Coming back from an extended conference on gross national happiness in Bhutan, which is one of the first carbon negative countries in the world, I became aware that intergenerational justice may be one of the most important moral questions we face today. The world is drowning in debt. According to the IMF, global debt amounted to US$ 250 trillion in 2023, or 237 percent of GDP, with global private debt at more than US$ 150 trillion or 143 per cent of GDP. If global private wealth is now estimated at over $450 trillion, is debt of $250 trillion seriously a problem? It is, if net wealth is distributed unevenly. Worldwide net private wealth stood at $454.4 trillion in 2022. The highest wealth rung or 1.1% of the world adult population controlled $208.3 trillion in wealth, or 45.8% of the global total. Wealth is not only concentrated – it is concentrating as the rich get richer. So when GDP is rising and markets are hitting record highs, most people are not happy because of perceived income and wealth inequity. Of Course, wealth is passed from generation to generation. But with the gradual dismantling of death duties in many countries, and tax cuts for the rich, such as in America, wealth has been retained in wealthy hands. The UBS Global Wealth Report 2025 forecasted that “a total global wealth transfer of over USD 83 trillion within the next 20 – 25 years. Some USD 9 trillion of this will be horizontal and over USD 74 trillion will be vertical, between generations, i.e. roughly 12%”. In other words, wealth is less distributed widely, but more down to successors and heirs. At the household level, the bottom half of society not only do not have much wealth, but they are also in debt. The IMF, however, is more concerned with the rise in public debt, which is the burden of all citizens, including future generations. After all, the future generations inherit not just assets but also liabilities. The poor are also subject to higher interest rate on their debt due to higher credit risks. Thus, when incomes are insufficient to pay both interest and principal, the poor, including many developing markets, get further into debt distress. Intergenerational justice refers to the ethical principle that present generations should not compromise the well-being or opportunities of future generations. Simply, future generations should have fairness in the distribution of resources, benefits, and burdens over time. When the existing generation is worsening social capital (through great conflicts between class, country and along religious and racial lines) or through damaging natural capital (by cutting down forests, emitting pollution and carbon dioxide), we are leaving social capital and planetary resources in worse shape for our children and grandchildren. There are two types of injustices staring us in the face. The first is human injustices against other people and the other is planetary injustice where we abuse Mother Nature. The baby boomer generation to which I belong, born after the […]
7 d ago
For several consecutive weeks, Sin Chew Daily featured the issue of Malaysian Chinese population structure. The trend of declining birth rates among the Malaysian Chinese began over 20 years ago, which leads the community to become an aging society. Today, the entire demographic structure of the Malaysian Chinese community has changed. Changes in the population structure do not occur overnight. Even if we are powerless to reverse the trend of population decline and aging, we must not ignore it. At the same time, we should begin to reflect deeper on future direction. Chinese education will likely be the most impacted by the population decline. Let me begin with the birth rate of Malaysian Chinese newborns. The year 2024 was a Dragon Year, traditionally a peak period for births due to cultural beliefs. However, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), in the first three quarters of 2024, the number of newborns among the Malaysian Chinese decreased compared to 2023. Although there was a slight rebound in the fourth quarter, the overall number still fell short of the previous year. In Q1 2024, the number of Chinese newborns was 9,372, a drop of 2,062 or 18% compared to 11,434 in Q1 2023. In Q2, there were 9,786 newborns, down 1,291 or 11.6% from 11,077 in 2023. In Q3, the number was 10,427, a decrease of 735 or 6.6% from 11,162 in 2023. Only in Q4 did the number rise to 11,685, a 4.65% increase over 11,142 in 2023. In 2024, there were 41,270 newborns in total, 3,545 fewer than the 44,815 recorded in 2023. According to data released by Huayan (the Centre for Malaysian Chinese Studies) in May, the birth rate among Malaysian Chinese has fallen by 60% over the past 23 years — averaging a drop of 2,559 babies per year. In 2023, each quarter still recorded five-digit Chinese birth figures, but by 2024, the first two quarters had already fallen into four-digit territory. It is now hard to imagine that in the year 2000, the Chinese community had six-digit annual births — as many as 115,000 newborns. Let’s assume that all 41,270 Dragon Year babies born in 2024 will enter Chinese primary schools (SJKCs) in 2031. With 1,304 SJKCs nationwide, that’s an average of only about 32 new year one pupils per school. If we further assume that half of these schools are under-populated schools with fewer than 150 students (currently, there are 614 such schools) and also consider urbanisation (with more Chinese families moving to cities), plus those who opt for private or international schools, then it’s likely that few Chinese schools will have 100 year one pupils in 2031. Next, if we suppose that half of the 2024 Dragon Year babies will enter independent Chinese secondary schools in 2037, the 63 independent schools across the country would average 327 new junior one students each. Following this trend, by the time this cohort reaches senior three (Form Six), the number of independent schools with over 2,000 students […]
2 w ago
I remember when I was a child taking art classes, our teacher would always ask us to draw the national flag during the National Day month. Back then, the children might not have accurately sketched the actual design of the Jalur Gemilang, but with great enthusiasm, we poured our patriotic feelings onto the blank paper, each expressing creativity in our own way. In that moment, the children’s sense of patriotism was quietly awakened. They were bold and full of love for the country. No one would scold them for drawing a flag missing a stripe or a corner. Their creativity came purely from their heart not from rigid pressure imposed by adults. Later, the late patriotic singer Sudirman Arshad, during the closing ceremony of the 15th SEA Games in 1989 at the National Stadium, entered the venue wearing an outfit made of the national flag, shouted “Merdeka” three times and sang “To Know Malaysia is to Love Malaysia”, uniting the patriotism of both the audience in stadium and television viewers. No one accused him of “desecrating” or offending the beloved Jalur Gemilang. That was the golden era of Malaysia, when people wrote patriotic songs one after another. At the time, love for the country stemmed from heartfelt recognition, not fear of punishment. In the name of patriotism, we established guidelines for the use of the Jalur Gemilang. While the intention was to guide citizens to respect the national flag, the unintended effect was planting a sense of fear around its use, gradually suppressing people’s natural creativity and enthusiasm. People now fear that a small mistake in displaying or designing the national flag might lead to irreversible public outrage and punishment. The desire to show patriotism might instead become the spark for disaster. I believe that patriots would never maliciously insult, burn, desecrate or provocatively display the national flag. But for honest mistakes, we should respond with understanding and compassion, offering the offenders opportunities to learn and rectify—not treating them as treason. Recently, Malay tabloid Sinar Harian sparked a controversy when it re-used an old design template while creating an infographic for the new Inspector-General of Police, Datuk Seri Mohd Khalid Ismail, and failed to remove outdated information. In the past, media that made such errors would promptly clarify and correct them; if the mistake was severe, they would issue a public apology. The matter would usually settle soon after. Today, however, the norm is immediate police reports, intense public backlash and investigations that may lead to senior editors being suspended or dismissed. This toxic culture has left media workers living in deep fear and severely undermines the development of press freedom. Ensuring accuracy and quality contents are the professional duties of journalists. But we are all human—mistakes can happen. Society should give media space to correct, improve, and raise their standards. Chief editors and senior editorial teams work under tremendous pressure. Every day, they must complete editing and decide within tight deadlines, bearing full responsibility for headlines, texts and images. […]
2 w ago
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