Putrajaya has related the 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M) handout to the country's ranking in the World Happiness Report 2017.

In a parliamentary written reply, the Prime Minister's Department noted that Malaysia ranked 42nd out of 155 countries in the report, a leap of five places from the previous year, and the second consecutive rise.

"The country ranked third in Asean, behind Singapore which ranked 26th, and Thailand ranked 32nd. It has outperformed other Asean members, such as the Philippines (72nd) and Indonesia (81st).

"Moreover, our ranking is higher than that of developed countries, such as Italy (48th), Japan (51st), South Korea (56th) and Hong Kong (71st).

"Such performance is backed by the improvement from the aspect of social support, the level of income per capita and the freedom of choice," added the department.

The performance showed that the government always ensured the prosperity of the people grew in line with the 11th Malaysian Plan, the department said. 

"The government also emphasises on human capital development and social development to help the people reduce the burden from the rising cost of living. 

"This includes the BR1M handout to seven million low-income households, 334 Klinik 1Malaysia facilities, which offer services at a minimal charge of RM1, and 1,061 clinics nationwide, of which, 242 provide health expertise services.

"The effort to improve the public transport system that can be accessed by the public, will be continued (as this will) allow them to widen their activities, namely for employment, leisure, daily necessity and social ties," said PMD. 

The BR1M policy was first introduced in 2012 with a payment of RM500 to households making less than RM3,000 a month.

It was meant to help cushion the impact on vulnerable groups following Putrajaya's move to scale back subsidies in the country.

Today, households earning less than RM3,000 receive BR1M payments of RM1,200, while households earning between RM3,000 and RM4,000 receive RM900 each.

Single persons making less than RM2,000 a month receive a RM450 handout.