Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap on cost of living crisis

Establish a more systematic approach towards monitoring the effectiveness of social assistance programmes, urged MP Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap in Parliament on Tuesday (Nov 7). He repeated a suggestion to the Government to establish three social protection “steps” corresponding to 30 per cent, 50 per cent and 80 per cent of the median income per household member. Movement of households from one step to the next could then be among the progress tracked in an annual social protection report. For example, a key performance indicator could be to reduce the percentage of households in steps one and two within a reasonable timeframe of five years. If this does not happen, gaps in the social protection system could be identified and addressed. Publishing this annual report would also create accountability for the use of public funds and help raise awareness of the issues faced by lower-income groups so that support can be better coordinated, he said.