There are still many poor people in Malaysia but this does not consist of Indians alone, said Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Abdul Rahman Suliman today.

Abdul Rahman also dismissed the claim by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) that Indians here are marginalised and suffer from the highest poverty rate as baseless.

The deputy minister was responding to a question from Senator Yaakob Mohamad in the Dewan Negara.

According to Bernama , he said poverty in Malaysia affects all races, including the Malays themselves.

“Following the implementation of the abolish poverty policy, the government has managed to reduce the poverty rate from 49 percent in 1970 to 5.7 percent in 2007.

“This shows that we reduced 43.3 percent of the poverty rate in our country, which targets all races, including those in Sabah and Sarawak,” he added.

In his question, Yaakob wanted to know how true are the claims made by Hindraf.

Zero poverty

Abdul Rahman further explained that in its efforts to achieve zero poverty by 2010, the government has approved the Poverty Eradication Strategic and Enhancement Plan.

Among others, he said the plan will encompass the usage of a uniformed poverty-line income definition, develop the Bank Data Kemiskininan (eKasih) and form focus groups at the federal, state and district levels to improve the machinery and mechanisms employed to eradicate poverty.

The government, he said, also studies the types of projects and aids that are chanelled to the poor as the dimension of poverty changes constantly.

“The poor who are productive are separated from the sick, old and unproductive, so that specific help can be given,” he added.

The deputy minister also revealed that until June 30, 2007, a total of 66,989 Ketua Isi Rumah (KIR) or household heads in rural areas have been identified.

Sabah topped the list with 21,566, followed by Kelantan 14,326. The lowest was Penang with 196.

Since Nov 25, Hindraf has landed in the limelight after organising a protest which saw some 30,000 Indians taking to the streets in Kuala Lumpur.

The protest was called in support of a class action suit filed against the British government for bringing Indians to this country as indentured labourers.

In a memorandum to the British government, Hindraf also accused the Malaysian government of marginalising the Indians and subjecting them to ethnic cleansing.

These claims incurred the wrath of numerous quarters, including government leaders who lambasted the movement for making unfounded allegations and stirring up racial sentiments.