Socialism a viable option for Malaysia, says academic

[superadmin]

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia is seeing many social problems – rising food prices, a widening income gap, home ownership issues and the lack of basic minimum wages.

And the answer to all these problems could be socialism, says an academic.

Universiti Malaya’s Shaharuddin Maaruf says the many problems have made socialism a relevant and viable alternative political and economic system for the country.

Speaking at a forum titled “Islam, Capitalism and Socialism” today, Shaharuddin, a senior research fellow at UM’s sociocultural department, said socialism emphasised the public, or shared ownership of resources and means of production.

A socialist system, he said, would not allow a hike in food prices as public ownership of food production and distribution would not be as affected by inflation as privately-owned businesses.

“Socialism believes in the intervention in society’s issues, in contrast to a capitalist system,” he said.

“Contrary to capitalism, socialism does believe in a certain amount of intervention. It does not leave everything to market forces but advocates for planning amongst all related parties,” he added.

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