Photograph : Daniel Lee

By Ooi Kee Beng

The following two abstracts from two 1830 publications should interest the present-day common man as much as the modern medical practitioner. The first is Contributions to the Medical Topography of Prince of Wales Island, or Pulo Pinang, a report written by T.M. Ward, MD, member of the Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh and assistant surgeon of the 30th Regiment Madras Native Infantry. It was printed by Order of the Government of Fort Cornwallis. It provides scarce information about the scourges of small pox and cholera in the early 1800s, in Penang.

The second text is from Pinang Government Gazette of July 1830, and describes how small pox was sometimes treated in Province Wellesley.

“The principal Epidemic Diseases (on Prince of Wales Island) have been the small pox and cholera. The former recurs nearly every year, with more or less virulence, and to greater or less extent, according to various circumstances, with which we are unacquainted. In some years, every case has been observed to be of the worst confluent description, while in others, the disease has been comparatively mild. For the last three years, the population has been denied the blessings of vaccination; as, tho’ the station has been regularly supplied with lymph from Madras and Calcutta, the vaccine disease has not been produced in any one instance in which it has been tried. It is difficult to explain this failure; it has occurred in the hands of every practitioner, not only here but in Malacca and Singapore, so that the mode of inserting the virus can hardly be called in question. Lymph has been conveyed from Madras in the space of 8 days, during which its efficacy could scarcely have become impaired. Nor has the climate always been unfavourable; as vaccination has been for years together kept up at all these stations. There has been no want of zeal in the medical officers of the establishment, and no means are now left untried to introduce and continue this invaluable protection against so formidable a malady. As at Malacca, many instances of small pox after vaccination, have occurred; but for the same reasons as noticed in our former paper, these failures ought to have no weight in weakening our confidence in its powers.

The CHOLERA, having ravaged for nearly two years the continent of India, made its way over the mountains of Arracan, thro’ the Burmese and Siamese territories to the Malayan Peninsula. In its course eastward it reached (Prince of Wales Island) in October, 1819. On the 28th of that month, among the Records of Government, we find a minute by the President in Council, notifying the presence of the dreaded scourge; and recommending the immediate adoption of measures for the relief of the sufferers. Hospitals were erected in various parts of the town; the medical officers were unremitting in their attention; the public authorities and private individuals, especially D. Brown Esq. Of Glugor, willingly lent their aid in the distribution of medicines and comforts to the sick; notwithstanding, the disease spread rapidly, and the mortality was considerable. There are no documents now in existence, shewing the actual number deaths; but the following extract of a letter from Mr. Palmer, will give some idea of its ravages—’the epidemic first made its appearance on the island in October 1819, raged with great violence in November, and gradually declined in December; since when we have had a few occasional sporadic instances of the disease chiefly among the natives. During its prevalence in 1819, the poorer class of Chuliahs and Malays appeared to be the greatest sufferers; a few Europeans were also attacked, among whom Mr P. Carnegy was, I believe the only victim. Mr. W. And Mr. P were among the afflicted, and they both recovered. On the appearance of Cholera on the island, I cannot now point out any one part of the town, as more affected by it, than another; its influence was general, and I was employed night and day in distributing remedies to all quarters of the town. The mortality was very great during November and December, and to the best of my recollection from 40-50 Chuliahs and Malays have died within the town, for several successive days.’ The treatment found most efficacious was the prompt administration of large doses of Calomel and Laudanum, with powerful diffusible stimuli.”

The principal Epidemic Diseases (on Prince of Wales Island) have been the small pox and cholera. The former recurs nearly every year, with more or less virulence, and to greater or less extent, according to various circumstances, with which we are unacquainted.

“The patient is shut up in the house on the appearance of the first symptoms (from the belief that the least annoyance increases the violence of the disease until the pustules appear). The native practitioner administers doses of the gall of the boa constrictor lampadoo oolar (sawa) infused or mixed in cocoa nut water – or made up in the shape of pills with plantain fruit. Should a visitor come to a house which contains a person with small pox, the natives will not invite him to enter, owing to a superstitious idea that the disease or rather the spirit which presides over it will be offended, and the danger be increased”.

He may however enter of his own accord—Parents whose child falls sick of the disease must not wear the bajoo or Jacket. Many other things are forbidden to be brought into the house during the period the distemper prevails. Three days after the attack, they apply the cold bath twice or thrice a day, and keep the patient as cool as possible, giving him cold water to drink, but with which has been mixed a portion of the following recipe. The bone of a goose ground to paste; the ukur burh a black solid kind of coral sparingly obtained in this coast but more abundantly on the martaban coasts, and often brought by the Hadjees from Meeca being apparently the same as that sort described by Mr. Burkhardt—the ukur kajoo putih, or pinnawa putih, the leaf of an astringent quality. The above ingredients are all mixed and fried before being used.—To urge the pustules forward a mixture of cocoa nut milk and dawn birneh, a leaf of an air plant, found on areca and other trees which are in a decaying state, is sprinkled over the patient’s body.—When the pustules decline, a paste is used compounded of rice flour, turmeric, the leaf of a Jamboo ayer, and the leaf of the burumbang, a high tree. This lead is slightly acid and astringent. To allay the irritation, a leafy brance of the tree mamoo is brushed over the body. In bad cases, the juice of the root of the sooroontoon, a very bitter plant, is mixed with blerang bang, volcanic sulphur and water, and snake’s gall, and applied externally to induce the pustules to appear. It is no wonder that so imperfect, and in most instances so ridiculous a system fails to effect a cure”.

Ismail Hashim's 1996 hand-tinted photograph, Kedai Gunting (1996) which will be put on auction at the Henry Butcher Art Auction on May 6.

The sign reads “Penang Malay Artists Association (PMAA) Gallery”.

But there is much more to it. For one thing, the name is at odds with the arabesque stucco pediment of alabaster-white with a vestibule passageway double the width of a conventional five-foot-way.

There is more to it. It’s actually a mausoleum of one of Penang’s most aristocratic merchant families – the family of the Kapitan Keling II Noordin Merican, who has a road named after him. No wonder it can hold its own against the adjoining worldfamous Kapitan Keling Mosque.

There is more to it. It used to house an informal children’s class for Qur’anic studies.

What it is now is the home of the PMAA, but then again, it isn’t, because the PMAA is no more, having been deregistered in 2010.

Says Abdul Rashid Razak, the association’s president from 2002 to 2010: “We are trying to revive it, with a new name.” Rashid, 62, is the curator cum permanent resident artist of the gallery, the space for which is leased to the association since 2007 by the Penang Islamic Council.

