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awareness program for urban poor

July 18th, 2011
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With nearly 70% of Malaysians living in urban areas, the focus should be also given to urban poor.  Not only in low-cost apartment areas,  but also in other housing areas and  squatter areas.

A good number of urban poor are not aware of the government’s welfare aids which they are eligible for.

To correct this, Deputy Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister Datuk M. Saravanan yesterday held a fair to launch a “clinic” at the Desa Tun Razak flats to collect data on socio-economic problems faced by the city’s low-cost flat dwellers. The subsequent clinics will be held at all 25 low-cost flats in the cty.

K. Ramakrishnan, a labourer who earns RM700 a month and has a son attending Primary One, said he was not aware the government had a school uniform aid for the poor.

“I just heard Datuk Saravanan mention in his speech that there is such a scheme,” said Ramakrishnan.

“It would ease my burden if I received help to buy school uniforms and books for my son. But I was not aware of this as nobody informed me.”

Ramli Ismail, a vegetable seller, said the government should make this information more widely known.

“The clinic is a good effort and an eye-opener. There were many things I was not aware of, so there should be more of these programmes,” said the 48-year-old.

Mohd Zakaria Yusof, 42, said programmes like this should be organised more often.

“Don’t make it a ‘once in a blue moon’ thing. Some of us are uneducated and not sure where to go to seek help, so we appreciate this sort of effort from the government,” said Zakaria.

Saravanan said: “We would like to hold these clinics every Sunday, although this may be difficult because Ramadan is approaching. We want to complete these clinics in three months so that by the end of the year, we would have collected the data we want.”

Saravanan said Barisan Nasional lost a lot of votes at low-cost housing areas in the March 2008 general election because the government did not do much to address the plight of the poor there.

“That’s why I told the Prime Minister that we need a detailed study on the issues faced by those residing in low-cost flats.”

He also admitted that government agencies involved in giving aid to the poor should be more pro-active in reaching out.

“Many people are not aware of the various aids we have for the poor. For example, the hardcore poor do not know they don’t have to pay their flat’s rent. They also don’t know there are entrepreneurship programmes where we give training and loans to set up small businesses.”

Residents of the Desa Tun Razak flats yesterday flocked the many booths set up at the clinic yesterday.

Among the agencies present were the Welfare department, and KL City Hall’s housing department, poverty eradication department and health department.

http://mmail.com.my/content/78065-urban-poor-learn-about-eligibility-aid

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MP Bagan Serai Gobalakrishnan escapes

July 18th, 2011
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MP for Bagan Serai had his fine reduced from RM3000 to RM1000, thus avoiding the situation where he will be ineligible for next election, if he stand for election.

The High Court in Penang reduced to RM1,000 the RM3,000 fine a magistrate’s court imposed on Padang Serai MP N Gobalakrishnan, who was found guilty last year of obstructing a police officer in 2002.

Judge Zamani Abdul Wahab also ordered that Gobalakrishnan, who had paid the RM3,000 fine in full last year, be repaid RM2,000.

Gobalakrishnan had filed an appeal in the High Court in May last year, after the magistrate’s court fined him RM3,000 or six months’ jail for obstructing chief inspector V Saravanan from carrying his duty at Jalan Utama, George Town, at 12.20pm on Jan 29, 2002.

He was arrested for questioning police action in preventing about 30 supporters of the then Parti Keadilan Nasional from dancing during a Thaipusam celebration.

Met by reporters outside the court, Gobalakrishnan said he would continue to discharge his duties as an elected representative.

source: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/170006

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Indians participation in Bersih rally

July 13th, 2011
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I’m still wondering how this conclusion was arrived at. I hope those folks in MIC can share their statistics on the number of Indians who participated in the rally last Saturday.  Is the conclusion based on absolute number or percentage of participants? Are they relying on third party data (police/media/observers) or had their own team on the ground gathering data?

I saw a tweet from MP Padang Serai N Gobalakrishnan who was replying to MP Ipoh Timur Lim Kit Siang saying: “@limkitsiang It shows that the Indians have deserted PR as not even 1% in Bersih”

I tweeted for clarification from the MP, but no reply to date, even after sending a reminder tweet: “@Ngobalakrishnan @novinthen @limkitsiang 1% of 6k or 50k or committee members?”

 

The decline in participation of Indians in the Bersih 2.0 illegal rally yesterday compared to that in the 2007 street demonstration was because they realised that it was only aimed at tarnishing the image of the BN government.

