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Poverty in Malaysia: A Quick Look at Progress Approaches

Poverty In Malaysia
Poverty in Malaysia is a controversial economic and political issue. The definition of poverty and the poverty line in Malaysia has been disputed for years and causes much political uproar, including political protests and debates.

Malaysia has grown rapidly in economic development, with 65.6 percent of the population aged 15 years and above employed and working in 2014. With that many people working, each household is expected to make a sufficient income.

It has been recorded that there was a 55.3 percent reduction in the percentage of population below the poverty line in Malaysia, meaning that the country’s poverty is a large focus for the government and the community, and they are working together to solve the problem.

A survey conducted in 2014 by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), on a sample size of 81,634 households, shares the preliminary data that only one percent of these households were living below the poverty line index. That’s right – Malaysia has a poverty population of one percent, meaning that only 300,000 people of 33.3 million are living in poverty in Malaysia.

The government is currently working to solve Malaysian poverty by using the four-pronged method of thinking discussed below.

4 Approaches to Addressing Poverty In Malaysia

  1. Educate and lift the level of education among the poor children in school, and teach them business practices that can help them gain a higher income job and possibly run a company.
  2. Strengthen social safety nets, and provide government-funded empowerment
  3. Ensure income is redistributed to uplift those in poverty.
  4. Create policies that promote economic development.

Malaysia has one of the largest middle classes in any Muslim country. It’s made up of Malays, Chinese and Indians. Many of these middle-class people own their own modern houses and condos, own two cars and employ Indonesian maids.

Malaysia is on the right track to completely eliminate its impoverishment and strengthen its economy. Aid from the U.S. can only guarantee these goals.

– Rilee Pickle

Photo: Flickr

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Fighting to Overcome Hunger in Malaysia

Fighting to Overcome Hunger in Malaysia
Malaysia, a country located in Southeast Asia, has one of many populations facing extreme rates of poverty. The issue of hunger in Malaysia has been prevalent throughout the past few decades. In 2011, 57 percent of children living in Southeast Asia were underweight.

Although the rates of hunger in Malaysia dropped from 29.6 percent to 17.6 percent in 2013, the U.N. described this drop as inadequate for meeting the target of the Millennium Developmental Goals. In other words, the country needs a much greater turnaround if the target goals toward reducing hunger are to be accomplished.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has done ample research into the prevalence of hunger and poverty in Malaysia and the burdens that follow. It subsequently found that children who are malnourished face an increased risk of exhibiting cognitive and developmental disabilities at some point in the future.

In addition, there seems to be a correlation between individuals suffering from hunger in Malaysia compared with those who are overweight. According to UNICEF, “A child whose growth was stunted in early childhood is at greater risk of becoming overweight later in life.” Likewise, an increased risk for being overweight correlates with “increased access to junk food and drinks, physical inactivity and sedentary lifestyles.” These growing issues have led to the implementation of different health and training programs by numerous healthcare groups in Malaysia. The programs are accessible to children (especially within the school system), teens and adults.

In 2005, a volunteer-based organization known as Stop Hunger Now set up offices in Kuala Lumpur and began implementing a meal packaging program, specifically targeting malnourished individuals in Malaysia. Stop Hunger Now has thousands of volunteers who package together vegetables, rice, soy and tons of vitamins.

With assistance from local, U.S. corporations and community groups, Stop Hunger Now has supplied more than two million meal packages for malnourished people throughout Malaysia.

– Lael Pierce

Photo: Flickr

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The Top Diseases in Malaysia

Top Diseases in Malaysia
With a vast population of more than 30 million people, the Southeast Asian country of Malaysia has proven to be susceptible to numerous outbreaks and diseases. According to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2014 Country Profile of Malaysia, cardiovascular disease is listed as the leading cause of death at 36 percent, affecting all ages and both sexes. Communicable, maternal, perinatal and nutritional conditions are the second highest cause of death at 16 percent, followed by cancer at 15 percent. The remaining percentages consisted of a combination of other non-communicable diseases (NCDs), injuries, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes. The most recent data covering top diseases in Malaysia is discussed below.

Top 7 Diseases in Malaysia

Coronary heart disease

According to the WHO, Coronary heart disease ranks number one in terms of both diseases and health-related problems, responsible for 29,363 deaths. Coronary heart disease is the buildup of plaque in the heart’s arteries, which often leads to heart attacks.

