RM40,000.
That was the number that stayed with me after reading the newspaper yesterday.

The Malay Chamber of Commerce Malaysia has asked SSM to reconsider the high compound fines imposed on companies under the Companies Act 2016.

For many SME owners, this is not just a regulation issue.
It is a survival issue.

Most of these fines are not about fraud.
They come from administrative failures.

Section 245 deals with failure to prepare or submit financial statements and audited accounts.
Section 248 covers late submission of annual returns.
Section 258 relates to incorrect or outdated company information.
Section 340 applies when companies fail to comply with SSM’s instructions to submit documents.

All clear on paper.

But last month, during a SME client meeting in Johor Bahru, I asked why their accounts were delayed for years.

The answer was not excuses.
It was manpower.

Accounts staff kept resigning.
They lost count of how many had left.
Salary moved from RM5,000 to RM8,000 and above.
Still could not retain one long enough to complete a full set of accounts.

Files changed hands.
Knowledge disappeared.
Deadlines slipped.

Not because the company did not care.
But because there was no one left to carry the work.

This is not an isolated case.
This is happening quietly across Johor Bahru for years.

Yes, compliance matters.
But capacity matters too.

A business struggling to hire and retain people cannot be treated as if it deliberately ignored the law.

Sometimes, non-compliance is not a choice.
It is what happens when a business runs out of people especially in Johor Bahru.