There’s no life if you’re poor

The next Budget should make adequate provision for those with a low income, the disabled and the unemployed.

ALMOST every month, we hear a heart-breaking story about a poor person being hauled to court for stealing food or toys for his or her children.

In June it was a father who stole toys worth RM170 from Tesco as a birthday present for his son, and he had to spend time in jail for it.

Last week, a mother was caught stealing meat to give her daughter some nourishment but, fortunately for her, magistrate Rahimah Rahim had the big heart suitable to her job: Rahimah bound over the accused and gave her a warning not to do it again.

There must be many more cases of the poor having to steal just to make their children happy for a day – they just haven’t been arrested yet.

My wife and I have been actively involved in social welfare work in Kelantan for some 20 years and we see poverty and poor living conditions up close and personal.

Although we started with rehabilitation work for persons with disabilities, we later expanded to a wider range of services not just for the disabled but also for the poor generally.

From our observations and experiences, we believe that the poor and the disabled, every one of them, need urgent financial help from the Government; and the amount given to them should be revised from the present level.

We think the Social Welfare Department, the state Baitulmal and the Majlis Agama which controls zakat can together work out a concerted arrangement so that these people can get enough money every month.

When we make our weekly home visits to the villages, we see that the living condition of these people are truly dire and that many more of the poor deserve welfare support from the Government but don’t get it.

More effort should be put in place by the Government to identify this group and only then can they adequately budget for these expen­ses.

Those living in gated communities might not see the abject poverty of some of their fellow citizens but it’s quite apparent that in our country the poor are not getting a fair deal from the authorities.

I would like to suggest, in the forthcoming Budget, a mandatory monthly welfare assistance of a minimum RM750 payable to every poor or disabled person in need and also to those unable to work throughout the country.

To do this effectively, the Government must first maintain an updated database of how many people in the country require this urgent help. There should be a more concerted and aggressive effort to register them.

I know that recipients of Social Welfare Department aid get different amounts each month, ranging from RM150 to RM450, but in my view all these sums are totally inadequate and should be increased immediately to RM750, which is enough just for basic necessities in today’s economy.

We must give the poor and the disabled, including those who take care of the disabled and are thus unable to work, enough aid for them to live.

For example, some old folks get no help from Social Welfare at all because they have children working in Kuala Lumpur – but it’s wrong to assume that all working children help their parents or other kin and it’s also quite easy to establish if these children even give monthly contributions to their parents, and how much.

Sometimes a welfare officer might not re­commend support to someone just because that person has a colour TV at home: I remember an old lady who could not get any help because she had a colour TV, given by her friend, but nowadays people give TVs away quite freely and it’s no indication of the financial condition of a household.

On the other hand, we have a new Finance Minister II who is looking into taxing digital business platforms, and if the tax goes through, I hope that with the extra revenue the Government will be willing to revamp the entire welfare system so that we can start giving the poor something they can live with so that they won’t need to steal food and toys.

We always hear of political leaders descri­bing themselves as “champions of the people” and that they are here to “fight for the country” and of the muftis who are always defen­ding Islam and so on.

I applaud their great efforts and wish them every success but they should start with attending to basic things first, such as the plight of the poor, before they march on to meet greater challenges.

Malaysians have successfully canvassed for a minimum wage but we should also not forget that many people are unable to work: the poorest, the disabled and the most vulnerable among us deserve a lifeline from the Govern­ment.

The amount we give to them must not be a mere token just to show that we “care” about the poor – it must be enough for them to have a decent meal, clothing and shelter.

This is the kind of help the Government must give priority to – not just those who want Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia because their monthly income of RM3,000 isn’t enough!

I am aware that the Social Welfare Department is stretched for funds but it needs to seek the assistance of the Finance Ministry to review the situation and present a new Budget under which we can give some hope to the poorest living in our country.

The proposed sum of RM750 will let the poor eat reasonably well and allow for some toys for their children – and RM750 is something we as a country should be able to afford.

Former de facto Law Minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim ([e-mail]) is now a legal consultant. The views expressed here are entirely his own.