KUALA LUMPUR – A shocking 100% of Orang Asli households in Terengganu live below the national poverty line income (PLI) and Kelantan is close behind in second place with 83.3% of its indigenous community categorised as living in poverty.
This information was shared to the media as a written parliamentary reply by Rural Development Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid (Padang Terap-BN) to a question by Datuk Ahmad Nazlan Idris (Jerantut-BN).
The percentage of Orang Asli below PLI in these two states is considerably higher than the national average of 33.6%.
This is based on the government’s Household Income and Basic Amenities Survey Report 2019.
Presently, there are 206,777 members of the Orang Asli community, with 59,936 heads of household.
According to Mahdzir, the other states with Orang Asli households below PLI are Johor (56.7%), Negri Sembilan (41.9%), Perak (39.1%), Pahang (26.9%) and Selangor (9.2%).
However, the minister did not specify the breakdown of the number of Orang Asli in the respective states.
In Dewan Rakyat today, responding to a supplementary question from Kesavan Subramaniam (Sg Siput-PH), Mahdzir's deputy Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Mohamad said the number of Orang Asli living below PLI is “obviously” higher than in previous years.
This is particularly after the government revised PLI from RM780 to RM2,180 in 2019, he said.
In 2010, he said, the poverty rate among the community nationwide stood at 31.8%.
Additionally, the increase in heads of household has led to a higher poverty rate among the Orang Asli, as the number of income earners has reduced, while there are no income combinations within a family, he said.
Finally, Rahman said the main source of income among the majority of Orang Asli who work in the agriculture sector has led to the increased number of households falling below PLI. – The Vibes, September 28, 2021
