This article first appeared in Forum, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on December 2, 2019 - December 8, 2019

Imagine this: your car has broken down and the repairs will set you back RM400. For most of us, this is an inconvenience rather than a catastrophe.

Whip out the credit card or a make a quick dip into our savings and the bill will be settled.

Unfortunately, an incident like this could derail the lives of 1.5 million Malaysians who are now living below the poverty line. In fact, the number may be higher, according to Philip Alston, the UN Special Rapporteur who recently suggested that Malaysia’s current poverty line (RM980 per household per month) is “very low and highly unrealistic” and should be revised.

The rakyat’s equitable wealth and well-being have been on the national agenda since independence. Although the government has reduced the poverty rate from 49% in 1970 to 0.4%, the challenge is to cap this rate, which, in recent times, has been rising.

So much so that several Cabinet ministers recently weighed in on Malaysia’s “Shared Prosperity Vision 2021-2030” in an attempt to tackle the complex issue of collective socioeconomic progress.

Fishermen forever

The challenge is immense. Communities located just an hour or two from state capitals in Sabah and Sarawak are still struggling without basic amenities such as tap water and electricity.

Quality education for every child seems to be a privilege and not a given. Stunted growth in children is still in existence in Sabah.

Some would call for a better tax system or push for the government to create new revenue generators for our economy as viable solutions but like it or not, the issue of poverty and unemployment is already impacting our national productivity.

Citing the proverb, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to catch fish, and you feed him for a lifetime”, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad suggested that one way forward is introducing Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) to enable Malaysians to find decent employment.

The question is, whose responsibility is it to teach the man to fish? Does the burden lie solely on the shoulders of the government or can businesses and individuals play a significant role in raising more “fishermen”?

Fishing together

Businesses and individuals will need to look beyond their four walls and realise their influence is far-reaching and meaningful and can change lives.

It is clear that this is something “we” or “they” cannot do alone. We hope more Malaysians will come to see this as a shared responsibility and a privilege in nation-building, not for self-interest but for the common good.

The opportunity is before us. What can we do together to close the gap? As a country, we are only as strong as our weakest link.

At Yayasan Petronas, we have an aim — to increase the income level of marginalised communities via entrepreneurial skills and training, and transform ideas into ventures through the Sentuhan Harapan Memampankan Ekonomi Asas Rakyat (MEKAR) initiative.

This programme is at an early stage as we look to scale it up and make it sustainable towards delivering shared success. We do not have all the answers or a tried-and-tested formula, but we do know that there are already many of us doing our bit to make things better.

The question is, how can we better those bits? How can we connect the parts so that the sum gain is greater?

Consider partnering us — whether to help disadvantaged communities meet their basic needs so they can be up and running; enable communities to tap into mobile financial inclusion; or help groups of individuals be more effective contributors to the economy by identifying opportunities through which they may have a chance at building a sustainable livelihood and a greater sense of value and dignity.

We realise these are not quick fixes but multiyear commitments that will involve advocates, volunteers, movers and shakers as well as policymakers.

Without collective commitment, even the most perfect of plans will fail to empower. Let us take up the mantle so that, hand in hand, we will flourish.

Lita Osman is CEO of Yayasan Petronas and can be reached at [email protected]. She welcomes the opportunity to connect with organisations and individuals that have shared aspirations to buck the trend.

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