By U AC

 

IF YOU managed to view the last White House meeting between Ukrainian Zelensky and Trump/Vance, you would proba­bly notice how Zelensky had to put up with Trump and Vance bullying him with alternate truths and slight shoves and pushes by Trump. He was not given time to respond. The meeting was un­diplomatic at best, but Zelensky needed the funding. He has no choice but to put up with the an­tics. Simply because he is poor. He needed the money to fight the war. His people needed that.

 

The same thing happened to China and India a couple of dec­ades ago. Both were poor by to­day’s standards then. Now China and India stand at par with coun­tries of the West, not taking any potshots lying down. Oh, what a difference money can make.

 

I can imagine Myanmar lead­ers having to put up with richer ASEAN neighbours and some preachers from the West, try­ing to scold and bully them in meetings and in public, simply because the country is poor and in need of funds and investments.

 

Now you get my drift on why we would need poverty alleviation as a national strategy, right after putting development over peace as our priority.

 

How about a top-down ap­proach?

Well, we have tried that, e.g., in dispensing the COVID loans. Some of these recipient compa­nies’ bosses used the loans for themselves and converted them into US dollars to invest in over­seas properties and assets. Now the government is left with K160 billion (US$40 million) worth of potential bad debts.

 

There are still some busi­ness leaders who believe that a top-down approach of funding or giving money to them would create employment opportunities and, hence, somehow help the poor get out of the poverty trap. When I asked them whether she (the boss) is willing to employ someone bedridden because of tuberculosis, disabled or some­one who can only come on ir­regular days to work, because he/she has to take care of the sick parents or siblings, she has no answer.

 

Businesses and companies are best helped by the govern­ment creating an environment that promotes enterprise and in­vestments in the country. Giving them funds and incentives would not get Myanmar out of poverty, as COVID evidence has shown.

 

Hence, we need to strategize an alternative approach to mass poverty alleviation. Who better to learn from than China? GDP per capita of China has gone up from $300 four decades ago to $12,000+ at present. It now possesses the biggest economy in the world! In terms of property alleviation en masse, no one has done it better than China in the history of this world. And contrary to the usual communist and socialist ideolo­gies, they are not using the top-down approach to help the poor.

 

What foundations do we need?

First and foremost, we need to identify the poor. COVID loans in Myanmar may have been dis­pensed in a ‘who knows who’ format, but this certainly is only going to enrich those who are already not poor. So, identifying the poor correctly is the first step in targeted poverty alleviation.

 

At the same time, being poor is not static. The poor today may not be poor the next day. Your cir­cumstances can change. Hence, we need dynamic management that accompanies the identifica­tion process.

 

As with Mao’s campaign, the success of the project depends on the grassroots support. With village residents’ assistance and participation, the works of pover­ty alleviation are more likely to be successful.

 

Last, the support team of civ­il servants and partisans. They are the strength that is going to make the ideal work. The govern­ment can only give out policies, guidance and funding. It is the government officials who will im­plement and carry out the whole plan to make it a success.

 

How do we know who is poor?

When it comes to getting free handouts from the government, everyone wants to be poor. Just look at how the earthquake hand­outs were quickly snapped up again and again by repeaters. We need a systematic and scientific way of actually identifying the poor, so that the decision is not left to the whims and whimsical choices of ward administrators and village heads. The current corrupt practices by some of them in the selection of military conscripts came to mind.

 

China, when it started the programme, used the famous four looks to determine those in need: a house, food on the plate, able-bodied labour in the house­hold and presence of a school-go­ing child. Scores and weights are given for details of each look. Lat­er, ‘having a bedridden patient’ is added to the list. Some provinces added a negative list to remove certain populations from the poor list, too. An example of a negative list would be ownership of a ma­chine or motorcycle.

 

Dynamic management, res­idents’ assistance and sup­port

After identifying the poor, the dynamic nature of life requires that the list needs verification at the village or ward level, nomina­tion by representatives, appraisal by higher authorities, announce­ment to the public, correction if needed, arbitration if disputed and review if necessary.

 

The support of the pro­gramme by all residents would ensure that the poor themselves are motivated to get out of pover­ty. The mindset has to be altered from getting as many handouts as possible to being motivated to determine one’s destiny. The as­sistance by capable and well-off residents would also help in the team effort to alleviate poverty.

 

The team of civil servants implementing the scheme is also critical to the success of the pro­gram. They must love the people, act with integrity at all times, work hard, be scientific in their approach, yet realistic, unafraid to face challenges and love the country enough to fully dedicate themselves to this cause. They will be the contact points between the central government and the village. They will provide all the services the programme needs and supervise all the aspects of the programme.

 

How do we do that?

The key is to combine vil­lage-level industrialization with targeted property alleviation. China industrialized the villages in four key ways: -

 

- Upgrading the planting and breeding industries by im­proving productivity and pro­viding access to the market.

 

- E-commerce facilitates the village wares and produce to be sold throughout the whole country using e-commerce platforms.

 

- Tourism by promoting unique village attractions, nature and the surrounding environment.

 

- Photovoltaic cells sell elec­tricity generated by solar energy to other regions and provinces in need.

 

Is that all?

Many books have been writ­ten on the triumph of targeted poverty alleviation in China. Even President Xi Jinping has a book, ‘Up and Out of Poverty’, specifically putting down his own experiences on the programme.

 

The programme is large, na­tionwide and requires unwaver­ing commitment from all those involved.

 

In the later parts, we shall look at the other essentials of its success, entrepreneurship and employment, ecological issues, human resource development, mobilisation, reforms, public ser­vices and exit and prevention of return to poverty.

 

Myanmar may be slow at this point in tackling this face-saving issue, but as Confucius said, “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop”.