Poverty In Malaysia

Malaysia’s official poverty rate dropped from 49% in 1970 to just 0.4% in 2016.

You and I know that's bunk.

You know what the poverty threshold is? RM980 per month per household of 4.

In no alternate universe is that a reasonable baseline.

Obviously, the UN human rights dogsbody disputes this. For the first time in a long while, I will say, rightly so. Even if it comes from an organisation that is widely deemed as a toothless tiger.

OutSyed The Box puts his views forward here. He has some very good points, mind you.

On a more serious note, Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj of PPSM addressed this topic even back in June: What will it take to address poverty in Malaysia?

One of the most interesting questions he pulls up is this: Why does the Bumiputra community still make up some 80% of the bottom 40% of the population (the B40) when they only constitute about 65% of the population?

Read the piece by Dr Jeyakumar yourself.

Interestingly, the United Nations Year of Reconciliation 2009 encouraged exploration on the topic of urban poverty. It looks like after 10 years, nothing much has changed. That is a depressing thought.

It's going to be the hallowed 2020 next year - year of fully developed nation status. Are we even ready for that?