We know, this will probably never happen but have you considered what you can do for Malaysia if you woke up one morning to find RM2.6 billion in your bank account?
#1 Build 130,000 Houses For Homeless Rural Folk
Plenty of Malaysians living in rural areas today still do not have a proper house to live in. Many still live in cramped wooden houses that are falling apart.
As a result, social enterprises like the EPIC Homes Program have emerged to try to solve the problem by getting volunteers from all walks of life to build a brand new wooden house in 3 days while getting corporations to sponsor the cost of building materials as a CSR initiative.
The cost of raw materials like wood, nails and roofing needed to build wooden houses like these would amount to around RM20,000. With RM2.6 Billion, you would be able to fund 130,000 of these build projects and give a home to 130,000 rural families.
#2 Provide RM1 Million Pre-Seed Funding For 2,600 Start-Ups
One of the best ways to grow our economy and create more jobs is by encouraging the formation of more start-ups that could one day grow to become world-changing billion dollar companies like Facebook or Google.
Did you know that the state of California (home to silicon valley and most major tech start-ups) alone has a GDP of 2.5 trillion USD? That’s more than 8 times larger than Malaysia’s GDP of 313 billion USD.
With RM2.6 billion, you could fund 2,600 of these start-ups with RM1 million in pre-seed capital each.
Read Also: How Big Is Malaysia’s GDP Compared To The Rest Of The World?
#3 Provide 1 Year Free Broadband Internet For 1 Million Households
A decent broadband service in Malaysia costs around RM200 per month, which would amount to roughly RM2,400 a year. With RM2.6 billion, you would be able to provide 1-year worth of free broadband to around 1 million households.
They would be able to watch educational videos, learn new skills online and educate themselves on what’s going on in the world.
#4 Provide Funding To Start 17,300 Netccentric-Like Companies
According to a blog post by Timothy Tiah, he and his co-founder started Netccentric (parent company of Nuffnang, Dayre and Churpchurp) with RM150,000 and grew it to the company that it is today (Neccentric is currently a public listed company at ASX).
With RM2.6 billion, you would be able to provide the starting capital for the next generation of young and hungry entrepreneurs to start 17,300 Netccentric-like companies.
#5 Distribute 520 Million Packs Of Food To The Poor And Homeless
If a pack of mixed rice costs around RM5, RM2.6 billion would allow you to buy close to 520 million packs of food which you can distribute to the poor and homeless.
Given that Malaysia only has a total population of around 30 million, you would be able to buy every Malaysian 17 packs of mixed rice. Since the homeless population in Malaysia is significantly smaller than that, 520 million packs of mixed rice would feed the entire homeless population for a much longer time.
RM2.6 billion could also buy you 371 million sets of McDonald’s happy meal for you to make the days of underprivileged and orphaned children. That’s a lot of happiness!
Read Also: Why You Should Feed The Homeless At Least Once In Your Lifetime
#6 Give RM10,000 In Start-Up Capital To 260,000 People To Start Small Business
Many enterprising Malaysians are struggling to get micro-loans to start small businesses such as nasi lemak stalls or online blogshops in hopes of generating more income to improve their livelihood.
With RM2.6 billion, you could give 260,000 enterprising Malaysians the opportunity to do so by giving them RM10,000 each to start kick-start their ventures.
In a recent interview, the founders of MyBurgerLab revealed that they started the now popular burger chain with RM220,000. With RM2.6 billion, you could give a chance to 11,800 would be F&B entrepreneurs to pursue their dreams.
#7 Pay 72,300 Fresh Grads To Teach Rural Students English
If you’ve heard of the Teach For Malaysia program, you will know that many talented graduates are willing to invest up to 2 years of their lives passing on the knowledge they’ve learnt over the years to our next generation before moving on to their respective careers.
With RM2.6 billion, you’ll be able to pay the salaries of 72,300 fresh graduates to teach in rural schools for a year (assuming they are paid RM3,000 a month).
#8 Provide Full Scholarships For 26,000 Students To Get A Degree At A Private University
If it costs an average of RM 25,000 a year in tuition fees to pursue a degree at a private university in Malaysia, an undergraduate degree spanning 4 years would arguably cost a total of RM 100,000.
RM2.6 billion would allow you to put 26,000 deserving students through their degree programs at a private university.
#9 Provide 2.6 Million Computers For Underprivileged Malaysians
Many underprivileged Malaysians today still cannot afford to buy a computer, an important tool that would allow them to learn new skills and sell things online to generate an income.
Nowadays, you can get a decent desktop or laptop that has basic word processing and web-browsing capabilities at Low Yat for just RM 1,000. RM 2.6 billion could buy you 2.6 million units of those.
Read Also: How You Can Save Money By Buying And Selling Used Items
#10 Buy 65,000 New Cars For Jobless Malaysians So They Can Be Uber/Grab Car Drivers
Recently, being an Uber or Grab driver has become a good way for Malaysians to earn extra income. We’ve even heard stories of people who quit their jobs to become a full time Uber/Grab driver and are doing pretty well.
RM2.6 billion, could buy 65,000 new cars at RM40,000 each so jobless Malaysians would now have a job as an Uber or Grab driver (perhaps until they manage to find another job).
Read Also: Uber/Grabcar Vs Buying Your Own Car: Which Is Cheaper?
#11 Sponsor 260,000 People To Take Up Programming
Programming is becoming an increasingly important skill in the today’s economy. Programmers are constantly in high demand, especially in developed nations. The best programmers in the USA can command an annual salary of up to 300,000 USD a year.
The ability to program also gives someone the power to build and develop new products and apps. That is why, President Barack Obama and many other successful individuals are pushing for American schools to start teaching children programming at a young age.
With RM 2.6 billion, you could sponsor 260,000 people to take up programming at programming boot camps like Next Academy.
#12 Help 1 Million Young Malaysians Get Medical Card Coverage For A Year
Premium charges for a comprehensive investment-linked medical card for a young Malaysian aged 19-25 would cost anywhere from RM1,300 to RM2,600 a year.
RM 2.6 billion would cover the premium charges for roughly 1 million young Malaysians for a year to get them started on one of the most important insurance products one would need in their lifetime.
Read Also: Your Complete Guide To Buying Insurance In Malaysia
#13 Buy 20 Million Cans Of 1.8kg Baby Milk Formula For Struggling Parents
The cost of raising a baby in Malaysia is not cheap, especially with the high prices of baby milk formulas. Many new parents are struggling financially because of this. RM 2.6 billion can buy 20 million cans of 1.8 kg baby milk formula.
Read Also: How Much Do You Need To Save To Retire Comfortably In Malaysia?
#14 Donate It To Charity Organizations
Lastly, if you are too lazy to actually do any of the above, you could to donate the entire sum of RM2.6 billion to charity organizations to help more people in need.
Read Also: How And When Should I Start Investing?
DollarsandSense is a website that aims to help people make better financial decisions, one interesting bite-sized article at a time. Like us on Facebook to stay in touch with our latest article.
Follow Us On Telegram & Instagram!
Join our Malaysia Telegram channel (@dollarsandsensemy) and follow our Malaysia Instagram Page (@dnsmalaysia) as we bring you the latest finance content in Malaysia!
