Melaka DAP Youth chief Cassel Krishnan said the nation’s leaders and stakeholders must “act decisively” and address the issue’s root causes of poor financial literacy, lax lending practices and insufficient support systems.

Among the initiatives he proposed was to give AKPK the mandate and resources to expand its outreach efforts to young people at the start of their financial journeys.

“This includes providing pre-loan financial counselling and working with schools and universities to educate students about responsible financial management.

“The youths of Melaka are the backbone of our state’s future. If they are burdened by unmanageable debt, their ability to contribute to society and achieve personal success will be severely hindered,” he said in a statement.

It was recently reported that about 1,900 youths in Melaka, aged between 20 and 30, had sought the services of AKPK’s credit management programme as of Dec 31, with a total debt of about RM138 million.

Melaka AKPK head Farid Fadzi said the largest group of young clients at the branch were those earning between RM2,000 and RM4,000 a month, with about 930 people and total debt of RM65 million.

Cassel also advocated for the inclusion of financial literacy in primary and secondary school education, including practical lessons on savings, budgeting and understanding credit.

“Financial accountability is a skill that should be developed early in life.

“By equipping our youth with the tools to make informed financial decisions, we can prevent them from falling into debt traps later on in life,” he said.

He also urged the government to tighten regulations for personal loans, credit cards and buy-now-pay-later schemes.

He told financial institutions to take more responsibility in ensuring loans are only granted to individuals with a proven ability to repay them.

“This includes requiring stricter credit checks and setting clear affordability guidelines to prevent those vulnerable from taking on unmanageable debt,” he said.