Poverty with Many Faces Book Review
Poverty with Many Faces: a Case Study of Malaysia, by Ataul Huq Pramanik, IIUM Press, 2008, 157 pages. Reviewed by Nor Nazirah Mohamed.
Introduction
The book ‘Poverty with Many Faces: a Case Study of Malaysia’ by Ataul Huq Pramanik is one of the results of the hard works that elaborate the issue significantly both in theoretical and practical perspectives. The author is a distinguished economist who has a sound background both from conventional and Islamic perspectives with a special expertise in development, distribution, poverty and public policies. In this book, the issue of poverty and deprivation faced by the individual is discussed to a great extent based on the multi-dimensional factors that are believed to contribute to the perpetuation of poverty in Malaysia. In order for Malaysia to realise its vision to be a fully developed country by year 2020, the government particularly policy makers are challenged by this never ending problem that is to reduce poverty and eventually to totally eradicate it. The book, Poverty with Many Faces by Ataul Huq Pramanik, therefore is a welcome to attempt.
The book is a useful hand-book and serves its purpose, “to examine how the multi-farious factors contribute to the perpetuation of poverty among some households although some other households despite being in similar environment are able to come out of that circle” (38). The study is conducted based on the sample taken from the poverty concentrated areas in four states that have the highest share in the national poverty namely Perak, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu. The findings of the study are discussed in this book by providing some policy suggestions that is likely to be implemented in other areas of the country in order to counter poverty. A brief summary of the book is provided in this paper to give a succinct explanation to the readers of what the book is about and how the contents are structured.
Summary
The book is a detailed description focusing on the issue of
Introduction
The book ‘Poverty with Many Faces: a Case Study of Malaysia’ by Ataul Huq Pramanik is one of the results of the hard works that elaborate the issue significantly both in theoretical and practical perspectives. The author is a distinguished economist who has a sound background both from conventional and Islamic perspectives with a special expertise in development, distribution, poverty and public policies. In this book, the issue of poverty and deprivation faced by the individual is discussed to a great extent based on the multi-dimensional factors that are believed to contribute to the perpetuation of poverty in Malaysia. In order for Malaysia to realise its vision to be a fully developed country by year 2020, the government particularly policy makers are challenged by this never ending problem that is to reduce poverty and eventually to totally eradicate it. The book, Poverty with Many Faces by Ataul Huq Pramanik, therefore is a welcome to attempt.
The book is a useful hand-book and serves its purpose, “to examine how the multi-farious factors contribute to the perpetuation of poverty among some households although some other households despite being in similar environment are able to come out of that circle” (38). The study is conducted based on the sample taken from the poverty concentrated areas in four states that have the highest share in the national poverty namely Perak, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu. The findings of the study are discussed in this book by providing some policy suggestions that is likely to be implemented in other areas of the country in order to counter poverty. A brief summary of the book is provided in this paper to give a succinct explanation to the readers of what the book is about and how the contents are structured.
Summary
The book is a detailed description focusing on the issue of