{"id":1221,"date":"2008-01-30T16:07:23","date_gmt":"2008-01-30T08:07:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/borninmalaysia\/2008\/01\/30\/poverty-rate-reduced-or-the-bar-not-raised\/"},"modified":"2008-02-04T23:41:11","modified_gmt":"2008-02-04T15:41:11","slug":"poverty-rate-reduced-or-the-bar-not-raised","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/borninmalaysia\/2008\/01\/30\/poverty-rate-reduced-or-the-bar-not-raised\/","title":{"rendered":"Poverty rate reduced or the bar not raised?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>PM released initial results of the EPU study which indicates that the 9<sup>th<\/sup> MP is going well on its track. Let&#8217;s look at the figures he mentioned (note that final report is expected in March): <!--more--><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Poverty rate <span style=\"color: #3366ff\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff\">down by 38%<\/span> <\/span>from 5.7% (2004) to 3.5% (2007)<\/li>\n<li>Hardcore poor <span style=\"color: #0000ff\">down by 42% <\/span>from  1.2% (2004) to 0.7% (2007)<\/li>\n<li>Income gap between rural and urban areas had also been <span style=\"color: #0000ff\">reduced<\/span> from a ratio of 1:2.11 (2004) to 1:1.99 (2007)<\/li>\n<li>Income gap between Bumiputera and Chinese has <span style=\"color: #0000ff\">fallen<\/span> from 1:1.64 (2004) to 1:1.52 (20070<\/li>\n<li>Income gap between Bumiputera and Indians <span style=\"color: #0000ff\">dropped<\/span> from 1:1.27 (2004) to 1:1.23 (2007)<\/li>\n<li>Income gap between Indians and Chinese <span style=\"color: #0000ff\">dropped<\/span> from 1:1.28 (2004) to 1:1.23 (2007).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>What does all this mean?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #0000ff\">Less poor people<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #0000ff\">Less hardcore poor people<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #0000ff\">Bumiputra are catching up with the Chinese and Indians<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #0000ff\">Indians are catching up with the Chinese<\/span>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Meaning soon, the discriminative policies can be removed. Another 10 years at most?<\/p>\n<p>That means:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The poor have <span style=\"color: #0000ff\">gotten newer\/higher income<\/span> than in 2004<\/li>\n<li>The hardcore poor have <span style=\"color: #0000ff\">gotten newer\/higher income<\/span> than 2004<\/li>\n<li>The Chinese <span style=\"color: #ff0000\">are not growing fast enough<\/span>, or the bumiputras and Indians are <span style=\"color: #0000ff\">going on turbo boost<\/span>.<\/li>\n<li>The Indians <span style=\"color: #ff0000\">are not growing fast enough<\/span> or  Bumiputra are <span style=\"color: #0000ff\">going on turbo boost<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Now, a bit of lesson on deciding who is poor. According to EPU and 9<sup>th<\/sup> MP, the poverty rate is set according to the various states and urban\/rural areas. For peninsula is about <span style=\"color: #ff0000\">RM663<\/span>, while its about Rm888\/7xx in Sabah\/Sarawak. This value is obtained by estimating <span style=\"color: #ff0000\">how much it would cost to buy minimum things to live<\/span> (we are not even talking about Ramly burger, Bata shoes and Walls ice-cream) for a HOUSEHOLD. Yes, for a <span style=\"color: #ff0000\">family of 4\/5 people living under one roof.<\/span> Now, which part of urban Malaysia can we find a family of 4 living with income of RM700? Maybe in the squatters or low cost flats, having single meals, staying in a room of a house. Recent studies show that up to 60% of Malaysians are considered staying in urban area due to development of rural areas.<\/p>\n<p>If this value of RM663 (some documents show RM661, RM669) is based on 2004, then shouldn&#8217;t the value be <span style=\"color: #ff0000\">updated<\/span> to take into consideration substantial price increases (especially when petrol prices were <span style=\"color: #ff0000\">increased twice &#8211; 20 and 30 sen &#8211; in the last 3 years<\/span>?) If were we to use an old value to decide who is poor, then I think it is wrong. I&#8217;m sure if the poverty rate is increased by 10% to RM730, we will get a figure that might show poverty has in fact <span style=\"color: #ff0000\">increased.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Secondly, from what I researched, household income is taken as any source if money coming in, <span style=\"color: #ff0000\">INCLUDING government assistance<\/span>. Thus, if a family receives RM400 monthly for rent and education from Welfare department, I&#8217;m sure their monthly income increases.<\/p>\n<p>Hardcore poor is defined as those living 50% below the poverty line, meaning earning household value of 663 \/ 2 = RM331. Again, but providing assistance or welfare, the income can be greatly improved.<\/p>\n<p>For another analysis of the 2004 results read <a href=\"http:\/\/poobalan.com\/indian\/2008\/01\/22\/proof-that-indian-community-is-marginalised\/\">Gunasegaram&#8217;s article<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr width=\"1\" \/>9MP mid-term shows poverty reductionBy : Hamidah Atan and Deborah Loh<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nst.com.my\/Current_News\/NST\/Monday\/NewsBreak\/20080128160354\/Article\/index_html\" target=\"_blank\">source<\/a><\/p>\n<p>PUTRAJAYA, Jan 28:<\/p>\n<p>The Ninth Malaysia Plan, whose mid-term review will be conducted in March, has already shown positive results, the Prime Minister said today. Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the third national mission to eradicate poverty and bridge socio-economic divides had reduced poverty from 5.7 per cent in 2004 to 3.5 per cent last year, according to a study by the Economic Planning Unit (EPU).<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I am very happy to state here the positive effects of the development plans and projects we have implemented for the benefit of the people. The EPU&#8217;s household income survey carried out last year showed the rate of poverty had gone down, with the number of hardcore poor reduced from 1.2 per cent to 0.7 per cent. This means that our target to eradicate poverty by 2010 is achievable,&#8221; he said at an annual gathering of 8,000 civil servants organised by the National Institute of Public Administration (Intan) at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre.<\/p>\n<p>Also present were several cabinet ministers, corporate leaders, Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan, Public Services director-general Tan Sri Ismail Adam and Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan.<\/p>\n<p>Other findings:<\/p>\n<p>* The income gap between rural and urban areas had also been reduced from a ratio of 1:2.11 in 2004 to 1:1.99 last year.<\/p>\n<p>* The income gap between Bumiputera and Chinese has fallen from 1:1.64 in 2004 to 1:1.52 last year, the Bumiputera and Indians from 1:1.27 to 1:1.23 while the Indians and Chinese from 1:1.28 to 1:1.23.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This means that we have been able to reduce the income gap three years earlier than we targeted,&#8221; Abdullah said. The EPU, he said, would only finalise the survey findings in March but he expressed confidence that the figures to determine the government&#8217;s level of accomplishment in implementing all five thrusts of the national mission would show positive results. Since independence, the government had been consistent in its effort to wipe out poverty and with the implementation of the New Economic Policy, the poverty level was reduced by 60 per cent.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This effort has always been our priority and we are thankful that we have succeeded. By 2010, there will be no more poor people in this country. We should be resolute in our commitment to get rid of poverty,&#8221; he said.  The government has allocated RM200 billion for projects under the Ninth Malaysia Plan.<\/p>\n<p>Number of hardcore poor decreasing, says PM<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thestar.com.my\/news\/story.asp?file=\/2008\/1\/28\/nation\/20080128163404&amp;sec=nation\" target=\"_blank\">source<\/a><\/p>\n<p>By V.P. SUJATA<\/p>\n<p>PUTRAJAYA: The percentage of hardcore poor in the country has decreased to 0.7% last year from 1.2% in 2004, according to initial statistics from the Economic Planning Unit&#8217;s household income survey last year.  Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said this is an indication that the Government&#8217;s plan to eradicate hardcore poverty would be achieved sooner than the target year of 2010.<\/p>\n<p>He said that the survey results would be finalised some time in March, adding that the poverty rate had reduced from 5.7% in 2004 to 3.5% last year.  The administration machinery must help to identify the 0.7% hardcore poor families in the country, he said, adding that there must be efforts to get them above the poverty line as promised by the Government earlier.<\/p>\n<p>The effectiveness of projects aimed at reducing the percentage of hardcore poor has to be looked at and reviewed if need be, he added.   &#8220;We must know where they are and eradicate the hardcore poor once and for all.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Every country has its hardcore poor; I never said that there were no poor people in this country,&#8221; he said, adding that before  Merdeka 60% of Malaysians were in the poor category and the Government was able to reduce it to 0.7%.  &#8220;It is our objective and responsibility to achieve zero hardcore poor in the country by 2010,&#8221; he said, adding that every quarter including the private sector had a role to play in achieving this target.<\/p>\n<p>Addressing a few thousand civil servants during a gathering for the civil service at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre here, Abdullah added that the income gap between the urban and rural areas dropped from a ratio of 1:2.11 in 2004 to 1:1.99 last year. This showed that the target to reduce the income gap between the urban and rural areas by the end of the Ninth Malaysia Plan had been achieved three years earlier than planned, he said.<\/p>\n<p>Abdullah said that the income gap among the three races had also narrowed.&#8221;The income gap between the bumiputra and the Chinese had dropped from 1:1.64 in 2004 to 1:1.52 last year while that between the bumiputra and the Indians fell from 1:1.27 to 1:1.23,&#8221; he said, adding that the ratio between the Indians and the Chinese dropped from 1:1.28 to 1:1.23.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PM released initial results of the EPU study which indicates that the 9th MP is going well on its track. Let&#8217;s look at the figures he mentioned (note that final report is expected in March):<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[104],"class_list":["post-1221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-borninmalaysia","tag-statistics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1221\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}