The BR1M dilemma - T. Gopal

Almost on a daily basis, we hear people bash Barisan Nasional (BN) for its BR1M programme. Some are saying we are promoting a beggar society, which is depending too much on handouts.

Some are saying it’s a populist move by BN in order to gain sympathy votes from the poor voters. The economic experts will comment that this create a welfare society, which may delay the progress of the nation towards a fully developed country.

It is easy to look down on the group of people who are receiving the BR1M benefit as you are comfortably commenting using your laptop or smartphone, sitting inside your home worth hundreds of thousands.

Have you ever imagined how your life will be if you earn less than RM1,000 a month and have three schoolgoing children?

Have you ever imagined a life where your balance will be less than RM100 by the 20th of the month?

Have you ever imagined a situation where tenggiri fish so expensive that it is beyond your budget or you get to eat chicken only once a week (normally Sunday)?

Have you ever imagined a situation where you have to dig every hole in the house looking for some loose change so that you can buy some bread for your children?

If not, then you have not suffered enough. For your information, there a millions of households in Malaysia are going through this situation month after month.

Do you know that RM500 (now RM650) can be used to pay their outstanding electricity bills, or outstanding motorbike instalments or reclaim their gold rings from the pawn shop

Don’t be a smart Alec by saying that their socio-economic status is their own fault as they don’t work hard enough. Most of the times, it is not their fault and if you want to blame someone, then blame the mighty God.

Paying the needed four million households RM650 each will cost the government RM2.6 billion a year. Even if it is increased to RM1,000 a year (which is more appropriate in my opinion), it will still cost RM4 billion a year and we spend more than RM250 billion a year (not including supplementary budgets), so it is still less than 2% of the entire budget.

So, please let them get this small benefit. Let it be a populist measure by BN. If this will delay the time needed for the nation to become a fully developed nation, then let it be.

Who needs a developed nation status when there are people who are still earning below RM1,000 a month in this country?

* T. Gopal reads The Malaysian Insider.