Special Lecture by YM Royal Professor Ungku A.Aziz On Real Poverty (14 Oct 2009)
Yang Mulia Royal Professor Ungku A.Aziz, Recipient of Merdeka Award for Education & Community Category delivered a special lecture on ‘Real Poverty’ at the Chancellor Hall of Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) recently. This is another lecture under the Merdeka Award Lecture Series and it is the first of its kind to be held in Perak.
In the spirit of sharing the experience and success stories of the recipients, the Merdeka Award Lecture Series was initiated in September 2008. Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS is indeed fortunate to be selected as the organiser of this Lecture Series. Since then, 5 lectures were organised at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Monash University, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre and Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS).
YM Royal Professor Ungku A. Aziz who is a well-known leading economist in Malaysia and Asia has made distinguished achievements in Malaysia's education and lasting contributions towards Malaysia’s community development.
He has conducted research on poverty for 35 years, and in his speech, he shared his views on three causes of poverty in rural areas which are:
- Lack of productivity (i.e farmers have limited land to work on)
- Exploitation because of 2MM System (Monopoly and Monopsony)
- Neglected of development since they are located far from the developed area.
All these causes can be avoided if the administrators and the bureaucrats are not subjected to corruption. He also added that the extreme poverty in Malaysia could be improved by providing nutritious food, good education, good health, improved transportation system and involvement in sports and games. Furthermore, he also suggested that the poor should be provided with a special card where the government will top up for instance RM300 – RM500 per month. They can use the card to buy groceries or even petrol at selected shops using the special system.
The overall significance of Ungku Aziz’s achievements and contributions including first, in pioneering the study of the economics of poverty and has since pursued extensive research; second, his work has become critical reference points, aiding policy makers in the development of new strategies & programmes for poverty alleviation, and, third, he has been instrumental in supporting government efforts towards sustainable poverty eradication and equalisation of income distribution in the country.
Indeed, Ungku Aziz is a contemporary renaissance man who is well educated and excels in a wide variety of subjects and fields. He portrays the ideal that “a man can do all things if he will”.
A total of almost 2,000 audiences benefited from this lecture. The audiences include YBhg Dato' M Khalid B Mohd, Executive Director of Merdeka Award, YBhg Datuk Dr Zainal Abidin Haji Kasim, Rector of Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, management, staff and students of UTP, government officers, secondary school students and the public.
