By Reshna Reem Ganesan (Free Malaysia Today)
KUALA LUMPUR: A sociologist has called for a government agency to be set up dedicated to assessing and eradicating poverty in Malaysia.
Abdul Rahman Embong of the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies said the New Economic Policy (NEP) introduced in 1971 was Malaysia’s first “big push” in the war against poverty.
He said it was time for another “big push” to combat poverty in the nation.
“We already know where the poor people and the communities (who need help) are,” he said at the International Day for Eradication of Poverty 2022 conference here.
Rahman suggested Putrajaya form a “special purpose vehicle” or agency devoted to fighting poverty, saying this was better than putting the responsibility solely under a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.
“We have a whole-of-nation approach, but what we need are localised solutions. This can be done by strengthening partnerships with civil society organisations and community-based organisations to effectively eradicate poverty,” he said.
The task of tackling poverty tends to fall under the purview of the economic planning unit, which falls under the economic affairs minister, in the Prime Minister’s Department.
Earlier this month, caretaker economic affairs minister Mustapa Mohamed said the number of hardcore poor households in the nation had reduced to 130,000 as of mid-September.
Rahman said it was important to delve deeper into the impact of poverty on certain issues instead of a one-size-fits-all approach.
Citing the high life expectancy in Malaysia, he said there was a need to assess the effects of poverty on life expectancy among the poor.
The reality, he said, was that efforts to combat poverty were uneven and that national figures only captured the first layer of a multi-layered reality on the ground.
Binary University of Management and Entrepreneurship vice-chancellor Sulochana Nair agreed with Rahman, saying there was a need for a sense of ownership in taking charge of tackling poverty, particularly in urban areas.
Sulochana also agreed that a blanket approach would not work in tackling the issue, since there were various groups in poverty, such as the urban poor.
In a separate panel session, World Bank country manager for Malaysia Yasuhiko Matsuda said the nation’s fiscal policy was not efficient and effective in reducing poverty and inequality.
Citing a 2020 World Bank report, he said Malaysian social protection was described as “broad but shallow”, with many different groups eligible for various programmes but receiving few benefits as a whole.
Yasuhiko said Malaysia had to look towards collecting more taxes with the nation expected to spend more due to its ageing society, high healthcare costs and pension payments.
Original article from Free Malaysia Today: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2022/10/18/sociologist-calls-for-dedicated-govt-agency-to-eradicate-poverty/