BR1M not different from direct cash aid schemes implemented worldwide

The outright dismissal of the BR1M handouts as "political bribery" by certain opposition politicians is uncalled for as the cash aid has been known to help relieve the financial burden of over seven million Malaysians from the bottom 40 per cent income households (B40).

UMNO Youth deputy chief Senator Khairul Azman Harun said it was unfortunate that some people's "addiction to politicking" has made a simple programme such as BR1M a point of argument.

"(It's a) A straightforward policy initiative that benefits all, but one that is so politicised that now we have an opposition that even talks of eradicating it...," he said in an article he wrote recently, which was published by several news portals and newspapers.

MCA Youth treasurer-general Micheal Lee said BR1M was just like any other direct cash assistance or financial aid scheme provided worldwide. He said in 2016 alone, a total of 7,280,340 applicants were given the nod to receive BR1M.

"And, Selangor has the highest number of beneficiaries, amounting to 1,017,403," he said, obviously taking a swipe at Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali who had described the handouts as bribery.

When BR1M was introduced in 2012, a cash aid of RM500 was given to households earning RM3,000 and below. The quantum of payment has since been increased and the scheme extended to more people from different categories of income. This year, BR1M recipients from households earning less than RM3,000 and between RM3,000 and RM4,000 a month will receive RM1,000 and RM900 respectively. Single people aged 21 and above and earning less than RM2,000 a month will receive RM450.

In his recent article, Khairul Azman drew a comparison between BR1M and cash transfer programmes implemented by Brazil and Japan to alleviate the financial plight of their low-income earners.

He said the success of Brazil's programme, called Bolsa Familia, has been dramatic and, according to a 2013 study by Brazil's Institute of Applied Economic Research, the nation succeeded in slashing extreme poverty by 89 per cent and lifting 36 million families out of poverty since its introduction more than a decade ago.

Khairul Azman said in Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet approved a 13.5 trillion yen initiative in August 2016 for cash handouts to low-income earners.

"Yet in Malaysia's efforts to similarly help its low-income earners, there arises talk among the opposition to eradicate the programme if they come to power.

"How we got to such a state of irrational antagonism towards anything the government is doing seems puzzling," he wrote.

Stressing that the government should continue implementing the BR1M scheme despite criticisms from opposition political parties, Universiti Malaya lecturer and political analyst Associate Prof Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi said even Singapore provides monthly cash aid to needy citizens under the government's ComCare scheme.

Under this scheme, one-person households receive S$500; two-person, S$870; three-person, S$1,130; and four-person, S$1,450.

Since its inception in 2005, ComCare has helped a total of 1.4 million Singaporeans who are unable to work, have no means of income and have limited or no family support.

Awang Azman, who is attached to the Department of Socioculture/Malay Arts at UM's Academy of Malay Studies, also said that direct cash assistance schemes like BR1M were not entirely new in Malaysia as during Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's tenure as prime minister, the federal government gave a special payment or wang ehsan directly to the people in Terengganu after the PAS-led state government stopped receiving oil royalties in 2000.

Dr Mahathir has, of late, been hitting out at BR1M, claiming that it was a form of corruption as it was purportedly aimed at getting the people to vote for the ruling coalition.

Awang Azman said the Selangor government was also, in fact, handing out a cash aid of RM500 to newly-married couples, regardless of their income levels.

Other countries that have special schemes to help the needy include the United Kingdom, United States, France, Mexico and Indonesia.

A well-known and documented example of a cash transfer programme is Mexico's PROSPERA, which has served 5.8 million families since 1997.

While some countries give out cash vouchers, others provide food stamps or even cash, with the governments' ultimate aim being to help the poor regardless of what their detractors say.

In an article titled "Give Poor People Cash" that appeared in the September 2015 issue of The Atlantic, a US-based magazine that carries leading writers' commentaries on major issues involving contemporary political affairs, its author Charles Kenny said when former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva introduced the Bolsa Familia cash transfer system in 2003, the opposition politicians said it was open to fraud and was not likely to reach the target groups.