What does this topic have to do with me?
Whether you are aid or not, the fact is: every penny spent by the government is the money you and me as taxpayers. In view of this, we need to understand how the aid system works and how aid can reduce the living expenses of beneficiaries?
There is no free lunch in the world, but the government transforms into the "God of Wealth" every year and sends financial assistance to qualified publics to help reduce their living burden.
Over the past 12 years, the government has prepared nearly RM90 billion in just distributing aid funds.
It all starts with BR1M. . .
The "Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia, BR1M" launched by former Prime Minister Najib in the 2012 fiscal budget initially distributed a one-time aid of RM500 to families with monthly incomes below RM3,000 (regardless of the number of children).
In the next six years, the government will not only increase its investment, but also expand its aid scope, so even single people will benefit.
The more children, the higher the aid
After the PH government came to power, the "One Horse Aid Fund" was renamed "Bantuan Sara Hidup" (BSH). How much the benefit families can get depends on monthly income and the number of children; the threshold for singles to benefit is raised and aid funds are also reduced.
Aid funds increase to help people fight the epidemic
During the outbreak of the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, the National League government issued national care assistance funds (BPN) in two sessions. B40 (the lowest monthly income of 40%) families received a total of RM2,600, more than five times more than in 2012!
Return to targeted assistance
The People's Care Aid (BPR) launched in the 2021 Budget, once again determines how much each family can get based on monthly income and the number of children.
Special aid funds will be issued before the epidemic has dissipated
In 2021, the COVID-19 epidemic did not improve, and the government issued another special aid fund (Bantuan Khas COVID-19, BKC) to assist the B40 and M40 groups.
More groups in Malaysia benefit from
In line with the "Malaysia" concept advocated by then Prime Minister Ismail Saberi, the aid fund measure was renamed "Bantuan Keluarga Malaysia, BKM). In addition to the first time aid for the unmarried seniors, families with single parents or older people receive additional RM500 and RM300 respectively.
Anhua has provided a lot of assistance to increase revenue and reduce expenditure
The Solidarity Government, led by the current Prime Minister Anwar, has promoted the charity initiative and renamed the aid fund to the charity assistance fund (Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah, STR). Although the authorities have increased revenue and reduced expenditure, the beneficiary groups remained roughly unchanged, and the amount of aid is still higher than last year; and extremely poor families have received an additional RM600 worth of food baskets and food stamps.
How much has the aid fund helped the people?
According to the data released by the Bureau of Statistics, households with monthly income below RM2,500 can fill 8% to 22% of annual expenses by receiving aid funds in the past four years.
However, it should be noted that the movement control order implemented by my country during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has seriously affected the livelihoods of many people. Therefore, the aid funds in that year were higher than in previous years, helping low-income groups to overcome difficulties.
Assuming that the aid funds completely replace household expenditures, the aid funds received by households with monthly income of RM2,500 are equivalent to all expenditures from one month to two and a half months. However, this estimate does not include other considerations, such as delaying repayment of loans and discounts on utility bills to reduce living expenses.
