Don't dismiss UN poverty rate findings, MTUC tells gov't

The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) has urged the government to not dismiss the findings of a United Nations expert on the national poverty rate being higher than reported in its own official statistics.

MTUC secretary-general J Solomon said no attempts should be made to ignore UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights Philip Alston's findings that Malaysia has been severely underrepresenting its true state of poverty.

Solomon said that doing so could result in dire consequences for the country, given the many causes of poverty.

“The UN rapporteur’s finding has been consistent with the MTUC’s stand all along that the government has not been using the real factors on the ground currently to assess actual poverty.

"It is way off tangent," he said in a statement today.

Official figures state that the poverty rate fell from 49 percent in 1970 to just 0.4 percent in 2016.

Following his 11-day working visit to Malaysia, Alston (photo) revealed that the country's real poverty rate was closer to 15 percent or 937,500 households.

Citing the 15 percent figure, Solomon said that this means at least five million workers are living below the poverty line.

"As pointed out by the expert, not only is the national poverty line of RM980 per month ridiculous, especially in the urban areas, it is also totally unlivable.

"The truth is wages are tied to poverty in any country," he said in pointing out that official data on poverty reduction relied on outdated measures which did not take into account the increasing cost of living.

Welcoming Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's reported assurance that the government would study the poverty rate again, Solomon said that measures taken must incorporate the effect of low wages and its direct ties to the poverty rate.

He also highlighted the disparity between a minimum wage, currently set at RM1,100, and what would be considered as a living wage under current conditions.

"To address the situation, the minimum wage has to be raised substantially.

"The government should stop giving excuses that it will cause inflation by doing so," he said, dismissing this concern as baseless.

Solomon further said the UN's finding is an indication of Malaysia's flawed economic policies.

"This requires an urgent review as certain communities were being obviously left out because of these lopsided policies," he said, urging the government to increase the present minimum wage to a living wage in the 2020 budget.

Despite Mahathir indicating that Putrajaya is open to reviewing the poverty rate, Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali said the 0.4 percent figure was derived based on standards set by the UN in a 2011 handbook.

Solomon, however, dismissed the guideline as no longer being credible for current times.

"Azmin also admitted that 12 percent of the operating national budget was for subsidies and social support.

"This shows that the wages are not sufficient to meet the rise in prices in every aspect of the peoples’ lives," he said.

Should the government fail to heed their grouses, Solomon warned that workers could eventually come together to form a Labour Party to contest in the next general election.

"This may eventually be the ultimate answer to serve the interest of the 15 million workers whose families form the remaining population of Malaysia," he said.