The Paradox of Hardcore Poor

Oni wat doik tapod bu togan idip miskin?

There is a term that I find both appaling and hilarious; and in English, the word is 'hardcore poor'. However, when you read out the Malay word for it, it's called miskin tegar. I don't know if other people see it the way I see it, but I think when you look at the word in the Malay context, it's as if miskin tegar means that you are damned to be poor, all the time.

First of all, I must say that almost no one WANTS to be poor, and also, almost no one wants to be poor ALL THEIR LIFE. Most people, want to at least be able to live a moderate life, where you are able to afford food, clothing and shelter for yourself and your family. So to avoid being poor, people do many things such earning money from getting jobs, pursuing higher education to earn better jobs with better income and set up businesses (even small ones). The constant 'reality check' of not wanting to be poor and to be able to earn something for oneself  is the fuel for INITIATIVE. Coz with initiative, people will take action for themselves.

Now, being miskin tegar is a trap that not only defeats you financially but also emotionally, and sometimes even spritually. A lot of miskin tegar folks, easily say this sentence, "Dah hidup macam tok, maok polah kedak ney?".

When the spirit is broken, the body follows...so if a person were to say that in a situation where they are only miskin, they automatically downgrade themselves into the miskin tegar category. They give no hope unto themselves to be better than what they already are.

That is why, when you watch the evening news or read the papers on the national economy, ten years a go there would be 20% (an example) of the population who are miskin tegar. Then the government starts an initiative to abolish or reduce the amount, and five years later the number falls to 15%. However, the minute oil prices go up for example, the people who were previously able escape the miskin tegar category suddenly return to being miskin tegar again. So now the number of miskin tegar people is back to 20%. Notice that there is still that 10% who were miskin tegar 5 years ago even after the government's initiative to reduce poverty? They are constantly very poor regardless if the economy is good or bad. These are the people who truly embody the meaning of miskin tegar.

Let say in a domestic level, the miskin tegar group is defined as households than earn less than RM300 per month in 1995, and we take a family that earns RM 150 a month, as an example. So a government agriculture project is implemented to allow them to earn RM 300 more a month. Now they are out of the miskin tegar group with an income of RM 450. So naturally they just stick to whatever that was provided for them, and consistently earn RM 350 a month. Suddenly, as the economy takes a bad turn in 1998 and inflation surges, the governments then adjusts the level of the miskin tegar group as households that earn less than RM 500! Now, this family falls back into that group again! Isn't that a cruel paradox?

With each effort made by the government or even NGOs to help reduce poverty, especially those categorized as miskin tegar, they always pop up again every time there's a drop in the economy. That means, the effort to reduce it is almost fruitless because as the years go by, inflation will simply increase. I mean, even for medium income groups, salary adjustments and increments is not parallel with inflation.

"No matter what, we will stay poor even if the nation prospers! Coz we are HARDCORE!!!! Huurraah!!"

I think that a good slogan for miskin tegar. Now, I don't intend to make fun of people in this group coz some of them are really people who are unable to help themselves. You know, like single mothers who were suddenly left by their husbands and have to feed a family of seven kids. Or senior citizens who have been abandoned by their children. Or senior citizens who have no children to fend for them. I have utmost sympathy and respect for these types who still try to survive even in the most adverse situations and even in the most frail physical conditions. They deserve all the help and attention that we can give. 

What I am writing about are the people who are bodily able and physically capable of making a difference (for themselves only) yet act indifferently. There are quite a lot of them around you know, and these are the people whose mindset could almost never be changed, no matter how much you try to help them. To put it in a simple example, these are usually the ones who consistently beg but when you take two or three glances at them, you notive that they are as fit as a fiddle, and yet they just ask you for money. Even though they ask nicely, I still view them as kaki pow! They're just like people who rob you at knifepoint, but with better PR skills. Hahaha.

But then again, without them, the miskin tegar clan would be extinct, and we surely don't want certain species to become extinct, right?