Malaysia Apparently Has The Lowest Poverty Rate In Southeast Asia

We are not poor, you're poor!

There's quite a number of things Malaysia is good at - playing badminton, making nasi lemak, installing AES cameras - and now, we can add money management to that list.

According to the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) World Factbook 2017, our negara tercinta has the lowest poverty rate in the whole of Southeast Asia.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak told Bernama in a news report that Malaysia's poverty rate stands at 'only' 3.8 percent, which is way lower than those of Myanmar (32.7 per cent), the Philippines (25.2 per cent), Laos (22 per cent), Thailand (12.6 per cent), Indonesia and Vietnam (11.3 per cent).

And compared to countries with high poverty line such as Syria (82.5 per cent), Madagascar (75.3 per cent) and Zimbabwe (72.3 per cent), Salleh feels that the government has had success in "ensuring the wellbeing of its people".

Salleh also added that Malaysia has the highest per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) amongst its regional peers at USD27,200, compared to Thailand's USD16,800, Indonesia's USD11,700 and the Philippines' USD7,700.

So, does that mean we can expect cheaper fuel in 2018?