Ismail, who is usually calm during Parliament sittings, was overcome with emotion and had to pause and calm himself before resuming his speech.

“The issue of poverty is very close to my heart. I was born and raised in a rubber tapper family. I truly understand the hardships and difficulties faced by the poor,” he said with regard to the fifth focus of the 12MP on Eradicating Hardcore Poverty and Closing the Income Gap.

He added that the government was committed to ensuring the success of the fifth focus and would adopt a “whole-of-nation” approach in tackling the issues of poverty in the country, including by setting up the Poverty Unit under the Economic Planning Unit.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has increased the poverty rate, affected individual and household income, and pushed more families into poverty,” he said.