"It is my belief that the current restrictions on the availability of income data is a most unfortunate outcome for everyone with an interest in Malaysia. Much scholarly ingenuity is diverted into trying to make sense of the very limited sources of published data. And the MalaysJin government (and public) is deprived from getting a full return on its investment in the scarce human capital of social scientists."
As for the estimates of poverty incidence, the basis for determining poverty level in Malaysia is income. The reason for using income rather than consumption expenditure is a practical one, that is income data is available at more regular intervals ( every three years as compared to every five years for the Household Expenditure Survey in the case of Malaysia). However, it has also been argued that the consumption expenditure is the better basis of determining who is poor and who is not. This is because income in a given month or year may be temporarily high or low. Under that circumstances, the household tries to smooth their consumption across period by saving or dissaving as needed. For this reason, household consumption during the survey period is a better guide to their permanent standard of living than their current income. It is true that consumption data has the drawback that it leaves out saving, and therefore potential future consumption. However, at any rate, for the low-income people, consumption data is considered better basis for determining poverty level. But, in Malaysia, the Household Expenditure Survey (the latest was carried out in 1993/4) is mainly used to provide the basis for determining the items of household expenditure (as well as their weightage) to be included in the calculation of the Consumer Price Indices.
Some Other Gaps in Income Distribution Study in Malaysia
Studies on income distribution should not only concern With the changing pattern of' income distribution (and poverty level) but should also research on income determinants and sources of inequality. However, efforts towards understanding the sources of income inequality is partly hampered by lack of relevant data. For example, assessment of income inequalities based on the Gini
