Photo shows the settlement at Jalan Chawan in Kuching, where the poor families are living right next to a cemetery.

Three weeks ago, I received a piece of good news from my ‘kaki’ (contact) in Kuala Lumpur – to be exact, from the university, Sunway City.

At last, the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UN-SDSN) has found a footing in Malaysia with the recent launch of its Asia headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, thanks to the generosity of the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation.

This solutions network was created in 2012 under the auspices of Mr Ban Kim-moon, the former secretary-general of the United Nations. It has counterparts in Paris, which oversees Africa and Europe and in New York City, which oversees the Americas.

Sited at Sunway City, it is hoped that the network would oversee Sarawak and Sabah as well as Peninsular Malaysia.

The other outfit, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), has been around in Kuala Lumpur for some time.

However, its services in Malaysia have had little impact on the eradication of extreme poverty in Peninsular Malaysia, among the Orang Asli.

In Long Semadoh, Sarawak, its funding of the construction of a rice milling centre will help the local farmers process their rice, thanks to the initiative from a non-governmental organisation (NGO) known as Langit Collective.

Other than those, I am not aware of a solution project being undertaken by the UNDP elsewhere in Sarawak or Sabah.

The poorest among the poor

In theory, Sarawak would be a rich state indeed, if its oil and gas, timber and plantation crops were counted as sources of its wealth being under its full control. Except for timber and the plantation crops, the rights over oil and gas are vested in a company instead.

There is no reason for a high incidence of poverty in the state if you consider the billions of ringgit earned from these sources.

I am afraid there is poverty, absolute poverty. Read on.

It has been the serious concern by many people to find ways and means whereby extreme poverty among many families in the state could be reduced in a systematic manner: by the application of the principle of ‘the fishing rod instead of the gift of fresh fish’, not by giving the cooked fish (especially during election time) – the latter method is illusory because of the vagaries of government policies.

Still, reduction of absolute poverty among the people has been elusive. It is only the government of the day that can help solve the problem, not well- wishers, however motivated they may be.

In my small way, I have been advocating siting of a United Nations agency in Kuching so as to be near the State Planning Unit and local anti-poverty group loosely known as SDG Alliance.

Hopefully, a site office of the UN-SDSN would be established in Kuching too, to make life easier for members of NGOs, who are volunteers with limited means to go to Kuala Lumpur for seminars that require air travel and overnight stay in hotels there.

What else is there about this UN-SDSN?

This office in Malaysia will aid, coordinate and accelerate sustainability initiatives throughout the Asian continent. It provides global scientific and technological expertise in promoting practical solutions to the United Nations Development Goals (UNDG). There are 17 of them, as follows:

• No Poverty,
• Zero Hunger,
• Good Health and Well-Being,
• Quality Education,
• Gender Equality,
• Clean Water and Sanitation,
• Affordable and Clean Energy,
• Decent Work and Economic Growth,
• Industry Innovation and Infrastructure,
• Reduced Inequalities,
• Sustainable Cities and Communities,
• Responsible Consumption and Production,
• Climate Action,
• Life Below Water,
• Life On Land,
• Justice and Strong Institutions, and,
• Partnerships for the Goals

For this particular article, we have space only for the first goal: No Poverty.

Sarawak

Before July 2020, the average monthly income for a Sarawak family was RM 1,500.

Now the Poverty Line Income (PLI) is revised at RM2,131.

According to the Department of Statistics, there are 400,000 families who are considered poor in Malaysia – those living below the PLI poverty. Among those 400, 000 families are those from Sarawak.

In other words, this rich state, has very high level of low-income families.

The mother of all ironies! Still kidding ourselves?

Before 2020, the Pan-Malaysian PLI was RM980, but this was raised to RM2,280. This would be more realistic, according to Prof Philip Alston, United Nations’ Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty.

I had the privilege to accompany him to visit an urban poverty-eradication project in Kuching in 2019.

He saw for himself a real case of extreme poverty amidst the affluence in Kuching.

The Solution Project, initiated by the Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (Sadia), has been adopted by the All Party Parliamentary Group Malaysia (APPGM), with Sadia as the ground-level implementer and the incumbent MP for Bandar Kuching as the coordinator.

Income-generation training programme is among the initiatives under ‘Ruai Chawan’, a communal space for poverty reduction facilitated by Sadia.

Smart government brings on board NGOs

Another goal of the United Nations Sustainable Development is crucial: a smart government should be in partnership with the private sector and the civil society known as NGO. In Sarawak, the NGOS are not highly regarded by many quarters.

In the Iban language, NGO means ‘Nadai Guna Orang’ (of no use to anybody).

The United Nations’ goals are not new; there was a similar list before 2015, but many countries had failed to adopt them seriously because they were having serious internal political and economic problems. They ignored the role of civil societies in their countries altogether.

Thanks to a change of government in Malaysia, the hope is that there will be efficient governance from now on. We shall see if the PLI would move up or down for Sarawak.

Let us see if the sustainable new goals would be adopted by many United Nations member countries before 2030, and whether or not Malaysia could play its role in reducing absolute poverty among its people before 2030.

Malaysia must make an effort to play an active role in terms of United Nations goals.

It is not possible to eradicate poverty as such. Relative poverty is growing if the rich become richer and the poor get poorer.

But it is possible to reduce incidences of absolute poverty if the natural resources are properly managed by the government of the day.

The 17 goals set by the United Nations are a guidance; each government has its own vision and mission, but these should be aligned with the United Nations’ goals as far as possible.

It would be a wonderful day indeed if and when we could celebrate the beginning of the end of absolute poverty in the rich state of Sarawak!

This article was first published in The Borneo Post, 15 January 2023.