EDITORIAL : THE NEW STRAITS TIMES, MALAYSIA

Changing perceptions

Just as in US and UK, people feel crime is rising when it has actually fallen

WHEN it comes to crime, perception and reality are not always on the same page. Research shows that in many instances a person's perception of crime is greater than the actual occurrences. In fact, it seems that the fear of crime rises as crime rates drop. This is the case in the United States where annual Gallup polls show that most Americans continue to believe that crime is worsening despite a decline in the US crime rate since the mid-1990s. While crime rates in the United Kingdom have also been falling, the perception has remained, for many, that crime is rising. This also appears to be true for Malaysia. While index crimes decreased by 11.1 per cent last year and street crimes dropped 39.7 per cent from 2009 till last year,   the majority of Malaysians remained worried about falling victim to crime, though the Taylor Nelson Sofres survey in May did show a 3.9 per cent decline in the measure of fear since December 2009.

What is clear is that people tend to base their perceptions on personal experiences and anecdotal evidence, direct and vicarious. When people have been victims of snatch thefts, live in a neighbourhood with a rash of burglaries, know someone who has been assaulted, or read about rapes in public places and robberies in shopping malls in the print, electronic and social media, the crime rate as captured in official statistics won't mean much to them. Indeed, following the spate of violent crimes, many will be hard-pressed to believe that we don't have a problem. So, while the perception that the frequency and severity of crime has increased has sometimes been blown out of proportion, and it may be very well to argue that perception is not reality as the numbers tell a different story, the fact is that there have been more than a few scary crime reports in recent months that have been quite disturbing. We certainly can't ignore the fact that there is a perception problem. As Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein rightly said, "we cannot be in denial any more".

That said, however, the situation is certainly far from hopeless or dangerous as indicated by the credible comparative data from the World Justice Project and the Global Peace Index. But the police must not rest on their laurels to make Malaysia as safe a country to live and work as possible. It is vital that the measures to deter and detect crime produce real changes on the ground in order to change the perception, and reality, of crime.

Funds forthe future

Retirement should be on the minds of working people from the start

THE PRIVATE Retirement Scheme (PRS) launched by the prime minister on Wednesday is the latest addition to the country's "multi-pillar" pension fund structure. It is intended for an ageing population, many of whom might not be saving enough for their golden years, and hence a fundamental policy initiative. Also announced was the Private Pension Administrator (PPA), the scheme's governing one-stop centre. While the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has for years been the financial mainstay of private sector retirees, time has, however, proven that increasing life expectancy has thrown up the need for additional resources to augment the income of senior citizens. For the most part, the payments to contributors at age 55 and over have proven sadly inadequate, even for the most prudent and even without dependents to support.

The average retiree, according to actuarial calculations, needs about 75 per cent of his or her last salary to be able to maintain a comfortable standard of living he or she has become accustomed to, on condition that purchasing power remains reasonably stable. Getting to that position not only requires a longer working life but the factoring in of additional post-retirement income into the worker's long-term financial planning. As safe as the EPF is, with its conservative approach to investment, it should only be counted on as a mandatory minimum. Anything above that should quite rightly be left to the individual, as the PRS does. The individual should therefore also have a choice between competing options in terms of services and yields.

The PRS if embraced by private sector workers and is, consequently, successful at giving contributors the returns they seek -- better than the EPF -- can do much to secure the future of Malaysians. Not only that, it has the potential of growing the capital market. After all, the outcome is an increase in the rate of savings among the population. Large pension funds are known to be market movers and shakers. If the financial sector remains regulated to maintain prudence there is very little chance that the pension funds here will suffer a fate similar to that in some developed countries hit by the 2008 financial crisis. For as long as the PPA governs with an iron fist to ensure that contributors' welfare is protected, the prospect for Malaysian retirees will be relatively secure given the greater freedom the funds will have in respect to their investment portfolios. From now on, opening an account with one of the funds should be as much a rite of passage as, say, owning a home.