Poverty in Democracy

This post is an extract of the speech delivered during FAO Regional Conference in New Delhi, India on 10th February 1991.

Quality of Life

The quality of life of our farmers, breeders and fishermen should be measured in the following terms:

1) Adequate, tasty and quality food
2) Sporting activities for health and recreation
3) Clean and beautiful environment
4) Music and culture
5) Proper housing and dressing

We should try to introduce quality as a stimulating or motivating factor. A man with increased income will not but a violin but a man who is interested in playing the violin will struggle to increase his income to buy one. We know that married couples do not voluntarily plan their family to improve their income but a couple with good income will voluntarily plan their family.

Man before Commodity

If it is possible to change our approach to agriculture from ‘commodity before man’ to ‘man before commodity’, it should also be possible to change our approach to life from ‘income before quality of life’ to ‘quality of life before income’. It is for these reasons that:

1) Malaysian rural women are taught international cooking
2) Sports are organised for farmers and fishermen
3) Landscape competitions are organised nationwide to turn villages into beautiful gardens
4) Musicians identified among farmers resulting in the formation of ‘Farmers’ Symphony Orchestra’
5) Agro theatre
6) Extension work organised to improved sewing and other skills for women and men
7) Better homes


Malaysian Agriculture Park

With the setting up of a modern village for the year 2020 at the Malaysia Agriculture Park, we have managed to transform Malaysia from a net importer of food, though exporter of agricultural products like rubber, into a net exporter of food.

Labour

Dr. Eduoard Saouma has reiterated that ‘no task commanded higher priority than that of reducing poverty’ and the 80’s were aptly described as the lost decade for the poor. Nearly one-half of the world’s poor live in Asia at the beginning of this decade. We must promote the productive use of the poor’s most abundant asset, which is labour.

Violence

The United Nations Secretary General Mr. Boutros-Boutros Ghali said, “There will be no peace and stability without development...lasting is an essential factor in the achievement of peace and stability in the world...zones of poverty constitute potential arenas for violence and confrontation”.

Recognition of Poverty

I am glad that poverty continues to be recognised as a serious global problem. There are three types of poverty existing in both the developing and developed countries:

1) Absolute poverty or hardcore poverty
2) Poverty itself
3) Relative poverty

Poverty in Asia

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in its report to the Regional Conference held in Manila, Philippine on January 20, 1992 published that at least 800 million Asians are living in ‘absolute poverty’ and 75 per cent of the world’s poor live in Asia.

Human Development

From UNDP report, it is obvious that some countries are better off than others and that the cure for poverty is human development. By human development, the UNDP report referred to:

1) Education
2) Health
3) Nutrition
4) Water
5) Sanitation facilities
6) Productive employment

Threat to World Peace

Birds

I agree with the UN Secretary General that poverty is a threat to world peace. I have observed in the bird sanctuary at the Malaysia Agriculture Park that birds which are not hungry do sing at the right temperature.

Lions

In Ngorongoro Park in Tanzania, the wild lions did not even look at us when they were busy devouring a zebra carcass. Without the zebra carcass, Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Dr. Mahathir Muhammad and I, only a few yards away, would have been good alternatives. The lion did not go after us when they had enough food.

Monkeys

In certain places in Africa, they had a special way of catching monkeys. Knowing that monkeys would put their hands in any hole they see, a hunter needs only to dig a small hole into a coconut to lure the monkey. When the coconut water is drained out, the coconut would be attached to a long rope, the end of which is held by the hunter who hides in the bushes. In the coconut is thrown a few peanuts as bait.

When a monkey comes by, the coconut being attractively available within its territory, the monkey would definitely push its hand into it. Upon touching the peanuts, in the coconut, the monkey would grasp it in a fist that is too large for the hole and renders it impossible for the monkey to pull out its hand.

That monkey will sacrifice its freedom, as it holds the peanut bait – making the situation easy for the hunter in the bushes to capture it by pulling the long rope.

Human, too, will very often not let go of small gains for greater benefits. They would often choose to remain comfortably deprived if they are not aware of opportunities ahead by taking some measure of risks.

Frogs

Any living thing will not hesitate to jump out of a container of boiling water when it is thrown into it.

Similarly, even a water-loving creature will not wish to stay in the water when it is heated to a temperature unbearable high.

Not so with the frogs. It will stay on until it gets cooked.

We should realise that humans too have such tendencies. In trying to solve the problems of poverty, there is no one solution for all time and for all places.

Political Will

We should focus on poverty eradication. Can problems of poverty be solved in countries where democracy is practised? Is it true that in countries where democracy is practised, government’s interest in solving poverty problems is directly proportionate to the number of poor voters? So long as the population of poor voters is large, there will be political interest in poverty eradication.

Holy War against Poverty

In Malaysia, the Minister of Agriculture has introduced a jihad or holy war against poverty, thereby giving a divine flavour for the effort at poverty eradication. While recognising efforts against poverty as holy, the enthusiasm of leaders, intellectuals and professionals can be sustained.

Therefore, it is obvious that in developed countries such as the United States, where the voters among more than 30 million poor people have no impact on election results, there is a necessity for a body or institution, such as WIPER, to continue the crusade against poverty.

It is necessary that each country, having sufficient number of poor people, have its own national institution to eradicate poverty. Poverty being a global problem, there is a need to wipe it out with the formation of a World Institute for Poverty Eradication (WIPER) that is being propagated through the years.