Stroke

Stroke is the second-largest cause of death in Malaysia, as it affects approximately 40,000 people each year.

Influenza and pneumonia

Influenza and pneumonia have caused 11,773, or 9.26 percent, of total deaths. Influenza (flu) is a severe viral infection that is highly contagious. Pneumonia is a serious infection or inflammation of the lungs.

Lung diseases

Lung diseases are another one of the top diseases in Malaysia, with 6,797 recorded deaths.

Diabetes mellitus

The total number of deaths as a result of diabetes amounts to 4,760. Diabetes mellitus is a chronic, lifelong condition that affects the body’s ability to use the energy found in food, whether that be a lack of insulin, or an inability to use the insulin that is produced.

HIV/AIDS

As of 2015, 91,600 people in Malaysia live with HIV/AIDS, and 7,200 deaths have come from the disease.

Leptospirosis

In 2016, leptospirosis, a water contact disease, was classified as one of the top diseases in Malaysia. Humans can become infected through contact with water, soil or food contaminated with the urine of infected animals. Without adequate treatment, leptospirosis can lead to kidney damage, meningitis, liver failure, respiratory distress and in extreme cases, death.

Various diseases continue to present concerns for Malaysia and its people. It is necessary that both the public and professionals are aware of these diseases in order to provide affected individuals with the proper healthcare and assistance that they need.

– Mikaela Frigillana

Photo: Flickr

The TPP: Patents and the Price of Medicine

The Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership, Patents, and the Price of Medicine
The Office of the United States Trade Representative hails the prospective Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership as a way to “[level] the playing field for American workers & American businesses” through a set of trade agreements between 12 different countries. The deal has been drafted, but not yet ratified.

At least six of the participant countries — including the United States and Japan, in order for the group to meet economic output requirements — must agree to the deal by February 2018 for the TPP to become a reality. Other potential participants include Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Peru and Chile.

Negotiations regarding the TPP have been in progress for more than 10 years, and the goal of the TPP is to lower trade barriers and synchronize trade regulations between participant countries. The deal would affect 18,000 tariffs, most notably eliminating all textile and clothing tariffs and lowering tariffs on agricultural and industrial products. However, not all of the changes in tariffs would take place immediately following ratification.

The USTR advertises that the TPP would protect workers’ rights and the environment, set food safety standards, and maintain the openness of the Internet. However, there is much controversy surrounding the agreement, particularly as it relates to the price of medicine in Pacific Rim countries.

Doctors Without Borders, for one, calls the Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership “a bad deal for medicine,” because less-expensive generic drugs would be held off the market for a longer period of time. Drug patents would be extended, and the generic drug approval process would become more difficult for biologic drugs, in particular.

Pharmaceutical companies like Gilead and Bristol-Myers Squibb have voluntarily made agreements with generic drug manufacturers, to allow their currently patent-protected hepatitis C medications to be produced and sold more cheaply in low-income countries.

However, middle-income countries are excluded from these company-led initiatives, even though three-quarters of hepatitis C patients live in middle-income countries like the TPP participant, Malaysia. The extension of drug patents through the TPP could thus prevent patients in countries already excluded from such agreements with pharmaceutical companies, from accessing affordable medications for a longer period of time.

The USTR website maintains that the TPP would lower the cost of medications by eliminating tariffs. However, it does not address patents on pharmaceutical products or the effect that these patents have on the price of medicine in Pacific Rim countries.

The U.S. Congress can only ratify or reject the deal, in its current state, because the deal has been “fast-tracked.” Even so, the Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership has not yet been ratified, so its specifications can be re-negotiated with participant countries. Doctors Without Borders encourages constituents to contact Congress members and the president to request that the deal is not ratified until its patent and intellectual property rules for pharmaceuticals are revised.

– Madeline Reding

Photo: Flickr

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Fighting the Dengue Fever Outbreak in Malaysia


Malaysia is overwhelmed with its never before seen dengue fever outbreak. According to the Health Ministry, there have been more than 40,000 cases and 201 deaths so far. The deaths have increased from 215 in 2014 total, 92 in 2013, and 35 in 2012.

