SHAH ALAM - Eradicating extreme poverty completely may be difficult for the government but a holistic approach could help to reduce it, said Malaysian Future Institute (Masa) Honorary Fellow Datuk Dr Madeline Berma.
She said the government should focus on ensuring rapid economic growth to create more job opportunities that match the public's education level.
She further said that poverty can be measured by both absolute and relative standards.
"The absolute poverty uses the set poverty line income which was RM2,208 for Malaysia.
"The relative poverty measure was based on the differences with other individuals meaning there will always be those poorer than others. Hence why poverty can’t be eradicated but reduced.
"I appreciate Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s suggestion of having the political will to eradicate poverty. But from a theoretical perspective it can’t be eliminated.
"No matter how advanced a country is, it isn’t possible to have no poverty. What we must do now is reducing the poverty rate,” she told Sinar.
Anwar had said it was humiliating for a country like Malaysia, rich in resources such as oil and gas, to have hardcore poverty.
States with the highest number of extreme poverty cases include Sabah, Sarawak, Kelantan, Terengganu, and Kedah.
She said efforts to alleviate poverty should focus on creating more job opportunities by encouraging foreign and domestic investment.
"When the economy slows down job opportunities reduces. When there are no job opportunities, many will turn to p-hailing work and such. We can’t hope for them to simply work as delivery riders until they retire.
"We must help them with a career that allows them to improve their quality of life. That’s why we must increase domestic and foreign investment. This will create employment and economic opportunities," she said.
Currently, she said the country is facing a problem where the education and economic opportunities are not aligned with each other. Despite having a large number of university graduates, the economy requires more field workers while job opportunities that match the level of education are limited.