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ADDRESSING WELLBEING IN MALAYSIA

YBHG. DATUK DR. ZUNIKA BINTI MOHAMED

Deputy Secretary General (Policy)

Ministry of Economy

Malaysia

15TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ISLAMIC ECONOMICS AND FINANCE (15TH ICIEF)

20^th February 2024 (Tuesday)

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CONCEPT OF WELLBEING�

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economic growth

social welfare

health

social protection

communication

education

working life

income & distribution

transportation

public safety

social participation

housing

good governance

entertainment & recreation

environment

family

PWD friendly

sports excellence

National security & defence

standard of living

leisure

education

social participation

job opportunity

family

good life

quality

good governance

inclusive

safe

empowerment

clean & safe water

zero crime

climate resilient

happiness

good mental health

Well ageing

facilities

autonomy

easy access

community support

amenities

The concept of wellbeing varies, with many definitions.

2. Generally, well being is a state of being healthy, happy, or prosperous; physical, psychological, or moral welfare (Oxford Dictionary)

3. Wellbeing covers encompasses of multiple needs hence involves multidimensional measurements and indicators.

4. The United Nations concept of well-being is integral to its broader mission of promoting peace, security, human rights and sustainable development.

5. The World Bank refers well-being as the state of being healthy, happy, and prosperous. It often emphasizes economic indicators such as income per capita, poverty rates, access to basic services, and infrastructure when assessing well-being in different countries and regions.

6. The OECD takes a holistic approach to well-being beyond economic indicators to capture the broader aspects of people's lives and well-being. It has developed the Better Life Index which includes dimensions such as income, jobs, health, education, environment, civic engagement, social connections, and life satisfaction.

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Wellbeing has been and still an utmost priority of the government…

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“Ekonomi MADANI is based on the philosophy of humanistic economic development and growth based on values, society, civilisation and norms which is an aspiration for the country.

The Mid-Term Review of 12MP emphasis on Building a Prosperous Society where the development of the Rakyat should not be measured solely by economic growth, but should take into account the aspects of wellbeing as a whole.

The current priority of the Government is ‘raising the floor’ by providing a robust social safety net for the less fortunate groups”

YAB Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim

Prime Minister Malaysia

The Mid-Term Review of 12MP

11 September 2023

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�Wellbeing is monitored through various measurements…�

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International Agencies

REPORT	Malaysia’s Achievement
Human Development Index (UNDP) – 2021/2022	62/191
World Happiness Index (United Nations) - 2023	55/149
Human Capital Index (World Economic Forum) - 2018	55/157
Legatum Prosperity Index (Legatum Institute) - 2023	42/167
Environmental Performance Index (Yale University) - 2023	130/180
Social Progress Index (Social Progress Imperative) - 2021	51/168
Global Peace Index (Institute for Economic & Peace) – 2023	19/163

Malaysia

SELECTED MEASUREMENTS

Malaysia’s Well Being Index (Economic Planning Unit/ DOSM - since 1999)
Malaysia Happiness Index (DOSM- since 2018)
Multidimensional Poverty Index

(Ministry of Economy)

Poverty Line Income (Ministry Economy/ DOSM)
Inequality (Ministry of Economy/ DOSM)
Family Wellbeing Index (Lembaga Penduduk dan Pembangunan Keluarga - since 2011)
Malaysia Youth Index (Youth Development Research Institute - since 2006)
Ummah Development Index (Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia) - since 2016)
National Unity Index

(Jabatan Perpaduan Negara dan Integrasi Nasional)

1) Wellbeing in Malaysia is monitored through various measurements using national and international indicators:

2) Among national wellbeing measurements are;

i) Malaysia’s Well Being Index : MyWI measures well-being among Malaysians from an economic and social perspective.

ii) Malaysia Happiness Index : MHI measures the level of the happiness of the population in Malaysia.

iii) Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) : MPI is a poverty measurement in a broader context involving non-monetary aspects such as health,

education and basic amenities that reflect living standards.

iv) Poverty Line Income : PLI refers to the total monthly household income needed for food and non-food requirements by every household member to live a healthy and active life.

v) Inequality : The state of not being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities

vi) Family Wellbeing Index : It provided a benchmark of Malaysian family well-being measuring seven domains and 23 indicators.

