“Do not trust strangers” was a learned evolutionary heuristic, a simple and robust decision-making rule to guard against the threat of extinction. Paranoia in primitive man was rational – everyone really was out to get you. Psychologists call this ecological rationality. 4 Fear of strangers was a rational response to the ecology of the time. This behavioural trait is shared by other primates, such as apes. 5 What is interesting is that these primordial fears may have persisted long after the ecology itself has changed. To give a trivial example, fear of snakes, spiders and dense rainforests probably arose on the grasslands of Africa in 50,000 BC. It was an ecologically rational response then. Whether it is an ecologically rational response on the high streets of Edinburgh and London today is altogether more questionable. What is true about fear of snakes and spiders is true, too, about fear of strangers. The evolutionary heuristic – “do not trust a stranger” – remains alive and well today. And in some situations, it remains a useful guide. Among parents, it is a simple but still powerful decisionmaking rule for children. As Benjamin Franklin put it: “Distrust and caution are the parents of security”. At the same time, this neurological relic from the ancient past may be seriously out of kilter with the workings of a modern, multi-cultural society.
So far, more than 3600 people have completed the modules and a substantial number of them, one in five, have decided not to proceed with the purchase. This points to two things. Firstly, the module is successful in nudging participants to reassess their existing financial obligations before they can take on more than what they can handle. Secondly, it reinforces the need to continue pushing for financial education. Individuals need to know their capacity, and what they can afford before undertaking a commitment of this magnitude. We have established that every individual needs to play their part to ensure that they are fully aware of and are able to undertake the commitment of buying a house. However, the responsibility does not reside with the buyers alone. Industry players in the private sector also 1/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  have a role to play to support the national agenda of affordable homes. As one of the core players in the housing market, developers have a significant role to play. In providing the supply of homes for the public, developers should seek to provide homes at an affordable price point. Using international affordability metrics, houses in Malaysia are considered to be “seriously unaffordable” with a median multiple of five times. This, in turn, affects home ownership. Take the latest data of unsold residential properties of about 171,000 units. About 74% of them are priced beyond what ordinary Malaysians can afford.