Members of the Malaysian Youth Parliament today agreed in principle for the 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M) cash payments be changed to unit trusts.

Pahang representative Mohd Firdaus Abd Samad, when winding up debate on a motion for the government to do a detailed study on the income gap among the people, said this mechanism would be more effective to manage the government's cash flow.

"If BR1M is given in the form of unit trusts, there will be a maturity period, so in five years the government will no longer need to spend for BR1M, instead the dividends will take care of this," he said.

The motion, brought up by the assembly's Socio-economy Committee, received unanimous approval.

Today was the second day of the sitting of the first session of the Youth Parliament. The sitting at Parliament House was chaired by Speaker Datuk Shamsul Anuar Nasarah, who is also the chairman of the National Higher Education Fund Corporation.

Among others, the motion also called for a special committee or body to be set up to find ways of narrowing the income gap.

Among others, the motion also called for a special committee or body to be set up to find ways of narrowing the income gap.

Terengganu representative Alif Rosli in giving his thumbs up for the motion also suggested that the government also look at sukuk as an alternative.

"It is also a suitable mechanism in the long term as compared to the cash payments which people will spend very quickly," he said.

Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur representative Suhail Mohamed Kamaruddin, however, felt that there was no need for a special comittee or body as was suggested.

"The Economic Planning Unit is already there which is supported by the Statistics Department. So the question is why does such a huge income gap still exist," he said.