Sim described the proposed universal childcare allowance as something “great and ideal” for Sarawak.
KUCHING (May 25): The Sarawak government should consider implementing the proposal by the United Nations Children’s Fund’s (Unicef) for the introduction of a universal childcare allowance for mothers, said Dato Sim Kiang Chiok.
The Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Stakan chairman described the proposed universal childcare allowance as something “great and ideal” for Sarawak.
“Sarawak, with almost the same land mass as Peninsular Malaysia but only makes up 10 per cent of the country’s population, needs more human capital to sustain itself as a high-income state.
“The younger generation is very worried about their ability to look after their children through higher education due to the ever-rising cost of living. They fear having to sacrifice their quality of life for their children or as the saying goes, ‘being a slave to our children’,” he said in a statement.
He was commenting on Unicef’s recent call for a universal childcare allowance for mothers to bolster the expansion of social protection measures for children in Malaysia.
According to Sim, the Sarawak government provides free kindergarten for its residents while the federal government provides free primary and secondary education for all Malaysians.
He said he was delighted to note that the state government had announced plans to offer free tertiary education in 2026 for all qualified Sarawakians in state-owned universities and colleges.
“In my opinion, Sarawakians should not worry too much about having more children, as higher and technical education will be provided for free by our state government.
“Unicef’s proposal of RM200 per month from pregnancy to two years old would help cover the initial living costs for all newborn Sarawakians,” he said.
He believed that implementing Unicef’s proposal would reassure child-bearing parents that the Sarawak government would take care of them from the initial stage of its cradle-to-grave programme.
He said these grants to Sarawakian parents could be regarded as an investment in the state’s human capital, ensuring Sarawak’s progress towards becoming a developed state.
“This investment in universal childcare will be recouped through the taxes generated when these children become productive adults,” he added.