Beginning tomorrow, 40 percent of domestic users will be hit with a 12-percent hike in electricity tariffs. The rest - the other 60 percent who have monthly bills of below RM43 - will not be affected, said the government.

But who are these 60 percent?

While it would be near impossible for us to find anyone with a sub-RM43 electricity bill in the middle-class suburbs of Kuala Lumpur, malaysiakini feels it stands a better chance of finding them among the urban poor.

We went to three areas - the squatter village of Kampung Kerinchi next to Mid-Valley Megamall, the KTM quarters in the less affluent section of Bangsar and Kampung Damansara, near Section 17 in Petaling Jaya.

Here's what we found.

Kampung Kerinchi, Lembah Pantai

Abudollah Mohamad, 51, whose family of five live in a one-bedroom wooden house in Kampung Kerinchi, said he had heard about the hike but was not certain exactly who would be affected.

Clearly, he is not one of the lucky majority who are exempted from the hike.

Abudollah's monthly electricity bills run up to RM90 per month, although the only electrical appliances in his home were a ceiling fan, a 17-inch television, fridge, rice cooker, electric iron, and fluorescent lamps.

"I don't have a fixed income as I am self-employed. If we are affected, I don't know what else to do," he said.

Homemaker Shanti, 42, who had heard about the hike, lamented that the poor, not the rich, were the ones to suffer.

Her husband who earns RM1,200 per month pays for their electricity bills, which come to RM50 every month.

"Minyak naik, api naik, tapi gaji tak naik," she bemoaned (Cost of oil has increase, electricity too, but not our salary).

KTM quarters in Bangsar Utama

A visit to the KTM quarters in Bangsar Utama showed that most of the households there have bills of less than RM70 per month, with a number below the magical number of RM43.

Mohamed Zain Mahmood, 52, earns a monthly wage of RM1,100, and crams his family of seven in a two-room flat.

He said he was not aware of the hike but was happy when told that households with usage of less than 200kWh would not be affected - his bills only come to RM30 a month.

His secret of keeping his bills to RM30 a month - few electricity appliances except fluorescent lamps and a TV.

Meanwhile, homemaker Maznah who lives in a four-room flat with her husband and three children, said she was not aware of the electricity tariff hike.

However, she said she could make do with her RM80 bill every month, adding that her family had a computer.

Kampung Damansara, Petaling Jaya

At Kampung Damansara, where the income group was the highest amongst the three, the villagers were more aware about the tariff hike but had resigned to accepting it.

Insurance agent Mak, 32, said his bills are about RM30 a month but he was unhappy as the hike would nevertheless affect his family through price hikes in food and transport.

"The price of everything has gone up - don't tell me about not being affected," he said.

Seventy-one-year-old Mr Wong, whose son runs a sundry shop, said his bills came to more than RM100 a month because there is an air conditioner in his house.

From this mini-survey, only those using only the very basic electrical appliances - lights, television and fan - will not be affected by the hike.

However, if you have an air conditioner, fridge or computer, chances are you will have to dig deeper in your pockets next month when the tariff hike kicks in.

But the real question is this - if 60 percent of households are currently living with a bare minimum of below RM43 monthly electricity bills, how can we achieve developed status in 2020?