MALAYSIA needs to re-examine its methods of determining the poverty rate and poverty eradication programmes to ensure the success of its efforts to address the problem, especially in terms of the people’s standard of living.

The poverty rate should reflect the life of the community so that efforts will truly aid in getting the underprivileged out of the vicious cycle of poverty.

An expert on consumption economics at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Prof Dr Laily Paim, said the Malaysia’s poverty issue has to be re-examined, in terms of its concept and benchmark.

“Failure to apply the right concept and a benchmark that is suitable for the country’s development can lead to failure of efforts to eradicate poverty and improve the standard of living of the people,” she said.

Without the right approach, policies formulated as well as programmes implemented to eradicate poverty would amount to a waste of the country’s resources, time and energy, she said.

Laily said many countries had moved away from measuring unidimensional poverty, which only looks at income or consumption, to a multidimensional method that also takes into account other aspects.

“The basic idea of ​​multidimensional poverty (measurement) is the well-being of a household or individual, not only depending on income or consumption, but also on other dimensions or capabilities, such as health, education and standard of living.

“Multidimensional poverty is more likely to explain long-term poverty, whereby indicators like education or assets are clearly a more reasonable assessment of poverty,” she added.

United Nations special rapporteur on poverty and human rights Philip Alston had said that Malaysia’s poverty rate of 0.4% in 2016 was unrealistic given its low benchmark.

Alston said the actual poverty rate in Malaysia was about 15%.

Following that, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad reportedly said that the government would use the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) to measure and monitor the poverty rate in Malaysia.

For Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) lecturer at the College of Law, Government and International Studies Prof Dr Ahmad Marthada Mohamed, efforts to reduce poverty have been a key agenda of the government, with various initiatives carried out to address the problem.

However, it now requires a more rigorous and comprehensive strategy involving urban and rural areas, he said.

He said the government’s strategy of eradicating poverty through efforts to increase the income and purchasing power of the people, especially among the poor and low-income households, was apt, and lauded the proposal to raise the minimum wage from RM1,100 per month to RM1,200 per month in major cities next year.

He said although the amount was still insufficient to address the urban poverty problem, it was a starting point for Malaysia to move forward in defending the plight of workers.

He said access to existing incentives, such as entrepreneurship funds and skills training, should be made easier for target groups so that they could benefit from government programmes.

Improving public transport facilities, access to health and home ownership also builds harmony and  prosperity in households and helps tackle the problem of hardcore poverty, he added. – Bernama, October 27, 2019.