The 9Th Methodist Convention - The Future Of Sarawak From A Chtistian Perspective - Part 6

Mr. Tan Kee Hian then turned to the social aspects of Malaysia. How have we fared so far?

On our income and wealth distribution aspect, Kee Hian used The Gini Coefficient to elaborate how equally/unequally we have been distributing our income/wealth.

The Gini Coefficient is an index commonly used as a measure of inequality of income or wealth distribution. It is expressed as a percentage with values between 0% and 100%. Low Gini coefficient indicates more equal distribution and high coefficient gives an indication of more unequal distribution. In other words, the lower the better.

The present worldwide Gini coefficients range from 23.2 in Denmark to 70.7 in Namibia.

Typically the coefficients in rich nations are less than 40%. Countries in Continental Europe are typically less than 30%.

Kee Hian then moved on to point out that Malaysia's Gini Rating is far from satisfactory. It is shocking to note the countries with Gini coefficients staying close to Malaysia's (our Gini coefficient presently is at 49.2%) :

Guinea-Bissau (47)
Nepal (47.2)
Mozambique (47.3)
Madagascar (47.5)
Venezuela (48.2)
Costa Rica (49.8)
Zimbabwe (50.1)
The Gambia (50.2)
Swaziland (50.4)
Niger (50.5)
Zambia (50.8)
Papua New Guinea (50.9)

If the above has not thrown you off balance, then the following coefficients of Malaysia's neighbours might strike you a blow:

South Korea (31.6)
Indonesia (34.3)
Vietnam (34.4)
Laos (34.6)
India (36.8)
Sri Lanka (40.2)
Cambodia (41.7)
Thailand (42.0)
Singapore (42.5)
Philippines (44.5)
China (46.9)