Rashid became famous when he won the Mahsuri painting contest in Langkawi in 1995 which was worth RM30,000! The Mahsuri Mausoleum adopted his painted version as the official face of the local beauty, Mahsuri, who was wrongly accused of adultery and put to death.

Abdul Rashid Razak with a painting on Mahsuri.

The Mahsuri portrait in the gallery is a twin copy of the one that now hangs in the Mahsuri Museum.

At its height, the association had 56 members.

Where are they now? Most of the members, unlike Rashid, have other bread-and-butter jobs. Rashid himself worked as assistant researcher (drug abuse) at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) for 16 years before taking up optional retirement in 1993.

After a short two-year stint as resident artist at the Golden Sands Hotel, he decided to concentrate on painting what he wants, although he still takes commissions.

Groups under the “Malay” appellation are uncommon. But there is a comparatively smaller group of Malay artists in Penang, which by dint of history became a Chinese bastion.

But the equations have evened up now (an unofficial 2010 estimate put the Malay to Chinese ratio in Penang at 43:46). The rural-urban migration in recent decades from neighbouring states to what was then the Silicon Valley of the country saw an influx from neighbouring Kedah, Perlis and less so, Perak.

The area around the gallery/mausoleum and the mosque, right in the heart of the Unesco heritage enclave, was also the staging post of Arab and Indian Muslim communities, with a Malay nucleus at Acheen Street, while some others settled in Pulau Tikus, Jelutong and Air Itam.

Penang, after all, was the birthplace of pioneer artist Abdullah Ariff (1904-1962), while another pioneer artist, Hoessein Enas (1924-1995, later made a “Datuk”), initially settled in Penang from Indonesia/Singapore before he was lured by better job prospects to Kuala Lumpur.

Arguably, the greatest of them all is the consummate and extraordinary actor-director-singer-musician-composer Tan Sri P. Ramlee, but his museum on the street named after him (Jalan P. Ramlee) looks like a forgotten shrine now.

Penang was also the birthplace of bangsawan and boria although both have faded considerably.

Abdullah Ariff himself also has a road named after him, in Air Itam, but that could be more because he was a municipal councillor in 1955 rather than his being an artist, cartoonist, teacher and owner of the advertising agency bearing his name.

A work by Abdul Rashid Razak, who specialises in painting figures.

Whatever their racial background, people do move around in search of a better job and life. Penang in a way is a rest stop for “outsiders” or transients. It is fortunate to have been chosen by poet-painter Abdul Latiff Mohidin (born in Negeri Sembilan, 1938) as his “retirement home”. He bought a house off his good friend and fellow-artist Askandar Unglehrt, who was smart enough to accept part of the payment in paintings. This has paid off considerably with the high prices commanded for Latiff’s art. German-born Askandar’s wife is Datuk Tengku Idaura Tengku Ibrahim.

Latiff was trained at the Hochschule fur Bildende Kunste in Germany and honed his printmaking skills at the Atelier La Courriere in France and the Pratt Graphic Centre in New York.

He is the last of Malaysia’s top art triumvirate – the others being Datuk Ibrahim Hussein (1936-2009) and Datuk Syed Ahmad Jamal (1929-2011).

But Latiff has become reclusive and is rarely seen in public events except when he has a new book or a major thematic exhibition, the last being The Journey to Wetlands, and Beyond in Singapore in 2009.

Penang has attracted excellent academic, intellectual and/or practising artists by default because of educational institutions such as USM. USM boasts of heavy-duty teaching staff members such as associate professors Hasnul J. Saidon (born in Perak, 1965) and Fauzan Omar (born 1951).

Hasnul and Fauzan, both American trained, did their Masters in Fine Arts (MFA) at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York and the Maryland Institute College of Arts in Baltimore respectively.

Hasnul is the local czar of electronic arts as artist-animator cum promoter, while Fauzan excelled with his cut-canvas collages like in his Luminosity Series in the 1990s.

Two other heavyweights from the USM staff list, Datuk Mohd Najib Ahmad Dawa (born in Pahang, 1954) and Professor Madya Dr Zakaria Ali (born in Rembau, Negeri Sembilan, 1946) have been transferred out.

Najib, who had his PhD at the Manchester Metropolitan University and was dean of the USM Centre for Art Studies, went to the National Art Gallery as director, and then headed to Akademi Seni Budaya & Warisan Kebangsaan (Aswara).

A painting by Abdul Latiff Mohidin from his Mindscape series, to be auctioned at the Henry Butcher Art Auction on May 6.

A Penangite who rose high, and in fact became the director of the National Art Gallery was Rahime Harun (1954-2008). He was also an art dealer (AP Gallery) and printmaker.

Ismail Hashim (born in Penang, 1940), one of Malaysia’s most scathing social commentators in photography and a fastidious perfectionist, retired in 1995.

A USM graduate, he lectured at the Graphic Design and Photography faculty between 1979 and 1995. He qualified with an MFA at the Washington State University, and was honoured with a Retrospective at the Penang State Art Gallery in 2010. His iconic works that tell about nostalgia and vanishing scenes include his hand-tinted commentaries of mundane objects and subjects such as Kedai Gunting and multiple capsule images of post boxes, bicycle seats and trishaws. Educational institutions such as the Equator Academy of Art, UiTM Permatang Pauh, Wawasan Open University, Olympus College and Stamford College are ideal talent banks cum conveyor belts for attracting and churning out promising talents, who may stay put after completing their studies.

Hasnul’s daughter Rozana, a batik artist, runs an art space on Lebuh Acheh called Rozana’s Fine Heart Gallery & Refreshing Batik, while another female Malay artist, Sharifah “Sherry” Mazwani, operates Art Wave Art Space (Awas) at Babington Road together with her well-known Canadian artist-husband Drew Harris.

As Rashid who spent 17 years in Kuala Lumpur before returning to Penang, two others have since also returned to Penang. They are Shamsul Bahari, who spent a total of 21 years in the US and Japan, and more recently, Ismail Lepat, after long spells in Bremen in Germany.

The trend and certainly, quality, of the artwork are not dictated by the politics of demographics. There is no escaping falling into one’s ethnic and religious ghettoes. Still, depending on what one paints and the race-conditioned worldview, more pluralistic and even syncretic forms of expressions may emerge from there.

Ooi Kok Chuen has been writting on the art scene at home and abroad for 28 years.