In six months, deaths increased 100 percent from last year between January and June 6, with 144 deaths compared to 72 last year. From the 21st week to the 22nd week, the numbers of cases increased by 8 percent.

Dengue fever is spread by the female Aedes mosquito, which can lay up to 400 eggs per week and needs very little water to breed. The mosquito typically bites in the morning or at dusk with initial symptoms feeling like the flu.

Those infected realize it’s dengue from the exhaustion, fever and joint pains they get. In the worst-case scenario, victims develop hemorrhagic fever, which can lead to death.

There is growing concern that the virus is changing and becoming more deadly with changes in symptoms and repeat infections. The deputy director general of Health at the Ministry says, “There’s always a chance virus may change.” He does find it strange that the new symptoms are liver failure, meningitis and brain infection.

There is currently no cure for dengue. The most that can be done to treat it is the platelet count with a saline drip.

The disease is common in many Asian countries and costs the economy about $2 billion annually, excluding the cost of fogging and other methods used to kill the Aedes mosquito.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), dengue cases have increased 30-fold in the last half century, and half of the world population is at risk.

Citizens are combatting the disease with leaflets and insecticide. Citizens like Kau Siew Yoon, a retired librarian, are volunteering with their local anti-dengue squad.

At the government level, workers are sent out to spray fog around the neighborhoods affected and doctors are given rapid detection kits as soon as a doctor reports a case to the Health Ministry.

Doctor Lam Sait Kit, who has been studying dengue for 40 years, doesn’t think fog is very effective, and believes vaccines could prevent outbreaks. Given that WHO is aiming to decrease dengue by 25 percent and its mortality by at least half by 2020, many companies are looking to develop a vaccine.

The most progress has been made by the French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Pasteur, which finished its third phase of clinical trials for a vaccine it has been working on for more than 20 years.

The trials were done on thousands of children in Asia and South America, and the vaccine shows protection against all four types of fever with varying results. Those ages 9-16 showed an 80 percent reduction in hospitalization and a 93 percent reduction in the disease becoming more severe.

Malaysia is working with WHO in analyzing the vaccine data. Baptiste De Clarens, GM for Sanofi-Pasteur in Malaysia, Brunei, and Singapore, believes a vaccine isn’t the only solution, with a need for vector control and public awareness.

Given the alarming numbers of this outbreak, the focus needs to be on reducing the current cases and finding solutions that prevent the disease, such as an educational campaign to fight against it.

– Paula Acevedo

Sources: IRIN, The Malaysian Insider
Photo: Flickr

Poverty in Kuala Lumpur

Poverty-in-Kuala-Lumpur
Malaysia has come a long way in reducing poverty, but in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur, many problems stubbornly persist.

It’s a diverse city. According to a 2010 census, Malays accounted for 46 percent of the population, while 43 percent were reported as Chinese and 10 percent of residents were reported as Indian. Religion also divides the city’s residents between Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism.

In 1969, riots between ethnic Malays and Chinese broke out on the streets of Kuala Lumpur, killing hundreds. In a state of crisis, the government of Malaysia instituted a variety of reforms which would promote economic growth and equality. These reforms included the New Economic Policy and the National Development Policy. Though politically controversial, the reforms dramatically reduced the nation’s poverty level, raising the economy to that of a middle-income country.

Yet, with economic growth often comes urban poverty and an influx of migrant workers—two problems which trouble Kuala Lumpur today.

Like many rising cities, foreign workers contribute significantly to the economy of Kuala Lumpur. The government reports nearly ten percent of the city’s population is foreign-born, though this does not include thousands of illegal immigrants from neighboring countries.

A 2014 report by Al Jazeera found many workers from Indonesia, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Nepal struggling to get by in the city. Jobs promised to these workers never materialized and many were cheated by employment agencies. Now they face deportation or worse: a life of crime on Kuala Lumpur’s streets.

That same year, the Malaysian government banned foreign workers from taking low-paying jobs in the fast food industry, according to the BBC. Although cheap foreign labor has benefitted the Malaysian economy, the government is concerned native Malaysians may be losing out on jobs. Migrant workers, however, insist they are performing work locals don’t want to do, including 12 hour shifts for low pay.

This is all part of a larger problem involving mass migration in Southeast Asia. Thousands of workers and refugees are attempting to relocate to prosperous countries like Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Australia. They are either turned away by government authorities or taken in by shady employment agencies, who then confiscate their passport.

