Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at [email protected] or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words Asia’s economic success has lifted millions from poverty, but we should be honest: that promise is now slipping through the fingers of millions across the continent. Inequality isn’t just an abstract number on a spreadsheet. It’s felt in the pockets of a farmer in Pakistan’s Khyber region, picking up the pieces after
yet another flood, or a roadside food vendor in Manila forced to skip her diabetes medicine to meet monthly repayments to the bank.
Oxfam International’s
new report, released late last month, explains the stark numbers behind these everyday fears. The richest 10 per cent now take home between 60 and 77 per cent of the income in major Asian economies. Governments must spend a significant portion of their budgets on debt repayment, while hospitals and schools struggle to provide even the basics. When clinics close or teachers are laid off, it is ordinary families who pay the price.
We cannot pretend these trends are harmless or sustainable. From
Kathmandu to
Jakarta, stark inequality fuels mass protests, erodes trust in institutions and tears at the social fabric that holds communities together.
The answer is within Asia’s grasp. It just needs to turn back the clocks to a time when growth lifted over a billion people out of poverty and opportunity felt within reach for everyone. Investments in education, healthcare and sustainable infrastructure could empower communities, create jobs, protect the environment and ensure everyone’s basic needs are met. These steps are practical, urgent and within reach. A modest 2-5 per cent tax on the ultra-wealthy could raise almost US$800 billion a year, enough to rebuild healthcare, schools, digital access and climate resilience.
People are done waiting. Leaders can deliver change or face the consequences at the ballot box.