Source: Valuation and Property Services Department, Ministry of Finance Malaysia.

PENANG: VACANCY RATES OF PURPOSE-BUILT OFFICE BUILDINGS, Q2 2011

Source:Valuation and Property Services Department, Ministry of Finance Malaysia. PM_

PENANG: NUMBER OF TRANSACTIONS BY PRICE RANGE FOR THE PRINCIPAL PROPERTY SUB-SECTORS, Q3 2011

Source: Valuation and Property Services Department, Ministry of Finance Malaysia.

PENANG: VALUE OF TRANSACTIONS BY PRICE RANGE FOR THE PRINCIPAL PROPERTY SUB-SECTORS, Q3 2011 (IN RM MILLION)

Source: Valuation and Property Services Department, Ministry of Finance Malaysia.

PENANG: NUMBER OF COMMERCIAL PROPERTY TRANSACTIONS BY TYPE AND DISTRICT, Q3 2011

Source: Valuation and Property Services Department, Ministry of Finance Malaysia.

PENANG: NUMBER AND VALUE OF DEVELOPMENT LAND TRANSACTIONS BY DISTRICT, Q3 2011

Source: Valuation and Property Services Department, Ministry of Finance Malaysia.

PENANG: NUMBER OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY TRANSACTIONS BY TYPE AND DISTRICT, Q3 2011

Source: Valuation and Property Services Department, Ministry of Finance Malaysia.

PENANG: NUMBER OF AGRICULTURAL PROPERTY TRANSACTIONS BY TYPE AND DISTRICT, Q3 2011

Source: Valuation and Property Services Department, Ministry of Finance Malaysia.

Photograph: Kwong Wah Yit Poh

1Care is a reform that will be hard to implement properly, that will burden the poor and needy and that tries to fix something that ain’t broke by making things more expensive, more complicated and more unfair.

Introduction
Aneurin Bevan (1897-1960), the UK’s Minister of Health immediately after the Second World War, once stressed that where medical needs exist, medical care should be provided and budgets should be of secondary importance. Based on this progressive and compassionate principle, he went on to establish the UK’s National Health System (NHS), which was then one of the most inclusive, comprehensive and equitable healthcare systems in the world.

Unfortunately, Bevan’s stand is not much supported by many policymakers today, especially in the aftermath of neo-liberalism. The consequences are concern over costs rather than adequate healthcare coverage for the people, especially the poor and marginalised; and priority on profits for healthcare providers over good health for the general population, achieved largely through rationing of healthcare resources via the ability to pay rather than according to need.

This has led to continuous moves by governments to outsource the many aspects of healthcare provision, such as treatment, drug supply, non-medical services and financing, to private sector providers such as private hospitals and clinics, pharmacies, large contractors and insurance companies.

That health is a social good with large positive externalities is increasingly being forgotten. Similarly neglected is the recognition that access to adequate healthcare is a basic human right. Hence, the state should play a fundamental role in its provision in order to obviate under-consumption by the poor and sick, while at the same time preventing over-consumption by the rich and health.

Like many other countries, Malaysia has not been spared the onslaught of neo-liberal thinking. Such privatisation has sharply increased the costs of servicing the healthcare system. Alongside these measures, the state has introduced the system of co-payments by patients and private practice by doctors in publicly funded hospitals after working hours. Under the former, patients are now required to pay high collateral payments for the treatment of several conditions such as orthopaedic procedures which require plates and nails, lenses for cataracts, clips for surgical procedures, drug-coated stents for angioplasties and certain anti-cancer drugs, while under the latter, patients are required to pay much more if they wish to seek earlier and speedier treatment.

The financial burden borne by poor patients has gone up with the introduction of co-payments. At the same time, they are increasingly excluded from the much needed after office hours for-profit services. Added to these worrying trends is the planned introduction by the Ministry of Health of a new healthcare system that, according to sources familiar with the scheme, are likely to place a greater burden to the poor.

1Care – some salient points
The new healthcare scheme called 1Care – details have as yet to be officially announced – has the following broad features:

• 1Care will be funded by a national health insurance system, which requires every household to contribute close to 10% of its gross household income to it. This amount is, however, to be shared among three parties – the individual, the employer and the government, though the proportions have as yet to be worked out. How the government plans to collect such premiums from the self-employed and the amount to be collected have not been worked out. The government is, however, likely to pay for the premiums of civil servants, pensioners and up to five of their dependents.

• Contribution by every household is compulsory and payment has to be made upfront. The current practice of fee for service will be replaced by fee before service.

• It will be managed by a National Healthcare Financing Authority (NHFA), which is likely to be a government-linked company (GLC).

• The new 1Care healthcare system does not provide for all medical expenses and instead adopts only a prescribed basic list. The costs of seeking treatment for anything beyond this list will have to be borne by the patients.

• Patients are not allowed to see doctors of their choice, but will have to see one allotted to them. Private practitioners will have to join the 1Care system if they wish to see patients covered under this scheme.

• Patients can see specialists only after first being screened by general practitioners who will decide when they can do so. This is a practice called gate keeping. Such rationing of specialist care applies to healthcare by general practitioners as well as all cases under the proposed 1Care scheme. This means that patients cannot visit their doctors as and when they please, though how this is going to be regulated is as yet unclear. Those seeking specialist care without the requisite recommendation by their doctors will have to pay out of their own pockets as these visits will not be covered by national health insurance.

• The proposed fee for seeing a general practitioner under the 1Care system is RM60, which is only for consultation and does not include medication. Compared to the present charges for treating common illnesses, including medication, these proposed fees work out to be three to four times higher. Although these charges may be covered by national health insurance, patients may still be asked to make certain co-payments.

• Medicines prescribed for a particular illness will have to be from a standardised list of alternative medicines called the formulary. Under the scheme, doctors may be forced to choose an alternative that is the cheapest but not necessarily the most effective in curing a particular illness. The idea is to save costs for 1Care and maximise profits for the insurance companies, which will have a big say in deciding on this list and the prices of medicines. Needless to say, these companies are likely to approve the cheapest medicines.

Why worry?
Based on what we know, Malaysians have much to be concerned about where the proposed 1Care healthcare system is concerned. For a start, everyone, irrespective of his or her socio-economic status, will have to pay for healthcare. They will have to contribute to the national health insurance scheme. Presumably, anyone who is unable to contribute because of financial difficulties will not be covered and will hence not be treated, even in public hospitals which currently provide almost free medical treatment to all who cannot afford to seek treatment in private hospitals and clinics.

