The Malaysian Insight

THE parliamentary caucus on reform and governance will research claims that Malaysia’s poverty is higher than officially stated, its chairman Anwar Ibrahim said.

It will also assess whether a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) on extreme poverty in Malaysia is necessary, once it completes its research.

The Port Dickson MP said the caucus had received suggestions two weeks ago on the need for a RCI.

“We want to allow the Economic Planning Unit (EPU), economic experts such as Jomo Kwame Sundaram, and experts from local universities such as UM (Universiti Malaya), to do research to study this claim,” he said today after a dialogue session at the Halal Fiesta at the Mines International Exhibition and Convention Centre. 

He said more data is needed before the government could decide on further action to address the issue.

Last week, the Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) had urged the government to set up a RCI on extreme poverty.

CAP’s acting president Mohideen Abdul Kader said a RCI is necessary to establish an accurate picture of poverty in Malaysia and to identify institutional weaknesses in developing effective poverty alleviation policies.

This came after a statement by Prof Philip Alston, the United Nations special envoy on extreme poverty and human rights, that a national poverty figure of 16% to 20% was more accurate and realistic than the official rate of 0.4%.

Since then, various politicians, academics and poverty researchers have also urged the government to revise the way it measures poverty.

DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang has also supported calls for a RCI. – September 8, 2019