TOUGHER TIMES AHEAD FOR MALAYSIANS?

Ms Sherene Meetha Pillai works as a project manager on weekdays, a tuition teacher on weekends - and also sells jewellery online.

Even so, the 29-year-old Malaysian, who plans to get married soon, finds it hard to live comfortably.

"I already adjusted my spending last year - I must find ways to adjust further this year," she told The Straits Times.

She is not alone.

Stories of struggling Malaysians have become an online media staple in the past few months, with officials often quickly offering to help after the bleak accounts went viral.

• The most recent reports were about "starving" university students, who claimed they were unable to afford basic meals. 
• One public university student in Kuala Lumpur said her intestines ruptured from starvation.
• In response, Higher Education Minister Idris Jusoh pledged to take responsibility to ensure that poor students get help.
• Deputy Trade Minister Ahmad Maslan was widely panned after he said Malaysians should get a second job to tackle higher living costs.
• The overwhelming public response: Dear minister, many of us already are doing two jobs.

Malaysia - South-east Asia's third-largest economy after Indonesia and Thailand - had a rocky year last year.

Just three weeks into the new year, economists are already lining up to say that the country's outlook is anything but rosy.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch economist Chua Hak Bin expects a rough time ahead for Malaysians because "consumers will face tighter finances as the ringgit weakens, job prospects dim and property prices slide".

Source: AsiaOne...More...