Malaysia Excels At Giving Inaccurate Figures To Look Good

Last night, while watching American Idol - Idol Gives Back, a two-and-a-half episode with big names like Sir Elton John, Mary J. Bligh, Black Eyed Peas, Carrie Underwood, Alicia Keyes, Annie Lennox and a duet performance by Joss Stone and Jeff Black, I kept hearing this: "one in six people in America are living in poverty". 


This can't be true, I told myself. If it's true, it's a very high figure. The poverty rate in America surely can't be 16%. I decided to check for verification, and found that, YES, America's poverty rate is between 13% to 17%, at any given time. 


Curious, I compared it with Malaysia's official poverty rate of 5.1%.


And what I found is this:


1. The US poverty threshold - those considered living in poverty actually own a telephone, a car, a home (albeit a trailer home), a microwave oven, in other words, items considered basic necessities.


2. Malaysia poverty threshold - only those with a household income of less than RM500 in a family of four is considered to be living in poverty.


Hello!!!! This figure is unrealistic. A monthly rental of a small low-cost flat ranges from RM450 to RM650, depending on area. Near towns, it would be RM650. 


Anyone earning below RM1000 (I'm not even mentioning combined household income) would have difficulty making ends meet. Why do you think those who earned RM1000 from one job has another part-time job? Why do you think those with a household income of RM2000 need part-time jobs to supplement their income if they can make ends meet? 


Let's take a real good look at the raw data. 


There are 5.8 million households in 2007. Out of these:
1. 8.6% of the households had a monthly income below RM1,000
2. 29.4% had between RM1,000 and RM2,000
3. 19.8% earned between RM2,001 and RM3,000
4. 12.9% earned between RM3,001 and RM4,000
5. 8.6% had between RM4,001 and RM5,000
6. 15.8% had an income of between RM5,001 and RM10,000
7. 4.9% had an income of RM10,000 and above
(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Malaysia)


What is a fact is that, with development & urbanization, any family of four with a household income of less than RM2,000 is not likely to make ends meet, and they are not going to be able to own a car or a home. And if you have a car and a home, RM3,000 is barely enough for a family of four. So, how could a household income of RM500 be the poverty threshold??!!


And RM5001 and RM10000 should not be lumped into one income range. There is a huge disparity of what a household income of RM5001 cannot afford which a household income of RM10000 can afford. Ask the man on the street and he'll tell you that surviving on a RM5001 household income is not easy.....why else do office executives with a combined household income of RM5,000 work part-time after office hours? 


So, what should the poverty rate in Malaysia be in order to reflect the actual state of affairs? On a very conservative level, I would say 38%, although 57.8% would be far more accurate. That brings us back to the time of independence in 1957 when half of the country’s households were living below the national poverty line, with very little changed up to 1970, at which time 49 per cent of households were poor. (source http://www.undp.org.my/malaysia-measuring-and-monitoring-poverty-and-inequality)


Conclusion: Nothing has changed till today. Half of Malaysia's households are still living in poverty, like it or not. Rather than spend time trying to window-dress and hide the brutal facts, the government should instead work on solutions to increase the income of Malaysians.