By Aida Aziz
IPOH: The city of Ipoh needs to move away from being a ‘retirement city’ and shift towards tourism to ensure its residents break free from urban poverty.
This was voiced by the Mayor of Ipoh, Datuk Rumaizi Baharin, who highlighted that Ipoh is among the cities where residents have low incomes.
“I have received several reports indicating a desire to find ways to transform Ipoh into a progressive city.
“The main issue is urban poverty, with 60 percent of the population here living below comfortable standards.
“Studies conducted by associations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) found that one of the reasons for low household incomes in Ipoh is its status as a retirement city.
“This is one of the reasons why household incomes in Ipoh, specifically, and Perak in general, are among the lowest in Malaysia.
“So, we want to move away from being a retirement city to another subsector, namely tourism.
“By developing tourism, it can create new high-income job opportunities and attract the interest of young people, which is our target,” he said.
He made these remarks to reporters at a press conference after chairing the Full Council Meeting for June, held here on Thursday.
Through these efforts, Rumaizi added, the purchasing power of the people will increase directly, and the economy will advance.
“Compared to cities in other states, there are fewer quality job opportunities and high incomes here.
“For example, in Penang, they have a health tourism industry, creating numerous job opportunities such as doctors, pharmacists, and high incomes.
“Here, even though our children may study medicine, there are no opportunities and they are forced to work in Penang,” he said.
