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One in every 20 Malay Sikhs
living in Perak is hardcore poor
WSN Network
IPOH:
Malaysian Sikh community leaders have said that one in every 20
Sikhs in Perak was living in extreme poverty. The Sikh community’s
hardcore poor numbers around 1,500, constituting about 400
families, or five per cent of the total 28,000 Sikhs in the state.
Menteri Besar
Dr. Zambry Abdul Kadir that he has decided to include the
eradication of hardcore poverty among Sikhs in his administration’s
action plan. After meeting the Union of Perak Sikh Organisations
(Upso), he said the data on hardcore poor within the community took
him by surprise.
“Like many
others, my worldview of the Sikhs has been that they don’t have
severe socio-economic problems like other communities. But, after
listening to Sikh leaders talking about the level of hardcore
poverty in the community, I must say that it did shock me,” he said.
Leaders of Upso,
an umbrella body representing seven Sikh nongovernmental
organisations, met Zambry to highlight various problems faced by the
state’s Sikh community. The group also highlighted the need for
state government intervention to help with issues involving single
mothers, language and education.
24
June 2009
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