The introduction of a national health insurance scheme adds to the financial burden of the poor, who are already stressed by rising costs and declining real wages. The government can very well use the counter-argument that it will pay for the premiums of the poor, but only after they have passed a means test. We all know though that such tests are more often than not exclusionist in nature. It is not easy for the poor to prove that they are indeed poor.

The new practice of having to get medicine from a pharmacist will mean placing a great deal of inconvenience on rural and semi-urban residents who will have to travel a considerable distance to the nearest pharmacy. Placing the entire healthcare system under the NHFA will mean that erstwhile public healthcare providers will have to change their entire orientation from being social service providers to corporatised entities out to cut costs and seek profits.

The introduction of 1Care also opens up more profit opportunities for financial service providers, in particular insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies. Given the propensity of the present federal government to use state power to nurture crony capitalism, more crony capitalists are likely to emerge to exploit these new opportunities. Indeed, with declining opportunities in manufacturing, plantations and construction, services such as healthcare are fast emerging as new profit centres.

Conclusion
An analysis of 1Care and its social implications suggests that the overriding concerns of the government are controlling costs and availing more opportunities for appropriating profits to private healthcare-related service providers under the new healthcare system to be managed by a GLC called the NHFA.

Malaysians may rightly wonder why greater priority is placed on curbing costs over meeting healthcare needs, especially to the poor and needy in a resource rich country that until recently only spent roughly two per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) on healthcare. This is way below the minimum five per cent stipulated by the World Bank. While controlling costs is not undesirable in itself, using the need to curb costs as an excuse to deny access of the poor to basic healthcare or to introduce a new financing scheme that works against them is, however, clearly unacceptable and socially undesirable.

Priorities are thrown around when the state seeks additional finances to meet rising costs, instead of introducing additional payments to be borne by the poor. Wasteful spending can be curbed, if not eliminated, thereby freeing resources that can then be spent on basic healthcare. Spending on healthcare should also be further increased. Our current public health system funded by general taxation, has provided decent healthcare for the general public, and has thus played a key role in nation building. There is little reason for the system, especially its financing, to be overhauled.

This is not to suggest that the healthcare system is bereft of problems. But these should be tackled without requiring every Malaysian to contribute to a national health insurance scheme. Illnesses and healthcare should not be viewed as commodities to be allocated through the market, because such outsourcing invariably leads to over-consumption by those with financial resources and under-consumption by those who are indigent.

It bears repeating that healthcare services must be regulated and administered in such a way that it benefits all Malaysians. The regulation of the national risk pool is a fundamental role of the government, as it is this facility that allows social solidarity principles to function – the principles that the rich support the poor; the healthy support the sick and the young support the aged.

Toh Kin Woon is a senior research fellow at the Penang Institute.

Illustration: Lau Su Lin

By Chan Huan Chiang

Is development good or bad?
Private development, we are seeing with increased intensity in Penang, is actually a deal made between private business and its customers. Basically, it is a solicitor-client relationship – private profit for one side and the satiation of private consumption for the other.

But there has been much public outcry, because changes to the landscape can bring about environmental damage, traffic congestion, increased strain on the public delivery system and greater polarisation of the citizenry, isolating rich from poor. For these reasons, public appraisal of private development (presumably a role best played by the local authority) is necessary so that public costs and benefits are also given due consideration before private development can be given the go ahead.

The approval process, however, has led to controversy, judging from debates we read in blogs and other public media. Project evaluation and social benefit-cost analysis directed at public provisions of goods and services that would improve the welfare of folks prompted the preparation of “how-to” procedural manuals on making choices between good and bad development funded with public monies [1].

Today, many countries, including Malaysia, have re-evaluated public investment and are considering market efficiencies that can be achieved through private provisions. Even though the government still formulates five-year plans, the 10th Malaysia Plan (2011-2015), the 13th of a long uninterrupted series, differs from previous development plans because the 12 national key economic areas (NKEAs) implemented under the Economic Transformation Programme or ETP are largely (more than 90%) funded privately rather than via public investments [2].

Benefit-cost analyses of private projects, on the other hand, are basically financial feasibility assessments done by calculating benefit-cost ratios or internal rate of return (IRR) numbers that overlook both the wider implications as well as the impact on society’s overall welfare. The interaction of different conflicting interests in the common sphere leads to much confusion and therefore a common framework for analysis would be useful for sorting out the good from the bad for Penang as a whole. The idea is to highlight the distinction between private wants and collective goals. Being able to buy the things one wants depends on individual affordability, and so some will have more and others less. The collective goals, however, are for the common good, so that all can enjoy life together as a society.

Knowing what the collective goals are is recognisably a challenge, and so a progressive Penang will continue to struggle with the question of what the common identity is that makes us a community. Development that is good for Penang, albeit privately initiated, is therefore one that takes one step further in forging such an identity.

The common good revealed through community action
For Penang to avoid a development that is a free-for-all money-making frenzy and a satiation of private wants, both town planners and local authorities must be conscious of the need to pursue the common good.

The Penang Forum is a coalition of local progressive public-interest civil society groups that aims to promote democratic participation and sustainable planning and development in the state. Through events and campaigns a process of “consultation and consensus as a collective” is attempted, after which feedback is passed to the Penang state government. Many of the groups were involved in successfully campaigning and stopping the development of the Penang Global City Centre (PGCC) in 2007 [3].

Then there is community action that also arises from residential associations, e.g. the Tanjong Bunga Residents’ Association which is active in local issues. In a posting on the association’s homepage on January 16, 2008 [4], members were informed about the critical importance of looking out for notices by the local government soliciting feedback for local plans. A couple of months before, the draft local plan for parts of Petaling Jaya and Subang Jaya in Selangor were open for comments and public objections, yet the advertisements placed by the local authority were small and obscure.

Taking the time and effort to understand how development will affect one’s neighbourhood and then exercising one’s rights can help ensure that development also produces common good alongside private profits and private consumption. Giving public notice of draft plans is required under the 1976 Town & Country Planning Act (TCPA), to ensure public participation in the planning process. Authorities should thus have the interest of the public at heart and encourage feedback, not shun it.

The affected Petaling Jaya and Subang Jaya residents were asked to go out and purchase the plan, priced at RM100 a copy, and to read it carefully. They could then pool resources as a community and seek expert opinions on how the plan might affect them; their comments and objections were to be in writing and residents were to seek a hearing to voice their views; ideally, they would collectively draw up a master objection document and submit it on behalf of many for it to carry more weight; and also challenge unreasonable assumptions, statistics and projections, because if wrong numbers were used, the whole planning would be wrong. This is important, because once passed and gazetted, the local plan becomes law [5].

