Hardcore Poor in Penang

This is a post I scheduled for 2009. On hindsight, I felt it is better to post it now. LGE is an expert on twisting words.

Lim Guan Eng committed to totally abolishing hardcore poor (kemiskinan tegar) by 2008.

If you view the video, Lim Guan Eng confirm it repeatable - IT'S ABSOLUTELY CLEAR.

On the surface, there is nothing wrong with this objective - seem very caring.

Actually, it is another LIE, LIE, LIE. It is also another cheap publicity.

Penang hardcore is the lowest in the country at 0.3%. In development economics this is an excellent achievement. Of course, the possibility of reducing this hardcore poor percentage can be done but it will never be ZERO.

WHY?

Because everyday or every few days there will always be new hardcore poor - life is not a constant, it is full of variables - eradicating totally hardcore poor is impossible unless we become a full welfare state.

A better approach is to set a quantitative target that will enable the state government to monitor, help, manage and control the hardcore poor to an X numbers of families.

P.S. When an economist said full employment it means an unemployment rate of 3% would constitute full employment. Some economists use between 2% & 7%, depending on the country, time period, and the economists' political biases. It is never ZERO. This 2% - 7% is sometimes called structural unemployment.

GOVT AIMS TO REGISTER 20,000 POOR URBAN RESIDENTS

Bernama - Friday, August 1

KUANTAN, July 31 (Bernama) -- An estimated 20,000 poor urban residents would be registered until the end of this year to receive aid in an effort to bring them out of the poverty line, said Deputy Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin.

He said currently a total of 14,833 from this group received aid worth RM33 million through the Eradicating Urban Poverty programme which was launched two years ago.

"This year we hope to help 90 per cent of the hardcore poor and we are confident that within the next two years poor residents in the town will get out of the poverty line," he told reporters after launching the Health and Safety Campaign as well as the Working Together to Fight Crime Expo, here today.

Hamzah said the government had allocated RM50 million to help the hardcore poor in the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP) which involved financial aid and skills training for single mothers.

He added that families earning less than RM740 per month were classified as hardcore poor and were eligible to receive aid.

-- BERNAMA