Guan Eng Pans Dishonesty On Income Gap In 12mp

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Former finance minister Lim Guan Eng has criticised what he described as "dishonesty" about the income gap in the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP).
Lim (above) said while more needs to be done to close the income gap between bumiputera and non-bumiputera households, the government had painted an inflated picture of the situation.
He pointed out that in 1989, the median bumiputera household income was RM680 while for Chinese households, it was RM1,180, representing a difference of RM500.
In 2019, it was RM5,400 for bumiputera households and RM7,400 for Chinese households, a difference of RM2,000.
As such, Lim noted the government had represented this as the median income gap between bumiputera and Chinese households quadrupling.
Citing scholar Lee Hwok Aun, Lim pointed out that proportionally, the income gap had actually narrowed.
"As academic Lee points out, whilst this absolute difference has increased four times, bumiputera household income has actually grown significantly faster: increasing by 700 percent between 1989 and 2019, compared to 530 percent for Chinese households.
"Proportionately, the gap has narrowed. In 1989, median bumiputera household income was 58 percent that of Chinese households; by 2019, the proportion had risen to 73 percent.
"Whilst more needs to be done to narrow the gap, to state that the gap has widened in only absolute but not in proportional terms is technically dishonest," he said in a statement.
Lim said there was also a need to look at the median household income along urban and rural regions.
He pointed out that the median household income of urban Indians was lower than that of urban bumiputera, based on Lee's analysis.
"Further, there is no granular data on the income disparities of the Orang Asli, bumiputera population in Sabah and Sarawak as compared to Peninsular Malaysia as was evident in past Malaysian Plans.
"Anecdotal evidence suggests that the poorer bumiputera would come from Orang Asli, Sabah and Sarawak.
"There is, therefore, a need for the 12MP to skew the benefits of economic growth and extensive preferential policies to the poor regardless of race (including Chinese and Indians) and those in Sabah and Sarawak, as well as Orang Asli," he said.




Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob
'No consultation with opposition'
Lim, who is the DAP secretary-general, also disputed Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob's claim that the government had engaged the opposition on the 12MP.
"Ismail Sabri is incorrect to say that for the first time, the opposition was briefed and discussed with the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) on the 12MP and that the exercise was fruitful.
"DAP states that no such briefings or discussions on the 12MP were held by the EPU with the opposition.
"Ismail Sabri must be either badly informed or confused between the 12MP and the ongoing Budget 2022 consultations held by the opposition with Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz," added the Bagan MP.
Lim said the government must rely on facts and figures as well as science and data to establish the outcomes.
He cautioned that the government's failure to rely on facts and science was what led the Covid-19 pandemic to spiral in the first place.
"Ismail Sabri should get his facts right if he wants to set a good example for his cabinet members," he said.
Lim said he hopes that the ministers will also rely on facts and figures when they present their 100-day report card soon. - Mkini

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