With Malaysia now in the midst of our fourth lockdown, we have seen increased calls for more aid to be disbursed to the rakyat, especially individuals and families who are from the lower-income group or who have fallen into that group because of the pandemic. Here’s where we often hear the use of the terms “B40”, “M40” and occasionally “T20”, with regards to who needs assistance. But do these categories capture the right demographic who are struggling during the pandemic? What impact will the pandemic have on income inequality in the long-term? We find out from Dato’ Dr Madeline Berma, Fellow from the Academy of Sciences Malaysia

*Correction: Dato' Dr Madeline Berma mentioned that the income threshold for B40 is up to RM4,850 and for M40 is between RM4,851 to  RM 10,970. Based on data from the Department of Statistics Malaysia, the threshold for B40 is below RM4,850 and for M40 is between RM4,850 to RM10,959.

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