YOURSAY ‘Many still struggling to make ends meet but their plight is invisible.’
Permandu: Poverty almost wiped out in Malaysia
Jbsuara: Although many citizens agree that poverty in Malaysia has been reduced over the decades, the figure of one percent poverty in 2014 and 3.8 percent in 2009 sounds too good to be true.
The above statistics tells very little about true poverty in Malaysia, which is still rampant in many cities.
To measure real poverty in our country, Pemandu should go to the new villages, urban slums and low-cost housing communities.
With rapidly rising cost of living brought in by various factors and the increasing income gap in Malaysia, we are very doubtful if the gross domestic product per capita and mean household income reflect the reality of income or wealth distribution in Malaysia.
Many poor urban families are invisible to the Performance and Management Delivery Unit (Pemandu), but they exist.
Lies, Lies & More Lies: I agree that poverty is down, but then why give the Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M)? Why ang pows during raya for the poor?
Why slaughter cows for the poor during Hari Raya Aidiladha? Why all the orphanages and so on? Is it to keep their minds poor and fish for their votes? Something is amiss here.
By the way, almost all Orang Asli are living below the poverty line. I wonder if they have been included in the statistics.
Lamps: I have been to Rompin and seen many Orang Asli living in huts. Maybe that is not poverty to BN.
Lulu: Wow, can you believe this? Only 3.8 percent of Malaysians living below the poverty line in 2009.
Last year, Australia reported that 13.9 percent Australians are living below the internationally accepted poverty line. I think Pemandu has fudged the figures.
Slumdog: Yes, Australia, a first world country with abundant wealth, has a poverty rate of nearly fourteen percent.
If Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Idris Jala wants to play around with statistics, at least be intelligent about it and don’t make spurious claims.
Try and convince the rakyat who live in shacks and in slums around Kuala Lumpur, towns and villages and the rural folks in East Malaysia who live in abject poverty and struggle without the basic necessities of life.
Over50ABU: Indeed, if poverty is almost wiped out, why continue with the New Economic Policy (NEP)?
Old Timer: Is Idris Jala for real? I live in Sabah and see poverty everywhere especially in remote areas.
Tembikai: Idris, you must have left your kampung for too long. Go to the interiors of Sarawak and see the poverty there for yourself.
FellowMalaysian: Idris Jala's interpretation of Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) results achieved so far is far-fetched and highly exaggerated and his claims are both misleading and fallacious.
We are now mid-way into the ETP of 2010-2020 and using 2010 GNI (gross national income) per capita figure as the base (US$8,465; source Asian Development Bank), our current GNI per capita, based on Idris' figure, has only increased by 12.9% since 2010.
In order to achieve the targeted figure of US$15,001, our GNI need to increase another 64.3% of 2010 income figure the coming five years till 2020.
In other words, Idris is hopeful that the next five years our country will somehow be able to generate an increase of income which is five times that of the last five years.
It is difficult to comprehend as to what could have contributed to the CEO of Pemandu's confidence in making such a claim.
As 2020 draws closer, Idris Jala's words will be judged soon. We just hope that his confidence on the nation's economic performance is derived from facts and not from hubris.
Sound Mind: I am sorry but I do not understand all these figures you are talking about, Idris.
We who walk around with people see the reality on the ground. Let me tell you that you do not seem to be aware the daily difficulties of those who are struggling to make ends meet.
There is a big number of poor people. The gap between the rich and poor is also growing bigger. That is the truth.
Versey: Maybe he followed the PAS way of collecting data via SMS messages and the data collected confined to certain areas and certain groups of people.
His statistics probably excluded the Orang Asli, his tribes and other natives in East Malaysia, especially those living in the inner remote areas where not only without modern telecommunication facilities for him to gather data via text messages, there's no pipe water nor electricity, not convenient for him to take any notice of them.
Those who suffered from the recent flood in Kelantan, Pahang, etc, may not be included in the statistics neither were those queuing for food from soup kitchen are counted in.
If Idris Jala truly believes what he said, why did the government hand out such huge amount of money for BR1M? For what purpose?
Joe Lee: Poverty is definitely not almost wiped out in Malaysia. Yes, poverty has been reduced, but not because of all the money-wasting 'transformation' rubbish, but despite the government corruption and incompetence.
Idris Jala should not only try to wipe out poverty out there, he should first try to wipe out stupidity or the ‘sombong bodoh-ness’ (arrogance) in the government.
DanielYahya: Use relative poverty measurements if you dare.
The Malaysia Human Development Report 2013 commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) showed that the number for relative poverty in Malaysia has been on the rise since the year 2007, with one in five households (20%) considered to be relatively poor in 2012.
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