3) Meanwhile, among international wellbeing measurements are;

Human Development Index – UNDP : The HDI is a summary composite measure of a country's average achievements in three basic aspects of human development: health, knowledge and standard of living.

Malaysia ranks 62^nd out of 191 countries between 2021 and 2022.

World Happiness Index – United Nations : The World Happiness Report reflects happiness and well-being as criteria for government policy to review the state of happiness in the world today where how the science of happiness explains personal and national variations in happiness.

Malaysia scored 6.012 placing Malaysia as 55^th out of 149 countries in 2023

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�Malaysia: Progress of Wellbeing…�

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Multidimensional Poverty Index

Malaysia Happiness Index (MHI)

Malaysia Happiness Index (MHI) score in year 2021 is 6.48 and is at the Happy level.

Poverty and Income Inequality

Malaysia progress of wellbeing can be monitor through various indicator.

1) Malaysia’s Well Being Index :

-Overall, MyWI performance in 2022 improved by 5.0 percent to 121.2 points as compared to 116.2 points in 2015.

The wellbeing of the people is in line with the development of the country where economic wellbeing increases faster than social wellbeing but there are family and culture components that need to be given more attention.

2) Malaysia Happiness Index : The performance of the Malaysia Happiness Index score in 2021 was at a happy level with a score of 6.48.

3) Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI): MPI improved from 0.0152 in 2016 to 0.0079 in 2022

4) Poverty and Income Inequality : Malaysia has done remarkable progress by reducing the poverty incidence rate from 49.3% in 1970 to 5.6% in 2019. Due to the impact of pandemic COVID-19, poverty incidence estimated to increase to 8.4% in 2020. As the economy rebounded post pandemic COVID-19, the incidence of poverty eventually reduced to 6.2% in 2022.

Income inequality has narrowed with the Gini coefficient falling from 0.513 in 1970 to 0.407 in 2019. Due to pandemic COVID-19, Gini coefficient slightly increased to 0.411 in 2020. In 2022, the Gini Coefficient decreased to 0.404 in 2022. These were contributed following the includes reopening of economic sectors and social activities as well as international borders.

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Issues and challenges to address in improving wellbeing

Public service delivery

Overlapping structure and roles & responsibilities
Misconduct and corruption
Gaps in supporting policies and frameworks

Sustainability

Inflationary pressure and limited availability of quality investments
Limited SDG implementation and ESG acceptance
Unbalanced growth and productivity across economic sectors
Climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental degradation

Economic development

Slow transition in economy
Lack of skilled labor
Inability of MSMEs to scale-up
Limited availability of digital infrastructure
Nascent R&D&C&I ecosystem

Society

Non-conducive education system
Socioeconomic inequality
Unbalanced development between regions
Gaps in healthcare access and quality
Lack of affordable housing

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WAYFORWARD: BUILDING PROSPEROUS SOCIETY

Narrowing Inequality Gap

Enhancing Wellbeing

& Fostering MADANI Society

Enhancing Future-Ready Talent

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Social protection reforms
Bumiputera empowerment
Enculturation of MADANI Society
Enhancing Development of Orang Asli Community

Strengthening National Security & Defence

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Quality of health
Adherence to Maqasid Syariah
Addressing ageing-nation
Housing for the rakyat
Improving Standard of

living

Insan & Rahmah

Enhancing sports excellence
Karamiah Insaniah
Progressive-model wage
Empowering Women Participation

Tightening security and border control
Peace
Climate change adaptation
Disaster Mitigation & DRR
Reducing crime rate

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CONCLUSION

Addressing wellbeing is an utmost priority in Malaysia’s development planning.
MTR 12th MP has been aligned with Ekonomi MADANI: Memperkasa Rakyat framework which is the basis for the implementation of policies and initiative to enhance the achievement of wellbeing outcomes.

The implementation of MTR 12th MP will be driven by 17 initiatives for Malaysia to be a Sustainable, Prosperous and a High Income Nation.

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THANK YOU