How Some Good People Are Helping the Poor

I read a Straits Times article a few months back about a small but quite popular tourist area somewhere in India. It is on some mountainous area with good view etc. Just like all other places in India including the large cities like Delhi and Mumbai, there were many poor people making a living by scavenging and begging. Poor parents and children spend their time rummaging through the rubbish dumps and streets just to find enough to survive.

As this place was quite popular, there was a lot of trash thrown all over the place. A man who was either a university professor or someone with some government body came up with an idea to both rid the area of rubbish and give the poor people a decent income. The idea was for the poor to be organised into teams that will collect thrash like plastic containers and cans from the various parts of the area and sell them to recycling plants. He got the recycling plants to agree to the plan. He also got the local hotels and shops to place their garbage for collection by these teams of poor people. Apparently the program worked very well and a man who used to beg was quoted as saying that he now finds a decent income and could afford to send his children to school. To him it was a wish that would not have been possible without this idea and effort from this one gentleman.


Mobile Phones Give New Hope to the Rural Poor

Today I read this acticle about a bank in Bangladesh that gives small loans to small farmers and business people (micro credit). The Grameen Bank was founded by a 'celebrated banker of the poor' Professor Muhammad Yunus. The company also has a phone company of the same name that pioneered the sale of mobile phones at subsidised rates to village women. The women were selected from their track record as the bank's borrowers. The villagers then used the phones to get in touch with markets in towns which were far away from their village. In that way, middle men cannot cheat the farmers anymore. The phone company conducts a day long training session before issuing the phones. The only condition is that at least one member of the family must recognise the English alphabet.

It was really nice to know of such people and what they were doing for the poor in their countries. What contrast it is to compare that to what I hear about what happens in the different countries:

Malaysia : I hear so many similar stories from different relatives and friends from all over Malaysia that there must be quite a lot of truth to it. PM Mahathir himself was reported in Malaysian newspapers recently to have complained that the government has to review its student loan policies. That's because the students were not appreciative of what the government did for them and were supporting the opposition. He said that all of them get study loans when they go the university (Malays go in under a quota system) and the first thing they do with the money was to buy motorcycles to go round with. They were not interested in studying but politicking.

There was also a story that my cousin in Simpang Rengam (in Johore Malaysia) related to me. There was a Malay couple about to retire as teachers (most teachers in the last 20 years were Malays as part of the government program to promote their involvement in all aspects of the economy). Apparently in Malaysia, a retiring government employee can borrow about 30 thousands dollars each from the government as seed money to help them start whatever business they choose. So everyone does it (the Malays that is, since they makes up 80 to 90% of the civil service). They will get some wood to build a cart and sell something (whatever) and apply for the loan. Once the loan is obtained, the money will be used first to buy a car or motorcycle which they will parade through town. The supposedly new business almost always never take off and the loans not returned. Apparently, the couple went round the small town bragging to the others that they will get 50 over thousand Ringgit just like that when they retire.

Talking about teachers, PM Mahathir also commented about the rising number of non-Chinese students in Chinese schools and the government was looking at increasing the size of those schools. That was just before the Malaysian general elections of 1999. He said the reason why the other races are sending their children to Chinese schools was not because they wanted to learn Chinese. Just that the teachers there are 'more committed'. I guess he meant what everyone knew for decades. The teachers in government schools who are mostly Malays were useless.

Singapore : The government has just topped up S$250 into the CPF account of each Singaporean. There was a long queue of old people in the CPF today to collect the 'bonus'. Only people above 55 years old and who meet criteria like having more than the minimum savings are allowed to withdraw the money. It was quite refreshing to know that the Singapore government appreciated the plight of the older generation who needs the money more than the younger ones.