A significant government assistance program in Malaysia has seen nearly 13 million citizens utilize financial aid to purchase essential items, with total spending hitting RM1 billion. The Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARA) initiative is designed to support low-income households by enabling them to buy necessary goods at designated retailers. This effort is part of a broader strategy to alleviate financial pressure on vulnerable groups across the country.
Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan highlighted the program’s success, noting that it has been particularly impactful in rural and interior regions. In Sabah, more than 98 percent of the 1.2 million eligible recipients have redeemed their aid, while in Labuan, 65 percent of nearly 50,000 eligible individuals have accessed their RM100 allocation. The minister also refuted claims that the MyKad redemption process posed difficulties for senior citizens or rural residents, pointing to high uptake rates in states such as Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Sabah, and Sarawak.
The initiative has also provided a boost to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which have experienced increased sales as a result of the additional purchasing power. The number of participating retail outlets has grown from 7,300 at the start of the year to over 8,100 nationwide. In addition, the SARA program was expanded on April 1 to cover 5.4 million recipients, a substantial increase from the previous 700,000, while the separate Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR) cash aid program benefits nearly nine million Malaysians.
Recipients can use the SARA aid to purchase a wide range of essential goods, including staple foods like rice, bread, and eggs, cooking ingredients such as oil and flour, canned items, instant noodles, personal hygiene products, household cleaning supplies, medicine, stationery, and uniforms. According to the minister, these categories are intended to help families meet both their daily nutritional requirements and other essential household needs at reasonable prices, thereby improving their overall quality of life.