MIC president G Palanivel said many in the Indian community realised that yesterday’s illegal rally held in the federal capital was not actually about questioning the role of the Election Commission.

“The Indians are now more aware that such a practice (street demonstration) is no longer relevant in resolving issues.”

He said this to reporters after launching a book on the early history of the Kinta Indian Association and ground-breaking ceremony for its new building.

Palanivel said the realisation came about after proactive measures taken by the government that focused on improving the lot of the Indian community.

He said the Indians were benefiting from the efforts undertaken such as in the education, business, economic and social sectors.

“This has brought about a high level of realisation among the Indian community of the government’s sensitivity to their needs and problems.”

Palanivel said yesterday’s Bersih-organised illegal rally also clearly showed that the opposition was actually behind it, from the participation of opposition leaders such as Anwar Ibrahim, Abdul Hadi Awang, Lim Kit Siang and Azmin Ali.

The MIC president praised the police for their quick and stern action  against the illegal demonstrators to protect public safety and national security. – Bernama

source: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/169492

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48 inch TV and 3 door fridge at PPR flat but don’t pay rent

July 13th, 2011
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“They told me when they first moved into their respective units, they were told by some politicians in the area that they were there for free.”

Either politicians become the scapegoats or politicians simply told stuff that they can’t guarantee. Usually happens when people are relocated from areas being redeveloped. They may be from a non-rent paying house, and can’t comprehend that they are being displaced and have to pay rent on top of that.

They can invest in entertainment and other necessities, but not able to pay rent because its not a priority and there’s always a way around later. Can get politicians to appeal, or get some fund from government to settle the arrears.


PPR Desa RejangHIGH LEAVING: PPR Desa Rejang flats where most occupants choose to stay for free

KUALA LUMPUR: A majority of residents living in the People’s Housing Project (PPR) homes in Kuala Lumpur, who fail to pay rental, are not poor. Instead, they are just indifferent and plain stubborn.

This was revealed to The Malay Mail by City Hall’s housing management director, Sukiman Surahman.

Sukiman said out of the 52,914 families renting PPR units, 41,029 of them were defaulters and out of the total number of defaulters, only 20 per cent can be categorised as hardcore poor.

PPR door bills

“The other 80 per cent can afford the rent, but instead they are just plain stubborn. They know there is a monthly rent to be paid but they just can’t be bothered,” he said.

Sukiman got a shock when he recently visited PPR Kampung Muhibbah in Puchong and found many residents lived in comfort and yet failed to pay their monthly dues to City Hall.

“There’s nothing free in this world. The residents have to change their mindsets and start paying rent accordingly. If they face problems in paying their rent, they could always talk to us and we could work out an appropriate payment plan for them.”

City Hall, he said, identified 2000 PPR units that were in the hands of hardcore poor as of April this year.

“The people who live in these units are usually those unemployed, have children with little furniture and with no financial assistance from any source.”

“We have also identified other families in the poor category. These families receive some form of financial help,” he said.

“As of April, we identified 1,600 PPR units with people who receive financial assistance from Baitumal as well as 600 unit occupants who receive financial assistance from the Social Welfare Department,” he said.

Sukiman said when encountering such families, City Hall usually adviced them on their next course of action.

“When I was doing my rounds at PPR Taman Mulia, I encountered a family of ten living in a unit. Both parents were jobless. Their eight young non-school going children stayed at home.

“This family owes City Hall RM8,000 in rent. We referred them to several bodies. Yayasan Wilayah sponsors their children to school, the Social Welfare Department gave them some form of monetary aid to carry on with their lives. Baitumal helped them with their rent,” he said.

Sukiman said plans are afoot to group the 2000 units of hardcore poor families for transfer into one separate PPR area.

“This will make it easier for the government to monitor them. Probably, we can get companies to help them as part of their corporate social responsibility programme,” he said.

48′ flat screen TVs … but they don’t pay rent

CITY HALL’s housing management director, Sukiman Surahman was taken aback when he visited PPR Kampung Muhibbah in Puchong.

“I visited a family who owes City Hall about RM17,000 in rent after not paying for more than 10 years.

I felt something amiss upon entering the hall of the house which contained a 48-inch flat screen television.

“Then upon entering a room, I saw another 36-inch flat screen television set. The house also had a three-door refrigerator.

The surprises did not end there.

