Talkback Tuesday - Are we doing enough for the poor? ("You are the Government" Series Part 7 of 9)

Being poor is hard for anyone any where in the world. In Malaysia where cost of living is rising rapidly, and the economy is rapidly hurtling towards becoming a high-income nation, competing in high tech, knowledge based economy, there is an added time pressure for the poor to lift themselves out of the poverty vicious cycle that could, if we are not careful, span generations.
What do we know of the poor? Other than making do with very little income?

We associate the poor with crime – people resorting to stealing to make ends meet.

We associate the poor with low levels of education, lack of skills – children who have to work and skip school, unintentionally depriving themselves of the chance to escape poverty itself.

We associate the poor with disengagement from society. Although the poor live away from the gaze of society, and most of us tend not to seek them out, we know they are there.

But what is being done to help the poor? What CAN be done to help the poor?