70% of 300,000 declared bankrupt aged 35 to 45

SEREMBAN: Young people in the country need to be financially knowledgeable to keep them from falling into heavy debts, as well as risking being declared bankrupts.

MCA Youth chief Datuk Chong Sin Woon said this was because last year alone, it was estimated that 70 per cent of the individuals declared bankrupt were the young.

“We saw last year, out of nearly 300,000 people declared bankrupt, 70 percent were young people ... these groups are most vulnerable to incurring financial burdens such as personal loans, vehicle loans and credit cards.

“Many young people believe in trends like quick rich schemes, for example. Actually, they know it is a fraudulent scheme, but sometimes they just want to try their luck,” he told reporters after launching the Financial Planning Literacy Programme for Youth yesterday.

Also present was Malaysia Financial Planning Council president Michael Kok Fook On.

Insolvency Department directorgeneral Datuk Abdul Rahman Putra Taha, on Sept 14 last year, was quoted as saying that 294,000 Malaysians were involved in bankruptcy cases due to hire-purchase, credit cards, personal loans, housing loans and social loans.

Abdul Rahman said, according to the department’s statistics, 70 per cent of bankruptcy cases involved those aged 35 to 45 years, and estimated that around 18,000 to 20,000 individuals were declared bankrupt due to various reasons within a year.

Chong, who is also Deputy Education Minister, said he was worried that the trend would continue to rise due to the unhealthy lifestyle and financial planning of young people.

“Hence, this programme is to share knowledge and experience with regard to financial management to the young people. This is a very important knowledge to teach children and young people about good financial management.

The programme was attended by 200 people comprising members of Negeri Sembilan Youth Associations and form six students from schools here. - Bernama