Story 2:Scholars urged gov adjust poverty line(print style)

By Joshua Wong

Kuala Lumpur: Three scholars in the country have urged the government to adjust the poverty line of the relative poverty from the current RM529 to the range of RM1, 000 to RM1, 200.

They argued that the poverty line fixed by the government at the moment was too low and could not reflect the reality.

Dr Goh Ban Lee, an adjunct professor from University Sains Malaysia said the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) should deal with the problem.

“RM529 per month for a family of 5 is really unrealistic. I think the EPU must quickly readjust the poverty line,” he said.

According to the official statistics, a family with a monthly household income less than RM529 is classified as poor. Effectively, this group of people is entitled to receive the welfare funds from the government.

The statistic also depicted that although 35 percent of cities dwellers have the monthly household income below RM1, 500, their monthly expenses stand at RM1,943.

Yayasan Strategik Sosial executive director Dr.Denison said the relative poverty line set by the government was unfair to the low income families as they are not entitled to receive the welfare funds.

He pointed out that the low-income families can only survive when the living costs in the cities are rising.

“If a child has a hole in the heart, (he needs) 60 thousand for an operation. Even a middle income family cannot afford. (This is) because they don’t have the disposable income.

“This is what the Prime Minister said, enough to eat for the day only, it’s not really enough to saving,” he said.

On the same note, Malaysian economist Charles Santiago maintained that the government should adopt viable measures to deal with the urban poverty.

“If you use RM1500 to RM2000 as a marker, then the government will face a high level of poverty. But if we use RM529 for a family of 5, it was not a fair presentation of what is happening.