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Malaysian PM's fate could be decided by disgruntled RM70-a-day earners

Bloomberg Published on Mon, Aug 07, 2017 / 8:10 AM GMT+8

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(Aug 7): In Malaysia’s capital, a banana fritter seller fastens helmets on his two children and helps them onto his motorcycle. A third child stays with a school bag on the footpath outside their flat. He’ll need to wait for his father to come back.

Mohd Ezam Mohd Said, 55, makes two trips to send his children to school each morning and another two trips at noon to pick them up. "I can’t afford a car. I can’t even afford to eat chicken more than once a week," Ezam said at his stall in Kuala Lumpur, where he earns 20 ringgit ($6.35) a day.

In the distance, the windows of the 452-meter high Petronas Twin Towers -- with its brand-name shops and restaurants -- glitter in the midday sun. Ezam lives in a low-cost, high-density flat the government rents out to households on less than 2,500 ringgit a month.