PETALING JAYA: Muhyiddin Yassin (PN-Pagoh) has urged the government to develop a five-year master plan to tackle poverty in urban and semi-urban areas, with a focus on housing, healthcare, employment, education and social assistance.
The former prime minister said the plan should involve agencies across ministries to ensure a more comprehensive and effective approach.
Citing the 2024 Household Income and Basic Amenities Survey, Muhyiddin said the income gap between urban and rural areas remained significant, with absolute rural poverty standing at 10% in 2024.
"Median household income in rural areas was RM4,588, compared with RM8,139 in urban areas.
“Urban poverty is also becoming an increasingly pressing issue. The urban absolute poverty rate was 3.7% in 2024, down from 4.5% in 2022.
"However, relative poverty remains high at 16.7%. This shows that the challenges of inequality and the cost of living remain relevant, including in urban areas,” he said when debating the 2027 budget in the Dewan Rakyat today.
The Bersatu president said rapid development in major cities such as Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Johor Bahru must consider the needs of the poor to prevent them from facing greater hardship or being marginalised.
"Specific planning must be put in place to ensure the urban poor have economic and educational opportunities to improve their lives and those of their families by benefitting from the spillover effects of urban development."
Concerns over rice self-sufficiency target
Muhyiddin also expressed concern over the government’s rice self-sufficiency ratio (SSR) target of 54% for 2027, down from the previous target of 59.9%.
He said the target raised questions given that the actual SSR in 2025 was 54.3%, while the 13th Malaysia Plan set a target of 80% by 2030.
“If we want to consider this a crisis, I think it is already a crisis for me. We have reached a critical point where we must determine more decisive and courageous measures,” he said.
He proposed setting up a special Cabinet committee chaired by the prime minister for five years to formulate a more robust action plan to increase domestic food production.
Among the issues requiring attention, he said, were unused agricultural land and rising farming input costs.
Muhyiddin also urged the government to relaunch the “Green Revolution” to increase rice production and the output of other food crops.
“Do not misunderstand this as the green on the other side. The Green Revolution means encouraging, intensifying and taking drastic measures to increase domestic production of all the produce we can supply,” he said, making a light-hearted reference to PAS which is associated with the colour green.