Experts have offered alternatives to Pakatan Harapan Youth’s latest proposal that the National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN) loan repayments need only be made once a borrower earns RM4,000 a month and above.

Repayments should start when a borrower has found a paying job, argued Institute of Strategic and International Studies (Isis) deputy chief executive Steven Wong.

“There is importance in acknowledging liability and limiting moral hazard, although initial repayment may not be high”, Wong said.

Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (Asli) director Ramon Navaratnam criticised Harapan Youth’s proposal for encouraging borrowers to be “indifferent to their responsibility”.

“People must repay their loan, but only after your first salary starts. Preferably after three months of employment,” Ramon said.

Rather than a salary threshold, Voon Zhen Yi of the Centre for Public Policy Studies (CPPS) suggested that repayment amounts be tailored to individual borrowers.

“It should be on an individual case-to-case basis, since as the costs of living and other circumstances vary in terms of place and the individual.

“More considerations should be given to allow debtors with legitimate circumstances to defer their PTPTN repayments to enable them to channel their financial resources to more urgent areas of need,” Voon added.

Penang Institute political analyst Ooi Kok Hin said that only a few Malaysians earned a monthly salary of RM4,000 and above.

“How many people can earn RM4,000?

“What about outside the Klang Valley? How many years would it take them?” Ooi asked...