Photograph: Daniel Lee

For example, Section 18 of the TCPA clearly states that land use and buildings must comply with the local plan, but any fresh local plan or revisions of existing local plans “shall not affect the continuance of the use of any land or building for the purpose for which and to the extent to which it was lawfully being used prior to the date when a local plan first came into effect in the area concerned [6].”

Section 19 of the TCPA that follows then goes on to state that development cannot be undertaken unless planning permission has been granted. Note that Section 19 also says that planning permission will not be necessary if changes occur only in the building interior, do not affect existing building or land use, do not alter the external appearance, increase building height or floor area, do not alter drainage, sanitary arrangements or soundness or become inconsistent with the local plan, or if changes are only temporary.

Sections 18 and 19 of the TCPA thus seem to give emphasis to preserving the status quo of land use in existence, and if owners want to change things without approval by the authorities, restrict them to only the building interior, out of sight to others. Even when the authorities want to invoke a local plan, the spirit of the law is that care must be taken to protect the continuing land and building use already in existence. It is thus not enough to say that yes, one can seek planning permission to develop one’s own property the way one wants, because it is not necessary that the authority should freely grant such a permission.

Photograph: Ong Ee Lynn

Carbon dioxide rockets shot up from makeshift launching pads, and their plastic bottle cargo parachuted down briskly to the ground. Every zipping projectile that stabbed the dense late morning air was followed by a children’s choir of “oohs” and “aahs”. Nearby, a long queue watched the sun and sky through large side-view telescopes. One rocket caught a breeze, and its bat-like chute of black plastic and string quickly floated sideways across the front facade of the Penang International Sports Arena (PISA), amidst the cackling laughter of Astronomy enthusiasts. This was definitely the site of the Penang International Science Fair.

I walked in through the entrance and saw crowds of people moving around a maze of booths and displays like shoppers at a night market. Each booth was a white-lit assembled box of various items and contraptions of fascination. Children’s games were announced over the public address system. Throngs of science club-shirted school kids herded to and fro, gathering materials and running errands for their teammates at booths. Wide-eyed children watched a bipedal robot slowly rise from its mechanical slumber to stand on its own.

Let’s pause for a minute. The Penang Science Council was established to inspire fresh talent and generate ideas for the state. All in all, this was for profiting the community with a vibrant economy and a higher standard of living. It sounds all very utopian, but it’s symptomatic of the fair’s bewildering charm that I was amused by a robotic mechanical snake that feebly attempted to bite me with its gray Lego-block jaws. That’s the sort of charm the fair had.

Photograph: Ong Ee Lynn

Md Nasser, who teaches Mechanical Engineering at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tunku Abdul Rahman, demonstrated a “nail plunger”, a contraption that uses traction from a trigger mechanism to pull out iron nails perfectly with only one gram of force. We talked about the difficulty of mechanical patents and how each discrete part is often a patentable in a machine, something worth RM8,000 per patent. Nearby, a booth for the Malaysian Invention and Design Society (Minds) waited patiently for the next Edison. They help give out advice on how to file patents for designs and inventions.

Photograph: Ong Ee Lynn

As the day came to an end, my feet hurt and my arms were full of brochures and reading material. In the thought bazaar, you only had time to spend and attention to pay. It certainly beat a movie at a crowded cinema.

Photograph: Ong Ee Lynn

Abdul Raqib Karim is a sub-editor and researcher at Straits GT of Intersocietal and Scientific (Inas).

Photograph courtesy of Kwong Wah Yit Poh

By Rosalind Chua

It’s been 40 years since multinational corporations (MNCs) first set up factories in Penang. The technological innovations involved have undergone seismic shifts since then. In the 1970s, factory managers in Bayan Lepas had to drive to the telecoms headquarters in George Town to cable their headquarters in the US. There was no such thing as email or the internet. Since then, manufacturing technology and research and development (R&D) have made real what Star Trek (the version with Captain Kirk) could only imagine.

Penang’s hardware has gone through significant upgrades since the 1970s, yet the state’s key asset has always been its software – especially the collective experience of the local workforce. When you factor in four decades of dealing with increasingly globalised markets, this is a big deal.

Two full generations of electrical and electronic (E&E) competency across all levels is something that is difficult even for Asia’s fastest rising stars – India, Vietnam, China – to replicate. This has not been lost on the current state government, and the establishment of the Penang Science Council (PSC) is a move to increase the talent pipeline from schools to industry.

Penang’s Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng, who has pushed for the PSC, noted, “…the vision of the PSC is to make Penang into the centre of excellence for science and technology. With its long standing history in the manufacturing industry, this council will play a critical role in addressing the critical issue of human resource where the interest in science and technology has tapered off over the years [1].”

Dependability, innovation or both?
Yoon Chon Leong, the honorary secretary of the PSC has been involved in the E&E sector since the 1980s. He assessed Penang’s current situation thus: “There is plenty of goodwill from MNCs towards Penang, the majority are focused on further growth in the state, but they are concerned about talent. Let’s be clear, MNCs don’t leave Penang because we lack talent alone, the Penang brand is seen as a very reliable brand. We may not be spectacular in global cost competitiveness but we can deliver.” After major flooding in Thailand in 2011, Yoon explained, a number of MNCs had to divert manufacturing to Penang.

The challenge now is not about increasing Penang’s dependability but rather enhancing innovation. Such talent has to be developed early and the PSC aims to get children as young as primary school goers excited about science.

Making science fun
Conventional textbook teaching focuses heavily on theoretical concepts, and that is hardly inspiring for young minds. The PSC has instead pulled together a group of 130 engineers who readily volunteer their time to engage with schoolchildren around the state and demonstrate to them the practicalities of scientific theories. It’s a hands-on, fun learning experience for the kids.

The biggest contributions of PSC’s member companies are not just the money to run an administrative office but the time and effort needed to support the programmes. The engineers themselves have taken the initiative to coordinate themselves and regularly visit close to 60 schools in Penang.

According to Yoon, “In the first two years, we purposely placed a lot of emphasis on engaging the MNCs because these companies have all the ‘horsepower’ to make things happen. By doing this, the PSC was able to create initiatives closely aligned to the MNCs’ CSR programmes which in general focus on education. Once they were active it was easier to rope in the local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to support projects that are both meaningful and have a high chance of success.”

