STATING that poverty line income must be revised to reflect current spiral in cost of living, a social activist-cum-lawyer wondered if Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim could have lied by claiming that there is no more hardcore poverty in three ‘states’, namely Kuala Lumpur, Melaka and Negri Sembilan.
Charles Hector expressed belief that the figures determining both hardcore poverty and poverty that Anwar who is also the Finance Minister has used could be “the 2020 figures” whereas prices of goods (including food) and services (ie healthcare cost) have inched up rather substantially.
“Hence, shouldn’t the poverty line income be reviewed to reflect the real situation today? What is the poverty line income for 2024?” Hector asked in his latest blog. “Should there be different poverty line income for rural areas and urban areas as the cost of living differs?”
For context, the government revised the national poverty line to RM2,208 in 2020 from RM980 previously while that of hardcore poor was raised to RM1,169.
Hector further questioned the adequacy of a monthly household income of less than RM1,169 to define hardcore poor.
“Should there be a calculation of poverty line income for an individual or a family unit rather than a household?” Hector who is also co-founder of NGO Malaysians Against Death Penalty & Torture (MADPET) pointed out.
“This is given that poor adults with low income may share the same house – sometimes with five to 15 (or more) individuals sharing the same living accommodation.”
Added Hector: “Is the income of RM1,169 sufficient for house rental, utility/phone bills, food for maybe five in the household, transportation, clothing, etc? Surely, this will be far from adequate even for a family unit with two or three kids … even if this is sufficient, the kids may end up being really malnourished.”
Yesterday (Feb 16), Anwar claimed that efforts to eradicate extreme poverty in Kuala Lumpur, Melaka and Negri Sembilan which encompassed all races and not specific to the Malays have achieved 100% success.
“In Kuala Lumpur, although the majority are Malays, there is a proportionately high Indian population. We have assisted every Indian family in Kuala Lumpur to break free from hardcore poverty,” Bernama quoted Anwar as saying at the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia Chinese New Year celebration in Kuala Lumpur.
“This is our approach but sometimes we face community leaders who doubt the allocation for Indians. For me, we will address every hardcore poor person regardless of whether they are Chinese, Malay or Indian.” – Feb 16, 2024
Main pic credit: Bernama
