Poverty Eradication: A View From the Malaysian Parliament

Abstract

This article explores poverty eradication issues in the Malaysian Parliament. It attempts to re-evaluate the existing works on poverty in Malaysia by examining the debates extracted from the Dewan Rakyat Hansard and interviews with the Members of Parliament (MPs). This article aims at understanding whether and to what extent the poverty eradication programs have benefited citizens and spilled over throughout the constituencies in Malaysia. It focuses the untold story of the MP’s views that have not been reported by the mainstream media in Malaysia. While the data and statistics provided by the state agencies and literatures help us to understand the success of the poverty eradication in Malaysia, this article highlights the MP’s views that are contradicted to the existing “facts and findings.â€