DESPITE the cramped conditions, cheap, government-subsidised flats in central Kuala Lumpur are a lifeline for Ahmad Karim and Mohd Sufiyan and their families.

Both fall into the B40 category, or bottom 40% income households, but their different experiences show how cheap public housing, meant to be a stepping stone to something better, does not necessarily help to break the cycle of poverty.

The social mobility they hope for is that come their golden years, their better-off children would look after them and they would be able to  move somewhere more comfortable.

But the reality is that it will take more than subsidised housing to achieve this. 

“Even though they may get cheap homes, there are many other factors that affect a family’s social mobility and whether their children will do better than them,” said social worker Jasmine Adaickalam.

Adaickalam has worked with government and non-governmental organisations in community development projects for the urban poor all over Malaysia for more than three decades.

She has seen first-hand what works and what doesn’t when it comes to helping families out of destitution. And affordable, reliable housing is only a part of the solution.

‘Rumah mampu tengok’

For almost 30 years, pensioner Ahmad Karim has lived in the same two-room in the Sri Perak low-cost flats in Sentul, and he does not know if he will ever move out to something better.

“The houses they build these days are not mampu milik (affordable),” he said, pointing to a spanking new apartment complex that can be seen from his own tiny flat in Bandar Baru Sentul.

“They are just mampu tengok (you can only afford to look at them),” said the 63-year-old, using a well known Bahasa Malaysia quip about the government’s efforts to build affordable homes.

Three of his children have already started their own families but since they themselves struggle to make ends meet, he is reluctant to impose on them by moving in.

The former assistant clerk is just one of the many pensioners who still live in Sri Perak flats which have 1,428 units spread out in seven blocks. To qualify for a unit here, one must be earning not more than RM2,000 a month and have a certain number of dependents.

The Seri Perak flats were quarters for Kuala Lumpur City Hall workers. Some time in the mid-1980s the government changed the status to public housing.

According to Ahmad Karim who used to live as a squatter before moving to the flats, more than 70% of residents are civil servants.

For a variety of reasons, many who live here will not or cannot move out. In Ahmad Karim’s case, it’s the high cost of living that stretches his monthly income from his pension.

Ahmad Karim said he has paid off the bank loan he took for his 500 sq foot two-bedroom unit. When he bought it more than 30 years ago, the government offered it to him for about RM26,000.

Low-cost housing or Projek Perumahan Rakyat (PPR) are typically around 650 sq feet per unit and cost between RM35,000 to RM60,000. They are reserved for the B40 households whose total income is RM3,000 and below.

Even without the burden of a housing loan, Ahmad Karim said he still struggles to make ends meet on his RM1,500 montly pension.

“I’ve missed payments on utility bills,” said Ahmad Karim, adding that this usually happens during months when he has to bring his wife to Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) to treat her slipped disc.

His pension is also used to put his youngest child through a polytechnic.

“I also don’t ask from my adult children as they have to deal with expenses for their own families. They work in the private sector and their pay is also small.”

“One month they will give me money but a month later they will get stuck and ask me for a loan. The next month I ask for the money back. So it’s the same, I am not getting more money than before.”

The main problem that Ahmad Karim feels is holding them back is the rising cost of living especially in the city.

The consumer price index (CPI), a gauge of inflation, rose 4.3% last September compared to last year. Malaysia’s (CPI) reached 5.1% in March, an eight-year high.

“Pensioners like me really feel squeezed. I can’t cope with how much more expensive things are.”

Education is key

City Hall worker Mohd Sufiyan whose family lives in a unit across from Ahmad Karim’s block is slightly better off in that one of his children who works is able to give him money regularly.

Like his neighbour, Mohd Sufiyan, who earns about RM1,600 a month, is also supporting an 19-year old daughter through college.

The 55-year-old from Johor whose father worked as a low-ranking civil servant, is optimistic that one day, his children would be able to look after him and his wife.

“My eldest daughter is now working after she finished university. My son got a scholarship to study overseas. My daughter is already helping me pay off my car loan,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Money is still tight for the couple as Mohd Sufiyan has an adopted son who is now seven. But his eldest daughter regularly gives him money when she visits with her family.

He has not decided whether he wants to move out of his cramped flat when he retires in 2020 because of the education opportunities nearby for his adopted boy.

“The primary school for my son is just next door and he’s doing very well there. I don’t want to relocate him. Also, houses are so expensive.”

Mohd Sufiyan, who dropped out after Form Three, realises the importance of a school his son is happy in if he expects the child to continue his education. His older children also did well academically.

Social worker Adaickalam said education outcomes were related to the physical living conditions of families in this type of housing. 

In her work, she found that children living in cramped flats had problems doing homework and concentrating on their studies.

In many of the success stories she’s seen of children excelling at school and doing better than their parents, the kids are provided with study spaces by NGOs, their school or a state body.

This was the case for Mohd Sufiyan’s older children who received extra classes after school, 

“When it comes to families from the B40 group, there is a lack of guidance for their children since they also don’t have that much education,” Adaickalam said.

“It is worse when the parents, especially the father has to work more than eight hours a day to support the family.

“Often we think that just by giving people free or cheap housing, we can automatically help them up the social ladder.

“The reality is a lot more complex as there are important social and psychological elements that have to be provided,” she said. – November 12, 2017.