Fatin Anuar never imagined that managing just two credit cards would leave her battling months of financial anxiety.
The 25-year-old customer service worker in Kuala Lumpur initially saw them as a buffer for day-to-day spending and emergencies. It felt like a smart way to manage cash flow, she said, but the bills began creeping up until the debt felt like “a weight”.
“It kind of snuck up on me. I wasn’t really keeping track, and one day I looked at the statement and thought, ‘Okay, this is getting serious,’” she told This Week in Asia. She has since cleared one card but still owes about 3,000 ringgit (US$730) on the other.
“People say Gen Z spends too much and it’s a bit unfair,” she said. “Yes, we sometimes buy coffee or gadgets here and there, but a lot of spending is just about keeping up with life – rent, food, transport, student loans. But we’re not trying to be careless, we’re just trying to survive.”
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Malaysian scientists recruit bed bugs into crime scene investigations
Malaysian scientists recruit bed bugs into crime scene investigations
Stories like Fatin’s are playing out across
Malaysia as a generation of young workers contends with stagnant wages, rising living costs and the widespread availability of easy credit – pressures that are eroding financial safety nets and pushing more young people into debt long before they can find their footing.