Malaysia dismisses UN rep's claim of high poverty rate

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia has dismissed as baseless claims made by a United Nations representative that the country had under-counted its rate of poverty.

Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali said Malaysia would stand by its official figure of 0.4%, as the rate was derived from internationally accepted standards based on the second edition (2011) of the Canberra Group Handbook on household income statistics published by the United Nations.

"Malaysia is disappointed with the remarks made by the UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, Prof Philip Alston, in a press release issued on Aug 23," he said in a statement.

He said this on Friday (Aug 23) in response to Alston's call to Malaysia to reassess its rate of poverty, claiming rigorous independent analyses had suggested Malaysia's rate of poverty was between 16 and 20%, which was far off from the official figure of 0.4%.

Azmin said certain comments made by Alston were baseless and uncalled for.

Azmin also refuted Alston's assertion that a sizeable part of Malaysian population struggle to get by with tenuous access to food. shelter, education and healthcare.

"It is misconceived, erroneous and clearly lack empirical evidence and rigorous scientific analysis," he said.

He also said Alston's claim that Malaysians had limited ability to exercise civil and political rights was unfounded, as the recent General Election saw 82.3% of voters exercising their rights, resulting in peaceful change of the Federal Government for the first time since Independence.

Azmin said the government was not oblivious to the rising cost of living, which had taken a toll on the bottom 40% of the lower income group.

"A signification portion of the federal operating expenditures is allocated for subsidies and social assistance cutting across energy, food, healthcare and education (sectors).

"In 2018, a total of RM27.5bil (comprising 11.9% of total operating expenditures) was set aside for this purpose," he said.

He added that to increase effectiveness of poverty eradication initiatives, the government was reviewing the PLI (poverty line income) to better reflect the current cost of living.

"In addition, a multidimensional poverty index (MPI) has been established to measure a wider scope of deprivation beyond the income dimension. The indicators for MPI are also being reviewed to better reflect the social mobility of households," he said.

Azmin also said the Malaysian government had been collaborating with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and its partners in providing access to basic needs, as well as provision of skills training and education for refugees to enjoy better livelihood and healthcare.

As for Alston's claim that the national poverty line of RM980 per household per month would see an urban family of four surviving on RM8 per person per day, which was a "tragically low line" for a country on the cusp of attaining high income status, Azmin said the PLI was higher than the US$1.25 per day targeted in the Sustainable Development Goal.

"The PLI is also higher for Sabah (RM1,180) and Sarawak (RM1,020), taking into account additional costs such as transportation," he said.

Alston claimed that Malaysia had used an "unduly low poverty line" that did not reflect the cost of living to stake its claim as having the world's lowest national poverty rate.

Alston, on an 11-day mission to Malaysia, noted that the country's' official poverty rate dropped from 49% in 1970 to 0.4% in 2016.

He said the Malaysian government should urgently revise the way it measured poverty to bring it in line with the cost of living.

Alston travelled to Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Sabah, Sarawak and Kelantan, and met up with state and Federal Government officials, international agencies, civil society, academics, and people affected by poverty in urban and rural areas.

He visited a soup kitchen, a women’s shelter, a children’s crisis centre, low-cost housing flats, a disability centre, indigenous communities, and informal settlements and schools.

“The Malaysians I met who were struggling to get by or to provide support to those in need deserve better than to be told by policymakers that poverty does not exist, in direct contradiction of their own experiences.

He will be presenting a comprehensive report including his conclusion and recommendations to the Human Rights Council in Geneva next June.