‘Many are living from meal to meal’: Malaysian government’s claim of hardcore poverty eradication draws scepticism

Mr Kuan gave a scenario of someone earning Malaysia’s minimum wage of RM1,500 but with five children to feed. 

“Let’s just say you must pay rental of RM700 a month and RM100 for utilities. Set aside another RM200 for transportation, and how much do you have left?” he said. If anyone in the household is ill, there could be medical costs incurred, he added.

A Bank Negara Malaysia survey in 2021 found almost half of Malaysians have difficulty raising RM1,000 in emergency funds, he noted.

“This means that many are living from meal to meal,” he said. “Salaries are not high enough to keep up with the rising costs.”

POVERTY IS MULTI-DIMENSIONAL

Mr Anwar has said eradicating hardcore poverty is a key part of his government’s agenda.

At the tabling of the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) mid-term review in September last year, he said the government was still struggling to lift nearly 114,000 hardcore poor families across the country out of poverty. 

The government provides cash assistance to low-income earners through various programmes, while Malaysia’s minimum monthly wage of RM1,500 was implemented in May 2022. 

An economist told CNA that the government was not necessarily wrong in its proclamation, but is most likely basing it on income alone. 

In Malaysia, there are two sources of poverty figures – the department of statistics and the e-Kasih database developed by the government in 2007 to monitor poverty in the country, said Dr Madeline Berma of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia.   

“It may be right, but this could be a very narrow interpretation of what hardcore poverty is …The reality on the ground is people are struggling,” she said.

Politicians may prefer to use only income to measure poverty as a single indicator is “easier”, said Dr Madeline, who has done research on poverty and indigenous communities. 

But researchers prefer a multi-dimensional index that includes indicators for health and education, as well as living conditions, even if such data is more difficult to measure and collect, she added.

Some politicians, however, agree with her.

In an episode of the popular podcast Keluar Sekejap that aired on Feb 17, former minister Khairy Jamaluddin said Mr Anwar’s statement could be termed “odd”. 

Even if Mr Anwar is “technically right”, poverty is an issue that goes beyond income, said Mr Khairy, a former health minister and Member of Parliament of Rembau in Negeri Sembilan from 2008 to 2022. 

“In this situation, maybe the PM wants to tick the box … that hardcore poverty in those three states has been solved,” he said in his podcast. “You can still tick the box by saying that in terms of income it has been solved, but we acknowledge that poverty is more than just income. It is multi-dimensional.”     

The government should be careful in defining poverty, said Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) chairperson Dr Jeyakumar Jeyaraj.

Malaysia adopts “low-wage” policies to be competitive, he said, and having a “cut-off point” to define poverty “means that those just above that level are not (considered) poor”.

“This obscures the fact that the incomes being earned are not enough to sustain families, some of whom have parents that are working 14 hours a day,” said the former Sungai Siput parliamentarian whose party fights for workers and wage issues, among other things. 

Meanwhile, social workers like Mr Kuan have their hands full.

“The situation is not as rosy as we might think it is,” he said. “I will definitely be happy when the services of my NGO and others are not needed. This would mean the government has done the best for them.”