A Malaysian woman’s breakdown of her family’s monthly expenses has reignited debate online over whether T20 households are actually living comfortably despite being labelled “high income”.
The discussion comes amid the government’s ongoing review of the proposed targeted RON95 fuel subsidy rationalisation, which could potentially affect higher-income groups such as the T5, T10, T15 or T20.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim recently said discussions on the matter are still ongoing.
“Most T20 households are two salaries combined”
Now viral on Threads, the woman shared her perspective on the reality of earning above RM11,819 per month, which is commonly associated with the T20 income bracket.
However, she pointed out that most T20 households are not made up of a single high earner.
Most T20 households are not one person earning RM11,819. It’s two people. Two salaries combined,” she wrote.
According to her calculations, a household of three with a combined monthly income of RM11,800 would spend around RM10,100 on basic commitments alone.
Her estimated monthly expenses included:
- Rent or mortgage: RM3,000
- Car-related expenses: RM2,500
- Food: RM1,500
- Utilities and internet: RM1,000
- Insurance: RM600
- Child’s schooling: RM500
- Family leisure expenses: RM1,000
After all that, she claimed the family would only have slightly over RM1,000 left for savings, emergencies, and other unexpected expenses.
“In KL, RM11K is barely enough”
The woman also argued that a single nationwide income classification does not accurately reflect the cost of living differences between states.
In Kedah, RM11,819 is genuinely comfortable. In Kuala Lumpur, RM11,819 is barely enough to keep up.
Same country. Completely different financial realities, but the government uses one number for the whole of Malaysia,” she said.
She further claimed that the proposed subsidy removal may not actually affect the ultra-rich.
She argued that the subsidy removal is targeting people who may appear wealthy on paper but are actually struggling financially in real life.
The truly rich in Malaysia are not worried about RON95 prices. They’re worried about yacht fuel,” she added.
Netizens divided over the argument
The post quickly sparked debate online, with many Malaysians saying that earning over RM10,000 a month already sounds like a luxury to most people.
