Fight poverty with employment, not free money

-
https://4533x635aus61yamnx2wkfwe-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/shutterstock_614859110-898x505.jpg
The solution to eliminate poverty is to provide jobs, not handing out free money.

Employment with stable income makes us earn a living. There's dignity in working hard to provide decent lifestyle to our family.

Handouts, when received as temporary welfare, helps to cushion the unforeseen misfortune in life. However, when receiving handouts has become a routine, it will be addictive and incentivising unproductive entitlement mentality.

Poverty is a perennial problem in all societies. Providing aid is a short term solution. It cannot be sustained for long.

A long term sustainable solution is to create jobs. Decent employment does not only alleviate people from poverty but also contributes to the overall productivity of a society, in broad economic measure of gross domestic product per capita.

Therefore, it's heartening to read news that a multinational company, National Instruments (NI), is expanding their operation in Penang with RM170 million.

The company's existing facility, one of NI's largest research centres outside of America, employs 1,000 staffs, with 70 per cent in skilled and leading roles. The expansion will create another 250 new high-value jobs in the state.
 
The site of the new facility is about 5-minute drive to the area earmarked for the development of the industrial Island A under the Penang South Islands (PSI) project.

Island A is meant to provide strategic land bank near the airport and within the electric and electronic ecosystem to attract more of such investment to create jobs. Without jobs, there's no sustainable solution to eradicate poverty. Without jobs, people who are not in poverty may fall into poverty.

Providing employment is not just to eliminate poverty but also to prevent poverty. Handouts should be temporary. Creating jobs should be the permanent solution.

Popular posts from this blog

BRT expert sweet-talking Penang to install bus system?

-
Image
It was reported that Yoga Adiwinarto, country director of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) in Jakarta had recommended the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system for Penang in a presentation organised by Think City yesterday. The ITDP specialises in BRT and their institutional mission is to promote the bus system around the world in that their “specific area of expertise is the bus rapid transit (BRT) and we work to spread knowledge about BRT and provide high-level technical assistance to cities pursuing BRT projects in the US and abroad.” Urban planning expert, Diego Silva Ardila has observed that think-tanks like ITDP “have focused on BRT systems as the only plausible solution for urban transport in the developing world, and have not seriously and rigorously analysed the possibilities that rail-based systems have [...]” Ardila further noted that “the think-tanks and their claims have been deemed biased by the fact that they represented the interests of
Read more

Jobs don't drop from the sky #7

-
Image
Our youth unemployment rate has been rising every year in the past 5 years, from 11% in 2016 to 11.72% last year. Are jobs being produced as fast as our youths grow up? Without jobs, what's our youths' future? Without jobs, how to start a family? Without jobs, how to care for aging parents? These are the questions that Hafiz discussed with me. Hafiz is a graduate with a degree in finance. Most of his cohorts have left Penang to work in KL. "Kawan-kawan struggle cari kerja di Penang, dan memang banyak yang pi KL," he said. Although Hafiz wanted to join them, he as the eldest among his siblings had stay back to care for the family. Unable to get a suitable permanent job, Hafiz ended up as a contract worker for several years. When the Penang South Reclamation (PSR) had job openings, Hafiz applied and got his first stable permanent job. After working for 10 months, Hafiz has saved enough to get married. He and his wife are expecting their first child now. Just before Raya
Read more

Jobs don't drop from the sky #5

-
Image
I will continue to write about real Penangites whose life has been changed for the better because of Penang South Reclamation (PSR). These Penangites are not big-name politicians, their story seldom gets highlighted. Nonetheless, they are Penangites who can now earn a decent living for their family due to the project. Therefore, I think their story deserved to be told. Pak Idris and his grandson, Adam are such Penangites. Idris, 66 years old, has worked as a fisherman for over five decades. Adam, now 23, had been helping his grandpa since his teens. Adam shared about an incident when he was 18 years old working in the sea with his grandpa. That day they met with a thunderstorm. Huge waves were hitting their boat. Idris used all his strength to steer the boat to safety, against the strong currents until the vessel almost broke into two. “Tok perlu lawan sampai bot terangkat tinggi, hampir patah dua." Adam said. “Masa tu, kalau hanyut di laut, pun hanyut lah,” Idris added. Fortunate
Read more