In the malaysiakini report ' Right attitude, right network can lift up poor Malaysians ' (Feb 2) concerning income inequality in the country, Housing and Local Government Ministry public relations unit head Abdul Halim Mohd Sarif said that even though there were plenty of job opportunities in the country, Malaysians are still selective of what they want to do. An example of a job opportunity given was working in a stall.

Now what does working in a stall flipping roti canai have to do with improving income inequality? It never fails to amaze me to hear the things that come out of the mouths of officials and some economic experts.

We are not a part of a feudal system where we can be told what lowly jobs we have to do. Such fluffy official speak is just a piece of amateur wayang kulit meant to distract us from the real issue behind income inequality.

In a perfect world, we all deserve to be equal. Specifically we should all have the equal opportunity and ability to compete for jobs, contracts, places in schools, etc. But in the real world, the trend is for the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer. This is happening in Malaysia and everywhere else especially the US.

When the rich get richer they have more resources to stay ahead and the reverse happens to the poor. This is a state of plutocracy. That is why we need the UN Human Development Report to remind us once a year where we are. We don't need to be confused and distracted by our unwillingness and inability to flip roti canai.

It's not okay

Malaysian Institute of Economic Research Executive Director Prof Emeritus Dr Mohamed Ariff was interviewed in the same report. He said: "It is okay if some people are getting richer, just as long as there are less people getting poorer." His reasoning isn't good enough. Hypothetically I agree with him. But we do not have any conclusive evidence that fewer people are getting poorer.

From 1990 2001, the population living below the poverty line was 15.5%. If we take the poverty line at a very generous RM529 (the classification for West Malaysia), there are at least 3.72 million poor people. If we push the poverty line upwards the figure will be higher. This percentage of 15.5% has remained static for 11 years! In relation to this, the figures that have earned us the humiliating ranking for income inequality came from 1997.

The Census Bureau hasn't given the UNDP or us more information. What doesn't the Census Bureau want to reveal? Don't we need to know what has been happening from 1990? How did these people survive during the Asian Financial Crisis? How do these people survive on RM1.44 a day? How do these people even afford to go for a movie at the Cineplex? Put that into perspective.

Universiti Putra Malaysia Research Management Centre Director Professor Dr Mohd Shahwahid Othman gave another weak piece of reasoning. He said, "The wide gap of income differences in Malaysia will always be there as our country practices the open economy concept".

We have to stop making excuses and putting up smokescreens. We are nowhere near the point that as a whole we are prosperous where the poor have no reason to be contentious. We can't sit around and debate income inequality when the real issue is poverty. We still have deep pockets of abject absolute poverty. Consider Indian plantation workers, the Chinese New Villagers, the Orang Asli and communities that did not vote Barisan Nasional. We drive quickly by squatter settlements and mentally only focus on our skyscrapers and westernized urban lifestyles. We refuse to acknowledge these segments of the poor.

Apeing USA

We go along with government rhetoric condemning western type lifestyles. But it's scary how we are becoming more and more like the US. I open my window here in Manhattan and I see everyone rushing by looking for a quick buck and trying to live the American Dream. That's absolute nonsense. The American Dream is beyond the reach of the poor. Only Donald Trump and the worst that he represents is living the American Dream.

The contestants on The Apprentice can forget about emulating Trump. The rich have reached a point where they can insulate their wealth from the poor. There is no catching up. Worse there is no competing. Is this what Malaysia wants to be?

Like a coin, everything has two sides. Mooting pro-growth in Malaysia is a good thing for achieving Vision 2020. But the ugly side is that we get so caught up in the profit motive and inconspicuous consumption. As Lim Guan Eng correctly pointed out , we're too busy protecting our cronies.

Sadly when the controversial NEP was introduced in 1970, the political rhetoric focused on poverty eradication and aggressive redistribution. These are concepts we no longer hear. We used to care about the poor or at least we pretended to care. Now we don't even pretend. Hence we deserve our pathetic rank of the worst performer in South East Asia for income inequality.

TREENA WU is an economist and public policy analyst pursuing her PhD. She is currently residing in New York.