The PSC has generated plenty of goodwill from the private and public sectors and during the inaugural Penang International Science Fair, federal agencies including the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (Mosti), Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) and Talent Corporation Malaysia (TalentCorp) and state agencies including the Penang Development Corporation (PDC), investPenang, the Chief Minister’s office and Perbadanan Bekalan Air Pulau Pinang (PBAPP) were represented.

“As far as the life sciences cluster goes, local hospitals have been very supportive in providing doctors and administrators to give excellent talks to the participants. Through these talks, we were able to explain to children and parents that there is more to life sciences than just being a doctor,” said Yoon. He added that hospitals have shown commitment to work with the life sciences pillar by providing training and infrastructure to students to allow them to work on interesting projects.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng at the Penang International Science Fair.

“2012 will be about running regular activities to build on the kids’ interest. We especially want to reach out to more rural schools as talent isn’t just concentrated in urban areas. We need to connect more rural kids to engineers. We’d also like to create a continual stream of science-based competitions,” said Yoon.

Also in the pipeline is an ambitious plan to create a permanent Tech Centre motivated by the awe-inspiring San Jose Tech Centre. With enough momentum from the public and private sectors, the future of science in Penang is looking increasingly bright. Creating the next generation of engineers and science-related professionals involves more than cookie-cutter theories. The PSC is providing the magic ingredients – fun, enthusiasm and ideas.

About the PSC
According to Penang’s Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, the PSC will help the state “graduate to the next level” in technology and manufacturing. The long-term goal is to transform Penang into a science and technology hub, by creating a ready local pool of talent for MNCs and SMEs, and also generating new tech companies.

By bringing together industry professionals and schoolchildren, the PSC has begun to create avenues and opportunities for the young to learn directly from the pros and hopefully acquire a love for science and technology. Further down the line the PSC will educate upcoming innovators on how to become successful entrepreneurs in the business of tech.

Penang Science Council pillar leaders with the Chief Minister. From left to right, Datuk Seri Kelvin Kiew, Lim Guan Eng, TT Yew, Datuk Wong Siew Hai and Yoon Chon Leong.

The PSC has five main pillars:
• Sustainable learning and education;
• Cultivating innovation and research;
• Mentoring young scientific entrepreneurs;
• Life sciences and medical health; and
• The Penang Technology Centre.

Photograph: Ong Ee Lynn

By Tricia Yeoh

Civil society plays an essential role in ensuring that governments deliver on their public commitments and do so in a transparent and accountable manner. However, the relationship between NGOs, governments and opposition parties is always a complicated one.

Interestingly, many individuals from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) made the decision to join (then) opposition parties and contest in the 12th General Election. Following the Pakatan Rakyat (Pakatan) coalition’s win in several state governments, these former civil society representatives are today elected representatives serving at the parliamentary, state or local council level, or have been absorbed into the political or state government system as aides and in numerous other roles.

This raises several questions. First, how did civil society fill in the gap left behind after these individuals chose to leave activism or advocacy to move directly into political or government positions? Second, what change in the role of civil society has there been? One school of thought argues that civil society should maintain a very clear distance from government or politics, whilst another argues that some relationship is necessary in order for effective programmes of shared interest to be carried out.

The balance that needs to be struck between maintaining clear boundary lines and interacting with the appropriate people within, for example, the state governments of Penang and Selangor, is one that is explored in this piece, especially given a context in which civil society itself would already be well-acquainted with former activists in government. Elizabeth Wong, state assemblyperson of Bukit Lanjan in Selangor, is a good example of a former human rights activist (Suara Rakyat Malaysia or Suaram) turned politician, whose relationship with existing Klang Valley NGOs is still strong.

Civil society groups within the two states of Penang and Selangor have chosen to take similar but also varying paths to address this issue. In Penang, the Penang Forum which was formed just before March 8, 2008, but was only truly activated after the Pakatan takeover, has a clear raison d’etre. This coalition of “progressive public-interest” civil society groups aims to “promote participatory local democracy, sustainable planning and development, economic justice, affordable housing, environmental consciousness and heritage conservation.” The 15 groups listed on its website (www.penangforum.com) meet regularly, and have had an impressive track record over the past four years holding conferences and roundtable discussions.

Penang is historically known for its flourishing civil society, and it is also clear that under the new Pakatan state government, the groups took it upon themselves to continue this trend more concertedly. As such, four Penang Forums have been held, during which important state issues were raised, including that of sustainable development, good governance, environment and federalism. It is understood that specific working groups have been formed to date, such as on healthcare, environmental issues, arts, women, transport, heritage, labour, local government elections, persons with disabilities, youth, and poverty and security. The Penang Forum also meets with the Penang state government – no less than the Chief Minister himself – regularly to raise issues and air grouses.

In Selangor, a similar coalition of civil society groups was formed shortly after March 2008 for the same reason of ensuring that NGO concerns were maintained and consolidated. A Coalition for Good Governance (CGG) was formed, which consists of 49 civil society groups, also organised into different working groups on Freedom of Information (FOI), local government elections, ombudsman and so on. Another thematic focus has been citizenship education, where the CGG worked with resident associations, conducting community workshops to raise awareness on local participatory decision-making, and conducting and distributing short videos on citizens’ roles and rights. The CGG has a rotating secretariat, where formerly Empower helmed the position, before passing it on to Friends of Kota Damansara (FOKD). Pusat Komas will soon take over this responsibility.

It is interesting to note that the CGG approach differs slightly from that of the Penang Forum. In the former’s case, representatives of working groups would sit in as members of a Selangor government joint committee to push a certain agenda. For example, CGG members were part of the Selangor taskforce formed to draft the FOI Bill that would later be debated and passed into law. (The FOI Act has already been passed in Selangor, the first such piece of legislation in the country.) The CGG similarly requests for regular meetings with the Selangor state government and its Menteri Besar to discuss pressing matters.

One key issue that both the Penang Forum and the CGG in Selangor have raised consistently throughout the last four years is that of local government elections. The Selangor government commissioned the CGG to prepare a paper on the subject, particularly the legal and administrative options available to the state. Following this, the process was to allow the state government to work with the CGG on a work plan, carving out building blocks that would allow local elections – or at least pilot elections – to take place.

In fact, the subject of local government itself is quite central to the relationship between the state government and civil society – as can be seen in the appointment in both Pakatan states of civil society representatives as councillors. Their election manifesto, for example, has as one of its promises to allocate 30% of all local councillor seats to NGO candidates.

