Raising the poverty line

Our trouble is not that the wealthy are too wealthy, but that the poor are too poor.

An obvious approach to narrowing the wealth gap, therefore, is to help those at the bottom in their struggle for subsistence. But this has been a challenging task.

However, the country has made tremendous efforts in the past decades. True, the overall gap between the rich and poor has continued to widen and the corresponding discontent has grown. Yet, there is another side to the picture that should in no way be ignored - the gap would have been much wider were it not for the persistent government-led poverty relief campaigns. Numerous private citizens, institutions and non-governmental organizations have contributed to this undertaking one way or another, but it is the authorities that deserve special credit for their lasting commitment and input.