Undiagnosed: The case of Malaysian urban poverty

The real urban poor are those with odd-jobs, incomes below RM2,000 a month to feed a family of four and living in public housing, says Prof Denison Jayasooria. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Prof Denison Jayasooria wants to change the face of urban poverty. It is not the homeless, hungry street person that comes immediately to mind. Instead it is the odd-job man or pasar-malam trader living in a public housing flat.

To the professor, the urban poor are people with a family of four, who earn less than RM2,000 a month, and have less than RM5,000 in savings – someone who would not be able to survive three months without work.

Prof Jayasooria, who is with Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, has researched urban poverty over 25 years. He feels that attempting to measure poverty in the city based on a RM980 monthly income is obsolete.

Malaysia’s poverty levels were in the news recently when a United Nations official questioned the low figure of 0.4% poverty cited by official Malaysia. The official, Philip Alston, said the number was based on outdated figures and the true poverty rate was about 15%.

Prof Jayasooria said that some 75% of Malaysians now live in cities, where the standard of living had improved over the years and it was now unimaginable to live in a house without amenities such as beds, running water or toilets.

“So we need to really define what is the rock bottom level of poverty in an urban area, it is definitely not just being without food to eat.”

Prof Denison Jayasooria of UKM has researched urban poverty over 25 years.

Malaysia’s 11th Malaysia Plan uses a Multidimensional Poverty Index which includes income, health, education and living conditions among other factors..

But he said there were still inadequacies. An indicator such as whether garbage clearance was available, was not really relevant to urbanites, he said. More relevant were questions like the ability to pay electricity bills or to buy a flat.

What being an urban poor looks like

While there is currently no official definition for urban poverty, Jayasooria estimates that of the 75% of Malaysians living in urban areas, some 30% are likely to fit this bill.

“Our poor may not be begging, but they’re struggling. This notion that urban poor are those who are begging or sleeping on the street has to change.”

Getting out of urban poverty, he says is not easy, as it is perpetuated by a low-level of education.

“The parents just can’t devote enough time and resources for their children and in the end, without a good education, they end up working low-paying jobs where the wages are suppressed by foreign workers. It’s a vicious cycle.”

The social environments also plays a part. Unlike middle-income neighbourhoods, children of the urban poor live in homes which are too small, often without parental supervision, and staying up late at night when they should be sleeping.

This leads them to underperform in schools. “It’s not that the parents are irresponsible for letting this happen, they are just busy earning a living.”

Teenage boys are most affected, particularly among the Malay and Indian communities. They struggle with anti-social behaviour which can lead to crime.

The way forward

Jayasooria says solutions for the urban poor must be tailored to their needs; in education, the national syllabus may be too much for these children of the urban poor.

“Some of these pupils are struggling with 10 to 12 subjects and they just don’t have the tools to cope, this is made worse by classrooms which are too crowded. And because our education system is exam-oriented, many of these kids just can’t fit into the system. They’re not stupid but they have different challenges so you can’t apply one measurement for everyone.”

Poor urban neighbourhoods also lacked leadership and a sense of community. “In some urban areas, the surau, Rukun Tetangga or residents’ association does this well, they know everyone and who needs what type of help, so we need to invest more in these types of entities,” Jayasooria said.

Working with the government, such leaders could help develop and run facilities such as affordable childcare and tuition centres, libraries, and community centres, thus providing some financial relief for parents, while providing the children with access to resources and opportunities.

“In Singapore, everyone has easy access, even by foot, to banks, libraries, activity centres and other facilities.But here, even in urban areas, many flats are isolated from good facilities.” - FMT