Dr. Ng Yen Yen's spin

According to The Star, April 2, 2009:
Ministry gives most aid to PR-led states
No favouritism in helping out, says Ng

The poor in the Pakatan-led states topped the list of those receiving aid from the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry.

“We are giving more to the Opposition-led states. There is no favouritism here and this is shown in our statistics for Projek Cari, a special project launched to reach out to the poor,” said Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Ng Yen Yen

Of the 128,944 poor nationwide who had applied for aid under Projek Cari, only 54,671 were approved, she said.

Dr. Ng added that 27,629 had been rejected and 46,644 applications were still pending.

Perak topped the list with 4,974 who had received welfare under Projek Cari from October to March.

I have listed her figures quoted (PR-led states in red):
1.Perak 4,974
2.Kedah 4,254
3.Selangor 4,092
4.Kelantan 3,454
5.Penang 2,363
6.Pahang 2,281
7.Sabah 2,218
8.Johor 1,866
9.Negri Sembilan 1,653
10.Malacca 1,358
11.Sarawak 1,005
12.Perlis 594

I find it hard to believe, so I took the trouble to find out the population of each states mentioned, to see if there is a correlation to the figures. I chose at random from my search:
http://www.citypopulation.de/Malaysia.html
(2005) Britannica Book of the Year 2007.
1.Selangor (incl. Putrajaya) 4.736m
2. Johor 3.101m
3.Sabah 2.931m
4. Sarawak 2.312m
5.Perak 2.256m
6.Kedah 1.848m
7.Kelantan 1.505m
8.Pinang 1.468m
9. Pahang 1.427m
10. Negri Sembilan 0.946m
11.Melaka 0.713m
12.Perlis 0.224m

Wilayah Persekutuan KL 1.556m (not mentioned)
Terengganu 1.016m (not mentioned)

I have listed the same states mentioned by YB Dr. Ng in terms of population figures and I noticed, apart from Selangor, which though most populous was ranked No. 3, the other four states were in the same order! Only Johor, Sabah and Sarawak, though more populous than the states of Perak, Kedah, Kelantan and Pinang, ranked lower in terms of new cases.

I am not sure about Johor but one factor could be the fact that the people in the Pakatan led states (comparatively better developed richer states) are likely to be more aware of what aid is available. Contrast this with the relatively inaccessible Sarawak state and the large percentage of foreigners in Sabah (estimated at 25%!) who are ineligible.

We must bear in mind, the figures quoted were relating to new cases. On the face of it, it looks commendable that the federal ministry went out of their way to help those in opposition-led states. But couldn’t it be a deliberate political motive to win over the hearts of the electorate, after having lost them? I would not dismiss it as a populist move by BN.

Contrast this with Tourism Ministry, Transport Ministry and so on, where the projects are of larger amounts, then we can see where their priorities lie and the direction they would lead to.