The issue drew worldwide attention last week as thousands of Rohingya and Bangladeshi refugees were stranded at sea. The Rohingyas, a predominantly Muslim group, are fleeing from government persecution in Myanmar. Malaysia, along with other nations, denied entry to the refugees.

– Kevin McLaughlin

Sources: Census, Al Jazeera, Asian Culture and History, BBC, World Bank
Photo: Scar Pix

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Luis CdeBaca: Trafficking Progress

During a recent Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee hearing on forced labor and modern-day slavery, Luis CdeBaca affirmed that countries in East Asia and the Pacific have made progress combatting human trafficking.

“Are we making progress?” asked Sen. Benjamin Cardin.

Luis CdeBaca, ambassador-at-large for the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, responded that improvements were clear despite some discouraging facts highlighted by the 2014 Trafficking in Persons Report.

The first half of the hearing focused on this report, which was released in June. The report assigns tier rankings to countries based on their meeting or failing to meet set standards to stop trafficking. During the hearing, Sen. Cardin expressed his concern that, according to the report, 10 countries remained tier 2, perhaps indicating a lack of progress. CdeBaca noted that progress still occurred in these countries, but it was not significant enough to warrant an upgrade yet. He likened this progress to the difference between a “B that is an 80 and a B that is an 89,” in terms of the grading system of American schools.

CdeBaca’s testimony lauded in particular the Republic of Korea, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands for legislation passed to improve their legal capacity to fight human trafficking. China, Burma and Thailand saw improvements as well, but these were counterpoised and perhaps overshadowed by other shortcomings. Timor-Leste, Malaysia and North Korea were each singled out as countries severely hindering efforts to eliminate trafficking.

Tuesday’s hearing comes nearly one month after the Guardian reported fishing boats off Thailand were using slave labor to produce prawns sold in the U.S. and UK. CdeBaca pointed out that Thailand has been downgraded in its tier ranking mostly because of labor trafficking, rather than sex trafficking, issues—emphasizing to the Thai government the need to aggressively address forced labor.

Other witnesses at the hearing also commented on issues related to the forced labor crisis in Thailand. Both Jesse Eaves, the Senior Policy Advisor for Child Protection at World Vision, and Neha Misra, the Senior Specialist for Migration and Human Trafficking at the Solidarity Center, spoke of forced labor generally as a system in which men, women and children are led into slavery through the deception of employment agencies hired by (potentially American) companies. Misra also discussed in depth the supply chain issues that lead U.S. consumers to inadvertently support forced labor in foreign countries.

“U.S. companies have not done enough to prove to consumers that their supply chains are not tainted with forced labor,” Misra stated in her testimony.

— Ryan Yanke

Sources: Foreign Relations 1, Foreign Relations 2, The Guardian
Photo: Irrawaddy

Positive Attitudes About Emerging Economies

emerging-economies
Most major news venues are preaching about the crash of the global economy, however, there are certain attitudes that have been left untold. In a study done by the Pew Research Center from March 2 to May 1 of this year, attitudes reflect that things are not as bad as they seem, especially from the viewpoints of citizens of emerging economies worldwide.

Citizens of both advanced and developing economies declared that their personal finances were in a positive state despite the unequal and jobless market the recession brought. Citizens of emerging economies were particularly optimistic, 48% expecting their national economies to improve in the next 12 months. 53% of people surveyed in emerging economies said that they thought their economy was doing well. Furthermore, these positive attitudes have changed very little and have even improved from 2007 to 2013.

In contrast, 25% of people living in advanced economies said they thought their economy was failing and as many as 32% said their economy would get worse. The survey revealed that negative attitudes about national economies are more typical of European Countries and advanced economies such as France, Spain, Italy and Greece.

The survey proved that even in the face of a negative reality, emerging economies come out on top. 80% of Chinese citizens and 85% of Malayasian citizens that took part in the survey agreed that their emerging economy was doing well, while 24% of those surveyed in advanced economies thought the opposite about their own national economy. One factor that all participants surveyed could agree on was that the gap between the rich and the poor was definitely increasing, most distressfully in developing countries.

– Kira Maixner

Source: Hindustan Times
Photo: The Guardian