The Penang Forum has organised itself well enough to hold an election to determine one civil society representative each to serve in the two councils, the Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) and Seberang Perai Municipal Council (MPSP). These elected names are then submitted to the state government for consideration as councillors.

In Selangor, a controversy arose in 2010 when the NGO quota of 30% was filled with some candidates who were simultaneously party members or professionals close to the Pakatan political parties. This resulted in the formation of the Coalition of NGOs and Professional Appointed Councillors (Conpac), a loose body made up of all civil society and professional councillors within the 12 local councils in Selangor. It functions as a support network and as a co-ordination mechanism.

In reality, Conpac sees itself as a “power block” against the political blocks that civil society councillors experience coming from the political parties. Unlike Penang Forum’s more systematic way of nominating civil society representatives through a formal election, Conpac sources for reputable NGO members and the final names agreed upon are based on a consensus within its steering committee, which are thereafter similarly submitted to the Selangor government for consideration. A second sub-issue is that of development and the urban planning process, where civil society councillors (and NGOs in general) in both states consistently feel the need to mitigate property and commercial development which they feel have compromised on good quality of city living.

Just how much distance should civil society maintain from politicians and government? This issue was also broached at the national level, when Bersih 2.0 (an independent civil society-led movement) allowed Pakatan politicians to be present at its press conference. Is civil society compromised when it works too closely with the very governments they are to scrutinise?

A fine balance has to be struck here, and each circumstance would require its own examination and analysis. In order for real effective reforms to take place, working with governments is necessary. However, if after numerous attempts it becomes impossible to nurture such a relationship, or if civil society views that the particular government or political party is not genuine about its reforms, then such a relationship would have to be re-evaluated.

Finally, despite cultivating close interactions with governments or political parties able to institute change, civil society groups understand that their responsibility is to continuously keep governments on their toes. Transparency International Malaysia, for example, works closely with numerous government agencies both at the state and national level to implement its Integrity Pacts (IPs), but does not hesitate to release scathing public statements that criticise the federal government for corrupt practices. The same should be carried out in Pakatan states, where civil society should be empowered to do both: working to achieve a reform target, but at the same time maintain a healthy distance that allows it to have a critical and objective view of issues.

Tricia Yeoh has previously worked with the Selangor state government and is now attached to a market research consultancy.

By Rosalind Chua

Datuk Wong Siew Hai
Pillar leader for the Penang Technology Centre; Chairman, Malaysian American Electronics Industry

Tell us a little more about the proposed Penang Tech Centre (PTC).
We want to showcase current technology and take away the mystery of science and technology, making them available to the public, children, students and even investors. The PTC will also be a place for career counselling where the exhibits demonstrate the work involved. We are modelling this after the San Jose Tech Centre where the private sector and the government collaborate to make it a reality.

What is your vision for the PTC in the long term?
To become the most interesting and inspiring tech centre in the region.

What are the (hoped for) long-term benefits of the PSC and PTC?
Hopefully it will inspire children and students to study science and engineering. It will encourage more companies to get involved in this effort through the various signature events. I also hope that the PTC will become the place to view the best of new technology and even convince potential investors to invest in the country.

Datuk Seri Kelvin Kiew
Pillar leader for Mentoring Young Scientific Entrepreneurs; Chairman and chief executive officer, Mini-Circuits Technologies Malaysia

“Mini-Circuits got involved with PSC because we believe it is good for the state, the people, the industry and economy. The underlying objective of PSC is to encourage future generations to become interested in science, which is the basic foundation for the acquisition of technical knowledge. Technology and science go hand in hand and I completely agree with the Chief Minister’s idea of focusing on science.

Based on my experience of working with new graduates and high school children, I noticed that they acquired good textbook knowledge but were weak in applying these theories. Our education system is too examination scoredriven. Our graduates are not job ready because they have not been trained sufficiently to apply what they learned to their job requirements. PSC will enable this process.

I focus on giving our young students the opportunity to apply what they have learned and make it fun to apply science to their projects or their daily lives.”

TT Yew
Pillar leader for Sustainable Learning and Education Managing director, Motorola Malaysia

“I am excited by the Chief Minister’s vision to promote and rekindle an interest in science in young children, which is why I volunteered to serve on the PSC.

I had the experience of leading the Young Enterprise programme for the Northern Region in the past, and helped to formulate a similar process for the PSC Robotic Programme for the Young. Thanks to the cooperation of various local colleges, multinational corporations (MNCs) and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that contributed funds and trainers, the PSC Robotic Programme made progress with a number of competitions.”

Datuk Kim Hae Dong
Pillar leader for Life Sciences & Medical Health; President of B.Braun Asia Pacific

What is your vision for the PSC in the long term?
In addition to PSC’s vision to establish Penang as the premier hub for technology innovation in the region, B.Braun is also hoping PSC will establish Penang as the future hub for Medical Health and Life Sciences in Malaysia and the Asia-Pacific Region.

How has B.Braun contributed to the development of the PSC?
We’ve focused on three areas – outreach, funding and education. Outreach – We collaborate by partnering with the state’s research institutions, MNCs, academic institutions and government to create an awareness of life sciences and medical health through talks, seminars, conferences and exhibitions. Funding – B.Braun has funded and sponsored various PSC events. Education – We nurture and build interest in students by running awareness campaigns, seminars, talks, interschool competitions, Youth Camps and even school adoption programmes.

Shidah Ahmad
Vice president and general manager, Agilent Technologies. Agilent is the secretariat of PSC and integrates the activities of all the five pillars.

Why did your organisation decide to become involved with the PSC?
This is very much aligned to Agilent’s corporate social responsibility objective – to inspire and nurture the younger generation in science and technology. PSC provides a strategic platform for industry players like Agilent to combine their resources and strengthen efforts towards the creation of a pipeline of scientific and engineering talents that every company can benefit from.

Agilent was also a main sponsor of the Penang International Science Fair. We had the largest presence at the fair with three booths exhibiting our technology platforms and products that gave visitors an exciting and fun experience of technology in action. We carried out our signature programme, “Agilent After School”, which gave over 800 schoolchildren a hands-on opportunity to build model cars based on Newton’s third law of motion and solar energy. Supporting and guiding the children were some 200 Agilent employee volunteers.

What were your impressions of the inaugural Science Fair?
The mood at the fair was simply electrifying! The entire space was bustling with activities for visitors, especially for the children, who wanted to try out just about every science experiment available. From here on, the experience can only get better!

