One important factor of the huge income disparity in Malaysia is the rather negative attitudes of Malaysians, a government officer claimed today.

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.

While successful businessmen provide jobs for the people, they would still prefer to hire foreign workers eventually as these workers are more willing to work longer hours for lower pay, he said when contacted.

"Take the mamak restaurants as an example, how many Malays or bumiputeras are willing to work there?" he asked.

Abdul Halim was responding to the latest United Nations Human Development Report 2004 which portrays the richest 10 percent in Malaysia earning 22 times more than the poorest 10 percent, resulting in our country having one of the worst income disparities in Asia.

According to him, it would be a good move if the rich could get their families or friends to work alongside them as this would be "helping one another".

"However, they should be placed in areas of their expertise. There should be a rationale behind it," he said.

Less people getting poorer

Commenting on the UN report, Malaysian Institute of Economic Research Executive Director Professor Emeritus Dr Mohamed Ariff said that "it is almost impossible to obtain equal income for people of all races or religions in the country".

"It is okay if some people are getting richer, just as long as there are less people getting poorer.

"When other countries have low income disparity, it does not necessarily mean that they are successful in distributing justice," he said.

Ariff suggested that the government should come up with a tax or expenditure system which makes the rich pay more, so that more money could be spent on the poor.

However, Universiti Putra Malaysia Research Management Centre Director Professor Dr Mohd Shahwahid Othman opined that "the wide gap of income differences in Malaysia will always be there as our country practices the open economy concept".

"It is a concept which provides attractive opportunities to interested investors," he said.

"The income disparity could be reduced by providing short and long term opportunities to the people. Short term opportunities include giving loans to small industry to operate particularly in the rural areas.

"There should be a system where banks could process loans without collateral to start up small businesses and this will also boost the country's economic sector," he added.

He also mentioned that the Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (Aim) is a good example of a fund that aims to reduce poverty by helping the rural poor raise their standard of living.

Education, no nepotism

Shahwahid said that long term opportunities should include liberalisation of education which encourages the younger generation to set up visions for the country.

"This will produce professional competency which is currently much needed in our country. Students may be knowledgeable but the hands-on experiences and skills are important too," he added.

The UPM don also said that development should be carried out at a faster pace in rural areas in order to discourage rural-urban migration.

"There should be no nepotism. The government should not tolerate this. Contracts should never be awarded to those who are incompetent.

"Above all, we should have the right attitudes with the right networking," Shahwahid added.