 40 percent, the people on the street seem to have benefitted little from the purportedly improved economy.

Many in the lunchtime crowd around the Bangsar LRT station and the nearby Dataran Maybank approached by Malaysiakini and KiniTV last Friday, said that though their wages have increased, their expenses have also gone up.

NONE "No, although the economy has improved, we also see inflation and prices rise... Although it (the GNI per capita) has increased, we do not feel it. As high it went, expenses have kept up," said accounts manager Julianisa Azrin.

Her colleague Nurizzati Che Shaari ( right ), also an accounts manager, concurred and said the government should do better.

"Otherwise, if the daily expenses keep going up, it will be just the same. We can't do anything about it," Nurizzati said.

Insurance company department head Nor Hakim Yahya said middle-class Malaysians like himself were are doing well in the current economic situation, and attributed his higher expenses to the fact that his children were going to high school.

NONE However, Nor Hakim ( left ) expressed concern for people in the lower income group and he is sceptical that Malaysia would become a high-income nation soon, unless the income gap could be slashed.

"The income improvement is not according to the cost of living in the country. I think the cost of living is very, very high for those people...

"We don't want to keep increasing the incomes of the high-income groups when the poor people can live only in low-cost flats. Yes, we should provide a house for everyone, but the (income) gap should be narrower," he said.

Another interviewee, business owner Goh Leng Ang, said the market appeared to be stagnant and he has seen small- and medium-scale industries (SMIs) succumb to market pressures.

"The wage demand is different compared with last time, because things are more expensive," Goh said, adding that he was considering downsizing his signboard-making company staff to reduce costs.

More contracts

However, not all business owners share his bleak view of the economy, such as Ben Parathan, who runs his own education publishing business.

NONE Parathan ( right ) said more contracts from both the private and government sectors have raised the turnover of his business from US$300,000 to US$500,000 a year since 2009.

"The present government has shown some improvement, that means the present government is stable and keeping up with its promises," he said.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak announced last week that the GNI per capita has increased by 49 percent from US$6,670 to US$9,970 between 2009 and 2011.

However, the government's Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) revised this to 41 percent , while maintaining its projection that Malaysia would become a high-income nation by 2018.

DAP leaders have disputed the figures, with DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang saying the increase was actually 16.5 percent , citing World Bank figures, while DAP election strategist Ong Kian Ming, quoting Bank Negara Malaysia figures, put the GNI per capita at 34 percent .

Analysts, on the other hand, say that the increases may not reflect the situation of the average Malaysian because the figure does not account for inflation, and the fact that 2009 was a recession year .