You almost hit the bulls' eye, Zahra

I was utterly surprised recently to see my Twitter timeline filled with the hashtag #sayaZAHRA.

The first thing that came to my mind was the #JeSuisCharlie hashtag in the wake of the massacre at the

office of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo earlier this year. But #sayaZAHRA was something else altogether. Indeed, it was in a class of its own.

It was not the title of a new Malay drama as I initially thought, but a grievance publicly expressed by a law graduate about the issue of 'survival' in Kuala Lumpur, due to the high cost of living, especially among the youth.

Zahra's views on the issue, which she made during a Malay Economic Action Council (MTEM) forum with the country's Number Two man certainly drew a strong reaction, both positive and negative.

Yes, she sounded naive with all her gripes about transportation costs and house ownership, but her concerns in principle at least, can't be summarily dismissed.

With salaries struggling to match inflation, the issue of rising cost of living is a definite concern, one that plagues most young Malaysians (including myself).

Yes, I have a roof over my head, food to eat and clothes to wear, but what about the new necessities of this modern age?

High speed connectivity, high-tech gadgets and other related services are a must for many in this day and age, and I believe the significant costs we bear for them are also eating into our disposable income.

So, Zahra, your grouses may sound trivial to some, but to me, you spoke up on a genuine concern.

For that, I thank you...