PETALING JAYA, (themalaymailonline) :
― Putrajaya is artificially keeping the poverty index low by only classifying households earning below RM700 a month as poor, PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar said today.
The Lembah Pantai MP said this put Malaysians earning just above RM700 a month at risk of missing out on government aid as they fall outside the strict official definition of poverty.
“The method used to define the poverty line is no longer sufficient to explain poverty here, in fact it gives a false picture, especially when the government refuses to redefine that line,” Nurul told a press conference at the party's headquarters here.
With the subsidy roll backs and the introduction of the goods and services tax (GST) next year, disposable wage for middle income earners would drop from 28 per cent to 21 per cent by 2020, which is staggering low compared to South Korea's 45.8 per cent and Singapore's 42 per cent, Nurul Izzah argued.
Citing a report by University Malaya's poverty research unit, she pointed out that Malaysia's poverty rate would return to the pre-New Economic Model period where the income gap was wider.
The report, published last month, cautioned that subsidy cuts would impact Malay households the most. It would also increase poverty rates among Chinese and Indians in rural areas.
The report suggested that fuel subsidy cuts would increase poverty rate among urban Bumiputera to 37.5 per cent and 23 per cent for rural Bumiputera.
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Malaysia's inequality higher than China, Uganda, affirmative action blamed
- CATEGORY: NEWS
- Published on Thursday, 24 July 2014 11:06
- Written by Mirror On The Wall
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) says Malaysians in the bottom 40% have fallen on hard times.
In a report, the UNDP said that Malaysia is on the high end of the inequality spectrum.
According to the Human Development Report 2014 released in Tokyo, it said that this is despite the country ranking 62 out of the 168 studied.
The report says that growth in consumption for the poorest 40 percent in Malaysia is much slower compared to the general population.
The bottom 40 percent's consumption grew by about eight percent between 2005 to 2010, while the population's consumption grew by about 14 percent in the same period.
This is worse than China and Uganda, which the report said also has high and rising inequality.
For example, consumption growth in China for the poorest 40 percent is about eight percent, compared to the population's consumption growth of eight percent for the same period.
Inequality, the report says, can lead to conflict and violence especially if it prosperity is only reported in certain sections of community.
However, it said Malaysia has in place policies, which has helped address inequality, like redistribution of government-owned land, restriction of land ownership and public sector employment quota.
Affirmative action taking its toll
Such policies, however, had "unintended consequences", the report says, including the exodus of a million highly-skilled Malaysians mostly due to pro-bumiputera policies.
Most of the emigrants, the report said, are ethnic Chinese and highly-educated.
It said that 60 percent of skilled Malaysian emigrants "cited social injustice as an important reason for leaving".
"The positive discrimination policies favouring the ethnic Malays, or bumiputeras, in Malaysia over the dominant Chinese and minority Indian populations have improved their access to education and jobs and helped them more fully realize their economic potential.
"Yet Malaysia's Chinese and Indian minority citizens chafe at 70 percent quotas in university admissions, flocking instead to private and foreign schools and often staying away from the country."
Malaysia's inequality higher than China, Uganda, affirmative action blamed
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) says Malaysians in the bottom 40% have fallen on hard times.
In a report, the UNDP said that Malaysia is on the high end of the inequality spectrum.
According to the Human Development Report 2014 released in Tokyo, it said that this is despite the country ranking 62 out of the 168 studied.
Report says that growth in consumption for the poorest 40 percent in Malaysia is much slower compared to the general population.
The bottom 40 percent's consumption grew by about eight percent between 2005 to 2010, while the population's consumption grew by about 14 percent in the same period.
This is worse than China and Uganda, which the report said also has high and rising inequality.
For example, consumption growth in China for the poorest 40 percent is about eight percent, compared to the population's consumption growth of eight percent for the same period.
Inequality, the report says, can lead to conflict and violence especially if it prosperity is only reported in certain sections of community.
However, it said Malaysia has in place policies, which has helped address inequality, like redistribution of government-owned land, restriction of land ownership and public sector employment quota.
Such policies, however, had "unintended consequences", the report says, including the exodus of a million highly-skilled Malaysians mostly due to pro-bumiputera policies.
Most of the emigrants, the report said, are ethnic Chinese and highly-educated.
It said that 60 percent of skilled Malaysian emigrants "cited social injustice as an important reason for leaving".
"The positive discrimination policies favouring the ethnic Malays, or bumiputeras, in Malaysia over the dominant Chinese and minority Indian populations have improved their access to education and jobs and helped them more fully realize their economic potential.
"Yet Malaysia's Chinese and Indian minority citizens chafe at 70 percent quotas in university admissions, flocking instead to private and foreign schools and often staying away from the country."
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) says Malaysians in the bottom 40% have fallen on hard times.
In a report, the UNDP said that Malaysia is on the high end of the inequality spectrum.
According to the Human Development Report 2014 released in Tokyo, it said that this is despite the country ranking 62 out of the 168 studied.
Report says that growth in consumption for the poorest 40 percent in Malaysia is much slower compared to the general population.
The bottom 40 percent's consumption grew by about eight percent between 2005 to 2010, while the population's consumption grew by about 14 percent in the same period.
This is worse than China and Uganda, which the report said also has high and rising inequality.
For example, consumption growth in China for the poorest 40 percent is about eight percent, compared to the population's consumption growth of eight percent for the same period.
Inequality, the report says, can lead to conflict and violence especially if it prosperity is only reported in certain sections of community.
However, it said Malaysia has in place policies, which has helped address inequality, like redistribution of government-owned land, restriction of land ownership and public sector employment quota.
Such policies, however, had "unintended consequences", the report says, including the exodus of a million highly-skilled Malaysians mostly due to pro-bumiputera policies.
Most of the emigrants, the report said, are ethnic Chinese and highly-educated.
It said that 60 percent of skilled Malaysian emigrants "cited social injustice as an important reason for leaving".
"The positive discrimination policies favouring the ethnic Malays, or bumiputeras, in Malaysia over the dominant Chinese and minority Indian populations have improved their access to education and jobs and helped them more fully realize their economic potential.
"Yet Malaysia's Chinese and Indian minority citizens chafe at 70 percent quotas in university admissions, flocking instead to private and foreign schools and often staying away from the country."
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