Leg Co: ..On POVERTY

I'm surprised, well actually not surprised that the issue of poverty was not heavily debated, despite HM's titah on the vision of zero poverty. Honestly, I feel really sad to hear that this issue will be tackled by yet ANOTHER poverty research. I mean, seriously... how much research do we need to prove that there ARE poor people in this rich country! And what is wrong with the research made by the UBD? Do we need to waste 3, 4, 5 more years and spend millions just to prove that there is no poverty in Brunei? I've heard about this poverty research like almost 10 years ago (if I remember, it was the year I started my first job) and until today I have not seen any national poverty-related policies besides the MUIB's zakat payment. And if there are recipients of Zakat, then surely there must be poverty..what more proof do we need?

People talk about absolute poverty vs relative poverty. For those who are not familiar with those terms, 'absolute poverty' is basically the number of people or households who cannot afford certain basic goods and services, while 'relative poverty' refers to the number of households (or families if you like) whose income falls below the national average income. So, a family of 6, earning only about $1200 a month definitely falls under the category of 'relative poverty'. They may probably able to buy the basic necessities with that income but that income surely must be below our median income.

If you ask me, I don't know what our median income is, but I suspect for a rich country like us, it should be quite high. So, my question is do we really need another research just to determine our median income? Or should we put our heads together to combat poverty NOW before it gets worse. I feel what Brunei needs actually is to form a serious national committee to address this issue.

Anyway, I don't know about you, but to me poverty issue shouldn't be under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sports alone or poverty is not all about giving welfare benefits. It needs to be addressed in a holistic manner. The fundamental issue is the gap between the rich and the poor. An increasing relative poverty means that there is an unequal distribution of income i.e. there is a large gap between the rich and the poor. Therefore our main challenge is to reduce this gap, because to me income equality = zero poverty.

This should be debated. The ways and means to reduce the gap. It is not about getting salary increments (because to me that in itself will actually result in a higher gap. Why? Because not all of the poors are employed in the government sector) it is more about formulating policies that specifically deal with the poors. For example, the national housing scheme. There should be a separate policy or separate queue (if you are trying to picture it in your head) for those who fall under the category of 'relative poverty' with its own separate terms and conditions, and prices (or no price at all!)

What about subsidies and taxes? These have been the traditional means of income redistribution. Surely, it is high time Brunei reviews its subsidies. Should those who are earning above the median income level pay the same subsidised price of rice as those earning below the median income? Now, there seems to be a serious talk about the irresponsibility of our people (who presumably think that electricity and water are their God's given rights and think that electricity probably comes from air) in paying the utility bills which is costly to the government (see here). If our people continue to be thick-headed and the government decides to reduce the various utility subsidies, then what about the poors? Now, taxes....well this is THE number one taboo in Brunei. But let's start with some form of property taxes. Number 1: tax on rental properties (to help finance the national housing scheme for the poors).

And then there is the related issue of unemployment. I wrote about this in the last post. I don't know how to further express myself but this issue NEEDS to be addressed properly. If the government can no longer afford to provide full employments in the public sector, then whether we like it or not, the government needs to do something about the wage gap because unemployment can cause poverty.

What about education? Yes, we do have the 12 year education policy, but my question is does this cover EVERYone? I'm thinking about those teenagers who got pregnant/married before they finish their 12 year education. How can we help them? How do we expect them to provide for their children if they don't have enough education. Won't it contribute to the poverty spiral?

There are more to think of! Such as how do we help the poors get out of their poverty condition? You know more in the lines of Give-a-man-a-fish-and-you-feed-him-for-a-day, Teach-a-man-to-fish-you-feed-him-a-lifetime.

Oh dear, it's almost midnight. I was supposed to have a break from 'thinking' today after submitting a chapter to my supervisor :) Anyway, the whole point of this post is to actually implore the relevant government agencies to STOP wasting time and resources 'wondering' whether or not we have poverty. Whatever poverty we have now, I think should still be manageable. So please don't wait until it gets too late.

Salaam.