When a clueless minister wants to go cashless

COMMENT | Malaysia’s Education Minister Maszlee Malik is planning to introduce a cashless payment concept in the entire public school system in the future.

This, according to Maszlee, is to prevent theft among schoolchildren in Malaysia. Also, it aims to educate students about financial skills – by adopting a positive attitude on prioritising expenses and preparing oneself for rainy days.

According to Maszlee, the Education Ministry and Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) have already agreed on a collaboration to transform schools into a cashless system and will be carrying out a pilot project in several schools.

“It won’t happen overnight. This will probably be realised during our grandchildren’s time,” explained Maszlee.

Cashless technology available now

First of all, I must say that I was very glad that Maszlee isn’t pressing for our schools to go cashless in the near future. Instead, he is taking his own sweet time to make it happen. Quite frankly, anyone with an ounce of a brain would be able to tell you that it doesn’t take generations to develop a cashless system in our schools.

In an era where everyone is going cashless and young children are exposed to credit/debit cards and electronic wallets...