In recent years, urban poverty in Malaysia has been considered as an increasingly visible phenomenon due to impacts of urbanization. The rising economic and social costs due to rapid urban growth affected the low-income urban population, which is considered vulnerable to economic shocks. Therefore, there is a need to relook at the effects of urbanization and figure out possible solutions, especially for the low-income households.

Yayasan Sejahtera has responded to the challenge via the attempt to understand urban poverty and implementing programmes to support the low-income group through Community Enhancement Programme (CEP) PPR Sungai Bonus in Kuala Lumpur since July 2016.  PPR Sungai Bonus, located at Setapak, Kuala Lumpur is one of the public housing areas developed by the government as a squatters relocation programme, as well as to meet the demands of low-cost housing in the city.

Through the CEP PPR Sungai Bonus project, Yayasan Sejahtera initiated a community-based approach in the development and implementation of community programmes. The programmes are designed to reach out to the adults, youths and children in PPR Sungai Bonus.

For the adults, Yayasan Sejahtera provided assistance in terms of livelihood programme, helping 20 local kiosk owners in PPR Sungai Bonus to boost their business for better income generation. The kiosks were provided by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and Yayasan Sejahtera plans to assist the business owners in setting up equipment and tools that will help them in their business operations. In addition, Yayasan Sejahtera also provides marketing and financial management skills training to the kiosk owners and another group of 20 beneficiaries under the non-livelihood programme.

On the other hand, the youths in PPR Sungai Bonus are given the opportunity to job placements and given assistance in planning for their career.

The children in PPR Sungai Bonus also benefit from Yayasan Sejahtera’s programme through free Mathematics and English tuitions in preparation for Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) and Pentaksiran Tingkatan Tiga (PT3) examinations. Additional motivational programmes are also planned for the children.

Through this initial project, Yayasan Sejahtera has gained various inputs and insights in implementing interventions for urban poverty projects. Among them are the level of engagement and negotiations needed in reaching out to the different levels of the urban poor community, handling the expectations of the beneficiaries and communities and the different issues surfaced from the interventions.

This project is currently ongoing and expected to complete in 2018.

Assistance provided to beneficiaries:

Kiosk equipment and tools for adults (livelihood programme)

Skills training and capacity-building (non-livelihood programme)

Youth’s career opportunities and planning

Free Mathematics and English tuitions for UPSR and PT3

Motivational programmes for children