PETALING JAYA: A personal income tax cut, a price cap on flight tickets for all major holidays and cheaper medical insurance topped the wish-list of readers who took part in The Star's Budget 2025 poll.
The poll asked readers what measures they wanted to see included in the upcoming budget which will be tabled on Friday.
The poll, which drew 1,011 responses, asked respondents seven questions on various topics related to Budget 2025.
The topics are the cost of living, youth employment, housing, healthcare, ageing, public transportation and air travel.
For each question, readers were asked to either choose one out of three options or fill out their own answer.
Asked what they felt was the best way for Budget 2025 to help ease the cost of living, 55% of respondents chose a reduction in personal income tax.
The second most popular option was for improved targeted subsidies for necessities such as food and fuel (28%) followed by an increase in cash aid for the needy (6%).
When it comes to making air travel cheaper and better, 46% of the respondents voted for a cap on ticket prices for all major holidays.
Another 30% of respondents voted for more measures to encourage more airlines to operate in the country, while 17% felt that the best to improve air travel was to upgrade existing airport facilities.
On what should be the top priority for healthcare in Budget 2025, 44% voted for more measures to make medical insurance more affordable.
Better salaries for healthcare workers were the second most popular response at 25%, while building more hospitals came third at 21%.
Apart from choosing between the options given for each question, many respondents also chose to provide their own answers to the questions.
On how Budget 2025 could help to ease the cost of living, most of the respondents who gave their own answers said the government should do more to rein in rising prices.
“Curb monopolies and protectionism for cheaper basic necessities,” suggested one respondent.
On the best way to create better quality and better paying jobs for youths, respondents who provided their own replies generally suggested for budget measure to improve the country’s education system and skills training for workers.
