QUESTION 2 (25 MARKS) House of Horror In September 2016, the bodies of two children and their father were found in house in Segambut, Kuala Lumpur. The surviving two children told stories of a violent father and a mother who were both jobless. People are speculating about the reasons behind this tragedy. It must have been a very difficult situation to survive in a city without jobs and four children, even with support from the children's paternal grandfather. Being poor in a city can be harder compared to rural areas, as the cost of living in rural areas is cheaper. There is no shortage of housing in rural areas and food supplies can be supplemented by farming, such as growing one's own vegetables and rearing chickens. People cannot do that in flats in urban areas. These has been a major shift of the population, with about 70% of Malaysians now living in urban areas compared to 20 years ago. Urban poverty is becoming a more serious problem compared to rural poverty, as there are not enough policies to help those affected by urban poverty. Urban poverty remains a worrying problem as the average household income does not necessarily match the escalating costs of living today. The shrinking ringgit and growing inflation have affected the standard of living in Malaysia. A proper living wage should be worked out with the escalating price of food. The annual budget should focus more on helping the urban poor. Malaysians are faced with the rising cost of living, lack of affordable housing, low EPF retirement savings, lower wages and inflation. Unskilled and semi-skilled workers will be the most vulnerable groups. As Malaysia has a large number of low to middle-income groups, we need to ensure that the cost of living is manageable and find ways to accelerate the income of the urban poor. Urban poor are faced with increased costs like transportation, toll fees and room rentals and it could become a vicious cycle if the urban poor do not have access to higher levels of education and are unable to lift themselves out of poverty. Source: Adapted from "Poor in the city", The Star Online, 2016. (a) Describe poverty