If you earn more than 'RM157-00' per month, you are not poor in Malaysia?

They cheat...to paint a better picture of Malaysia - a prosperous Malaysia where wealth is equitably distributed and there are no more poor and suffering...

One trick of reducing poverty - is to either bring down the Poverty Income Line - or to keep at at unrealistic low. In Semenanjung, a family of 4.6, earning a monthly income of more than RM720-00 is not poor - hence in 2007, Malaysia's poverty rate is only 3.6%.

'..if a PLI of RM1,000 were to be employed, then 8.6 percent of households would be poor instead of the 3.6 percent as claimed by the authorities. If a PLI of RM1,500 is used, then one-fifth of Malaysians are mired in poverty, or a total of 1.2 million households...' - 20%.

Who is poor and what is considered poor? Jayanath Appudurai writing for the Centre for Policy Initiatives quoted government statistics that in 2007, Malaysia’s poverty rate was 3.6 percent – an admirably low figure.

Jaya writes that this Poverty Line Income [PLI] is determined by the government itself. Malaysia’s PLI stipulates that a household – comprising 4.6 people – in the Peninsula earning more than RM720 a month is not deemed impoverished.

However if a PLI of RM1,000 were to be employed, then 8.6 percent of households would be poor instead of the 3.6 percent as claimed by the authorities. If a PLI of RM1,500 is used, then one-fifth of Malaysians are mired in poverty, or a total of 1.2 million households.

Is the government baseline of RM720 a realistic figure to sustain a family of four-and-a-half persons, Jaya questions?

(To sidetrack slightly, the roughly RM157 – as stated by Malaysia for each individual to minimally survive a month on – is not enough to pay for a Children one-day entry ticket to Paris Disneyland which costs RM182.) - Malaysiakini, 9/4/2009, Placating Kugan's ghost - Helen Ang

Well, an interesting New Straits Times report highlighted that with an income of RM800, it is very difficult for a family of 5 to survive. Note that these were stories from Penang, where rental is definitely so much low compared to KL and the Klang Valley (Where now, the lowest rental for small flat is already more than RM720.

From Gombak to PJ only by LRT cost you RM2-50 one way - so if you work beside the LRT station, i.e. not taking any other mode of ppublic transport, you need RM100-00 to go to and come baclk from work.

Life's a struggle for these two families

- Adie Suri Zulkefli

Siti Joyah Mohamed (left) finds it hard to support her two school children Mohd Norshahidan and Siti Syamini as she has lost her job as a helper at a foodcourt.

KEPALA BATAS: Can a family of five survive on RM800 a month?

Zaini Majurat is supporting her three younger daughters’ studies with help from her eldest daughter, who works as a clerk.

Zaini Majurat, 45, from Kampung Permatang Keriang and her four children have been doing so since January.

The housewife, whose husband Jamil Din died in a traffic accident in 1996, gets RM200 from the Welfare Services Department monthly.

With this and the RM600 a month that her eldest daughter Juriah, 22, earns as a clerk, Zaini has been supporting her two schoolgoing children Juita, 18, and Siti Zubaidah, 16.

She also has to finance her second daughter Juliani, who is studying at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in Johor Baru.

Zaini resigned from her job as a production operator three years ago after undergoing heart surgery.

"Juriah has been sacrificing a lot to support her younger siblings," she said.

Their dilapidated village home is, however, looking better after a makeover last year by the Federal Government through the Penang Regional Development Authority (Perda).

The story of Siti Joyah Mohamed, 49, and her five children from Kampung Bakar Kapor is similar to Zaini's.

Siti Joyah's family lives on a monthly allowance of RM250 from the state Pusat Urus Zakat (PUZ). Her third daughter Siti Rohaida, 19, who is studying for a diploma at Kolej Professional Mara in Malacca, gets a RM260 monthly allowance from Mara.

Siti Joyah's problems began began two years ago after her husband, Zahimi Saud, a satay seller, died from hypertension and diabetes at the age of 45.

Two of her older children had married since then.

It is a struggle every day for Siti Joyah to feed and pay the schooling costs of Mohd Norshahidan, 15, and Siti Syamini, 8.

"The money is hardly enough. To survive, Siti Rohaida sometimes has to depend on sympathy from her friends for meals," said a tearful Siti Joyah yesterday.

To further complicate matters, she lost her job as a helper at a foodcourt in Bertam as the employer could no longer afford to pay the staff.

There are also her mounting debts, including her house rent of RM170 which was not paid since October.

The Federal Government recently donated a freezer to Siti Joyah so that she could re-start her late husband's business. But Siti Joyah failed to raise adequate capital to keep the business afloat.

With the help of Penaga assemblyman Datuk Azhar Ibrahim, she filed an application with the state Welfare Services Department for aid but had not heard from them ever since.

"They came two months ago and took down some details, but I have not heard anything from them," she said.- New Straits Times, 1/4/2009, Life's a struggle for these two families

A more reasonable and logical poverty line income must be fixed, and Malaysia have to acknowlwedge reality as it is, and go about overcoming poverty.

Preoccupied is Malaysia, in the equitable share between the different ethnic communities - that we forget the poor in Malaysia.

It is so bad that Malaysia has the distinction of being the country with the worst income disparity in Southeast Asia.

According to United Nations Human Development Report 2004, the richest 10 percent in Malaysia earn 22 times more than the poorest 10 percent, resulting in the country having one of the worst income disparity in Asia.

The 9th Malaysia Plan report released today said that the country’s Gini coefficient - a measurement for income disparity - has worsened from 0.452 in 1999 to 0.462 in 2004.

“The income share of the bottom 40 percent of households decreased from 14 percent in 1999 to 13.5 percent in 2004 while the top 20 percent of households increased from 50.5 percent to 51.2 percent.” - Malaysiakini, 31/3/2006 - ‘Worrisome’ gap between rich and poor

Malaysia’s top 10 percent of the population is 22.1 times richer than the poorest 10 percent. The country’s income gap is higher than Singapore (17.7 times), the Philippines (16.5), Thailand (13.4), Vietnam (8.4) and Indonesia (7.8). - Malaysiakini, 2/2/2005, M’sia has worst income disparity in SEA, gov’t flayed

What is important for me is that there be equitable distribution of wealth (and benefits) between all human persons in Malaysia..

Do not talk to me about how the wealth is shared between the various ethnic groupings - I want to know whether the wealth of the nation is shared equitably amongst Malaysian families and individuals...


** see also earlier posts, including Using Concepts, Policy and Race/Religion to distract questioning of the inequity an injustices in Malaysia.