Robin A. Martin
Pillar leader for Cultivating Innovation and Research Managing director, Intel Malaysia Vice president, Technology and Manufacturing Group General manager, Assembly Test Manufacturing, Intel Corporation
“Intel was founded and built by inventors, which is why we believe that education, innovation and entrepreneurship are key to driving economic growth and improving social conditions. We believe that a solid mathematics and science foundation coupled with key skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking and collaboration are the foundation for innovation.”

What is your vision for the PSC in the long term?
The PSC is the brainchild of the Penang Chief Minister and has garnered strong support from the industry to generate interest amongst the young in Penang to create a dynamic, innovative and creative society based on science and technology.

Intel co-founder Robert Noyce once said, “Don’t be encumbered by past history – go off and do something wonderful.” I believe the sustained support and collaboration amongst the industry, academia and the government will help us all achieve the vision of inspiring innovation and sustainable economic development for the state and country.

What were your impressions of the inaugural Science Fair?
When we started planning for the Science Fair, we didn’t expect a turnout of over 12,000 visitors and participants for the day! The industry, large and small, as well as academic institutions very eagerly volunteered to play a key role in making the Science Fair a fun and educational event for the young and old alike. It was heart-warming to see children still queuing at 8pm for the last activity for the day!

Stefen Chow.
Photograph: Ong Ee Lynn

What does it mean to be poor, really?

That was the question photographer Stefen Chow asked when he started The Poverty Line. The undertaking is unusual for a photography project, because Chow isn’t looking for answers through moving portraits or barren landscapes. Instead he’s relying on cold, hard numbers. The Poverty Line strips away emotion in favour of a bare-bone analysis, distilling poverty to an issue of choice: What foods can the world’s poor afford to live on, day to day?

Together with his wife, economist Lin Hui-Yi, he set about figuring out what a country’s poverty line is in the form of a per-person, per-day rate. Armed with that figure, the Beijing-based Malaysian creates a visual portrait of what food items someone living on the poverty line can afford. The result is a stark portrayal of the choices that the poor are limited to every day. Chow and Lin began with China in November 2010, eventually covering 16 countries across five continents by the end of 2011.

The ongoing project has been an immense success, garnering international attention and winning the 2011 Arles Photography Open Salon. His photography was exhibited in the prestigious Galerie Huit in Arles, France, and more recently in China House and Alliance Française de Penang in George Town. We spoke to Chow about the venture and what it means to him.

How did The Poverty Line come about, and what sort of research did you have to do?
There have already been very inspirational works done by my contemporaries, who document poverty head on. I wanted to add to this discussion, but in a different way. I wanted to come up with a very simple understanding of what being poor means.

I think the full picture of the poverty line is too complicated for a layman like me to really understand. Lin is an economist and she does market research as a profession. My expertise is in photography, perhaps storytelling. We decided to collaborate because The Poverty Line, at the heart of it, is about statistics and economics. I didn’t want it to merely be a creative way of approaching this subject. It’s very important to allow us to have as factual a view of the poverty line as possible.

The Poverty Line China: 3.28 yuan. Steamed buns.
Photograph courtesy of Stefen Chow.

I met someone from the economic board in Malaysia. When I read the entire statement on how the Malaysian poverty line is derived, she agreed with it wholeheartedly, because the research was done correctly.

Once Lin comes up with the amount, I would source for the cheapest goods available.

As you did your research, was there anything that you discovered that you didn’t expect to find?
Yes. I must say that I had a lot of assumptions about what being poor means. My friends and I were assuming that “the poor” would refer to people who are homeless, who are jobless, who perhaps made some wrong choices or were given some very poor starts in life.

And I was wrong. In India, the poverty line was at about 50% of the entire population. So we’re talking about 400 million to 500 million people who are defined as poor. In Japan, the poverty line was set at about 19% of the population. Even if you are earning about the equivalent of US$3,000 in Japan, you’re considered poor.

Poverty does not mean you’re homeless, poverty means you are underprivileged and you have limited choices in life, in your own country. Ten dollars a day a person may seem a lot in Malaysia, but that would be the poverty line in Switzerland.

At the same time, I found out that if you are poor, there are certain foods which are a lot cheaper than others. One of the cheapest staples I find in almost every country is potatoes. To my surprise, the price of potatoes in Germany and India are about the same.

But once you go into meat, processed food or food served by others, your options become very limited. In China, out of about 100 items, I could only get about two meat items. In Madagascar, India or Nepal, you virtually cannot get meat anywhere if you’re poor.

The Poverty Line France: €5.60. Beef.
Photograph courtesy of Stefen Chow.

But the World Bank’s figure is actually US$2 a day, compared to US$0.49 a day. What’s the difference? The difference is saying there are 20 million poor people in China versus 400 million.

Do you know why there’s a difference?
The World Bank basically divides the world into two parts: the developing world and the developed world. The developing world is bunched together in the same basket. But China argues that it is not Africa. And I think there are different calculations on what poverty entails. In the developing world, it’s usually on a caloric measure: How much do you have to pay to get 2,000 calories a day?

Within China itself, the people know nothing about the World Bank figure. And the figure is rarely used, because it’s the same figure used for the African continent and for India, and prices are different.

In the end we decided to go with the national statistic, which is given by the Chinese government. Whether it’s biased or not is not something we will address, but based on the amount of research we have done, the national figure seems to be more accurate.

There are different definitions of the poverty line; there can be statistics that can seem artificially low, and others where you’d think someone would simply not be able to survive on that amount. In the end, interpretation is really dependent on the viewer.

The Poverty Line Malaysia: RM4.17. Instant noodles.
Photograph courtesy of Stefen Chow.

Which countries are you working on now?
Right now we have not really thought about where we want to go, because up to this point everything has been sort of self-funded; I’ve been riding on commercial projects. I want to go to South America, because that’s where The Poverty Line has not reached. And I really want to go to the main continent of Africa because if you talk about poverty, that’s where it really is. Closer to home, countries like Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos come to mind.

The Poverty Line has been done in five continents so far. If we reach out to as many people as possible, it’ll be great. We intend for this to be a lifelong project, because the poverty lines change, just as time changes. We hope to be able to continue with this project for as long as I can take a picture.

If we could effect change, that would be marvellous. But that’s not really our intention. The body of work is just a vehicle to start a discussion on poverty itself. Quite a few organisations have approached us, and I think everyone wants to bring this to the masses. The Poverty Line is bigger than who I am as a photographer.