This may be the news many people have been waiting for. As it is, majority of Malaysian are living in urban areas (surprised?),  contrary to notion that we have lots of people in rural areas. About 63 to 70% of the Malaysian population are in urban areas (read more below). Naturally, that can imply that the poor segment of the society is not only limited to the rural areas, but are found in urban settings too.

The current poverty line of RM700 or so (its different for Peninsular and East Malaysia) is ridiculous to say the least. Even in rural areas, it would be difficult to raise a family of four with monthly income of RM700.

RM3,000 is poverty line for the urban poor while those in the rural area may find the bar upped to about RM1000 to RM1500 monthly income. Its also prudent to note that the urban population in Malaysia was 62% in the year 2000, and estimated to be 62.8 in the year 2007.  UNHCR says its 69% as of 2009. That may mean that 7 out of 10 Malaysian are living in cities and towns, and we are still using a poverty line set in the 70s!

And did you know that in the year 2000, Klang was the THIRD largest city in the country, after KL and Johor Bahru? Read it here [PDF file]. The definition of urban in the year 1991 (Census) is as follows:

definition of urban areas used in the 1991 Census, refers to gazetted areas and their adjoining built-up areas with a combined population of 10,000 persons or more. Built-up areas were defined as areas contiguous to a gazetted area which had at least 60 per cent of their population (aged 10 years or more) having modern toilet facilities. However, several exceptions were made to the above definition. Gazetted areas which cover entire administrative districts and areas gazetted prior to the implementation of the restructuring of local authorities under the respective Local Government Act/Ordinance in Malaysia, together with their adjoining built-up areas and having a combined population of 10,000 persons or more were classified as urban areas.

While setting the bar higher may increase the poverty percentage in the country, it will be a more realistic figure. I personally don’t think there are only 5% hard core poor in Malaysia, and the low-income bracket is not just 20 or 30% of the population, but may be as high as 50% of the population.

The setting of the poverty line should be tied to the size of city/town, population, CPI for that particular location,  and the household population. It should also take into consideration retirees and disabled persons.

Talking about household population, there should be some limitation in counting the number of children in a family to determine poverty level. We don’t want to see cases where families have many children without considering their economic status and merely depending on the state for welfare benefits.  The poverty line can be abused to claim welfare benefits if no limits are set. This “limits” may support the aim of having a family planning policy. While its sad to read about parents with 6 or 8 kids, one do wonder why they have so many children if can’t even provide proper meals. And these are the families that tragedy strikes often – chronic health problems, death of a spouse, lack of stable income, retrenchment, etc.  So, the poverty line should cater for a family for maximum 4 children. Anything beyond that should not be borne by the government.

And I suggest that it should be made compulsory for a member of a family that falls under the poverty line to be fully sponsored to undergo a certificate, diploma or degree program as part of the poverty eradication program. Secondly, another member of the family must also enrol in a suitable entrepreneur program, again fully sponsored by the government. This two activities can help to alleviate the poverty problem.

PETALING JAYA: The Government has decided to set RM3,000 as the poverty line for the urban poor based on feedback from people living in major urban areas such as Kuala Lumpur.

This is according to Federal Territories Minister Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin whose ministry is to be renamed Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Ministry, in efforts to improve the lives of the urban poor.

“If you have three children and your household income is RM3,000 or below, you’re almost at the poverty line,” he said, adding that many lower income families had more than four children and still needed to pay for their cars, houses and other mortgage payments.

Therefore, a new set of criteria to eradicate urban poverty is in the pipeline, he said.

“I will have to work out the details with my ministry’s secretary-general,” he said on the sidelines of a family fair at the Malay-sian Tourism Information Centre here yesterday. Raja Nong said his ministry would also have to conduct a new census to identify those who came under the urban poverty mark.

“The number of urban poor and slum dwellers in the cities is rising,” said Raja Nong.

“There is no social safety net for such people, including single parents with three to five children living in low-cost flats.”

In his Budget 2010 speech on Friday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak an-nounced that urban poverty eradication programmes would be drawn out nationwide.

The Budget had allocated RM48mil to implement the programmes.

According to Housing and Local Govern-ment Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha, the Government had decided two to three months ago that urban poverty eradication would be handled primarily by the Implementation Coordination Unit (ICU) under the Prime Minister’s Department.

“The information of those identified as being in the urban poverty bracket will be passed on to the ICU, which gets a list from the Rural Department, and other ministries and departments.”