PETALING JAYA: As Tun Daim Zainuddin defended Malaysia’s record on poverty eradication, activists want the government to seriously look into the UN’s call for its poverty measurement to be reassessed.

The former Council of Eminent Persons (CEP) chairman said the government had been focusing on improving the people’s income since the 5th Malaysia Plan (5MP).

Daim said among the policies introduced by the government at that time included raising income and curbing inflation to improve the people’s wellbeing.

“Whether we like or not, compared to the past, the people are more comfortable now. In the past there were far fewer roads and bridges.

“We used to ride bicycles, now most of us drive, isn’t it progress? The country has definitely developed, ” Bernama quoted him as telling reporters after opening a Cooperative Carnival and Feast organised by the Cooperative Societies Commission at Pantai Geting here yesterday.

The former finance minister was commenting on a statement by UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights Prof Philip Alston that Malaysia had “under counted” the extent of its poverty.

Alston claimed that rigorous independent analyses had suggested that Malaysia’s rate of poverty was between 16% and 20%, which was far off from the official figure of 0.4%.

He said Malaysia should stop arbitrarily withholding information that was crucial to understanding poverty and inequality, such as household survey microdata.

Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali responded by saying that 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 UN.

Pro-community groups yesterday backed Alston’s call, saying more people were financially distressed due to the rising cost of living.

Fomca senior vice-president Datuk K. Korisatan said the government should not dismiss as baseless the UN rep’s claim that Malaysia had used an “unduly low poverty line” to stake its claim as having the world’s lowest national poverty rate.

“The government has fixed the PLI (Poverty Line Income) at RM980 per household income per month, but people are struggling to survive even with RM2,000 a month, ” he said, adding that the minimum wage should be increased to RM1,500 for citizens.

Activist lawyer Siti Kasim said a larger pool of people was suffering from financial hardship because of the rising cost of living.

“The reality on the ground is you cannot survive in Kuala Lumpur with a PLI of RM980, ” said the lawyer.

Siti said the UN report was meant to assist the government, and “should be taken in the right spirit”.

“The UN released its report by researching extensively on the topic. It is the government’s turn to take heed instead of being defensive. Pay attention to vulnerable areas and issues as highlighted, ” she said.