Have we done enough to eradicate poverty?

A FEW months ago, I held a charity event to distribute eggs. During registration, an old Indian Muslim woman dragged her thin body to the counter and asked for help.

Although the schedule was tight, I still took some time to visit the old woman’s house.

During the visit, I was stunned to find out that the old woman had 15 children of whom three had died. Of the 12 remaining, 10 are living with her – plus a few grandchildren. Three generations are living under one roof and their dilemma quickly affected me.

As if their plight is not already piteous enough, one of the children is mentally handicapped and has to rely completely for survival on one of the old woman’s daughters.

This particular daughter is also suffering from oral cancer. One of the grandchildren is not even a Malaysian citizen.

I couldn’t help but wonder how could there be such a hard life here? Isn’t our government providing financial assistance to poor families? How much does this help them?

I asked the old woman where did the maintenance for her and family come from and she replied they only relied on an Iban Church Foundation for help although civil society organisations also chipped in. After understanding the family’s situation, I decided to act immediately – first by helping them to apply for government subsidies.

I also arranged for a wheelchair to be made available to the handicapped daughter and helped the family sign up for the “MyBeras” Programme.

I gave the old woman some money, hoping to lighten their burden – even just a little. What I want to convey to readers is not that all difficult to guess. I believe we all share the same sentiment.

In any countries, including Malaysia, the wealthy can be profligate while the poverty-stricken – like the poor Indian woman – struggle everyday just to get by.

This set me thinking whether such social phenomenon is widespread in our country, especially the rural areas.

The case in point shows more still needs to done to eradicate poverty, including in the cities where the resources provided may not be adequate to help the urban poor.

Indeed, without directly experiencing it, one can never understand the plight of the poor.

As I’m from a business management background, I tend to think strategically albeit abstractly as well at times. But that afternoon, after seeing how the old woman had to live in squalor with 13 young mouths to feed at that, I was stunned by the stark reality of her predicament.

Why are not such poor families given the help they desperately need? What should we do to get the authorities as well as the society to ameliorate the miseries and hardships of such destitute families? These questions have stuck in my mind and they drive my passion.

As a frontline leader of the ruling party, I have to ask why can’t we utilise government resources effectively?

Often, when we think of policies, we tend to evaluate the community as a whole by looking at numbers but the fact is that numbers cannot show how allocated resources are utilised.

Thus, when it’s beyond the government to help, civil society organisations take matters unto themselves. The way they help people provides a model worthy of emulation. It shows that civil power has a long reach.

I know I should not be surprised by such far-reaching power. In fact, I should bravely embrace and use it to alleviate the plight of the poor and the needy.

And I take this opportunity to ask the government to support these civil platforms by giving them the necessary resources to help vulnerable groups.

When we talk about policies, we emphasise on unity and an orderly system. But humans cannot always be systematic, especially in a country like ours where the people are from diverse backgrounds. Every race, religion, culture is different. If we fuse Malaysian society, there is every possibility that these diverse characteristics will obliviate.

I stress here again that while sitting in the office thinking of policies to improve efficiency, we tend to prefer systems and standardisations but truth be told, it’s only by going to the ground to see and appreciate first-hand the problems of the people can one truly understands the limitations, if not redundancies, of previous policies.

This is home truth is what our leaders should be privy to. (Translated from Oriental Daily)

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