“I went to another unit which owes us RM11,000 in rent. Can you imagine that?”

Sukiman said when he asked the families why they failed to pay their dues for so long, they told him they are not aware of such payments.

“They told me when they first moved into their respective units, they were told by some politicians in the area that they were there for free.

On explaining to them that there was no such thing as ‘free’ the families have agreed to pay their dues.

source: http://mmail.com.my/content/77703-ppr-rent-issue-freeloaders

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MP Hulu Selangor Kamalanathan’s service centre

July 13th, 2011
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Good effort by MP for Hulu Selangor, P Kamalanathan. Hopefully more people make use of such service centres. I think location of service centres should be publicised for all the 222 parliamentary seats and also the states seats. Can use local newspaper vendors, schools, places of worship, markets, 4-digit outlets, 7-11 stores, petrol stations, banks, popular youth hangout areas etc., as means to advertise to the public.

48 0ut of  362  (263+85+14) is 13.25%. Of course can’t expect very high rates because it depends on the departments to settle the cases. Do note, it says “solved” and “cleared”, but no mention of how many were successful. For the benefit of doubt, we assume all 48 were successful in obtaining their citizenship/documents.

BTW, looks like DHRRA members in the photos. Is this part of the MyDaftar initiative as well?

update:  got this from DHRRA Malaysia website:

Pusat Khidmat Rakyat Parlimen Hulu Selangor (Puskap) dengan kerjasama DHRRA Malaysia telah menyelesaikan sebanyak 48 permohonan MyKad, Sijil Kelahiran, Pemastautin Tetap dan permit masuk di daerah ini dalam tempoh bermula Oktober 2010 hingga Julai tahun ini.

Ahli Parlimen Hulu Selangor, P Kamalanathan berkata, permohonan itu melibatkan seluruh rakyat daripada pelbagai kaum dan peringkat umur.

“Saya bagi pihak penerima amat gembira apabila usaha membantu menyelesaikan permohonan MyKad dan dokumen kerakyatan berjaya dilakukan dengan sempurna.

“Kini, mereka mampu bergerak bebas, malah masa depan mereka lebih cerah dengan adanya dokumen ini,” katanya pada majlis penyerahan MyKad dan Sijil Kelahiran kepada 11 penerima di Wisam MIC Bahagian Hulu Selangor di sini.

Daripada 11 penerima itu, dua menerima MyKad dan sembilan lagi menerima Sijil Kelahiran. Hadir sama, Presiden DHRRA Malaysia, S Saravanan dan wakil pertubuhan bukan kerajaan (NGO), Yoong Tham Fook. Kamalanathan berkata, sehingga kini Puskap telah menerima sebanyak 263 permohonan sama di mana 35 pemohon MyKad, 129 Sijil Kelahiran, 85 Pemastautin Tetap dan 14 permit masuk.

Menurutnya, daripada jumlah itu, 115 sedang dalam proses di Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara (JPN). Sementara itu, Saravanan berkata, terdapat beberapa kes melibatkan pemohon yang mempunyai tunggakan bayaran dan denda turut diselesaikan dengan bantuan Puskap.

Menurutnya, kerjasama diberikan Puskap banyak membantu dalam menyelesaikan kes seumpama itu selain membantu meringankan beban pemohon yang kurang berkemampuan.

 

Article on the service centre:

SINCE October last year, Hulu Selangor MP P. Kamalanathan’s service centre in Bukit Beruntung, Rawang has solved 48 cases in the district with regards to people not having identity cards (IC) and birth certificates.

According to Kamalanathan, there were cases of people in Hulu Selangor not having ICs and BCs when he went on his rounds.

“I told them to come to my service centre. We have received a total of 263 cases involving birth certificates and MyKad, 85 pertaining to citizenship and 14 cases of not having entry permits.

“We have submitted these applications to the National Registration Department (NRD) and they have cleared 48 cases thus far.

Happy day: Kamalanathan (squatting) presenting a young girl with her birth certificate at the Hulu Selangor MIC office in Kuala Kubu Bharu.

“There are still more people — orang asli, Malays, Chinese and Indians — coming to my service centre seeking for help.

“It does not matter which race or religion they belong to. We are 1Malaysia and we’ll do our best to solve their problems,’’ said Kamalanathan, who presented nine people with birth certificates and two individuals with MyKad at the Hulu Selangor MIC headquarters in Kuala Kubu Baru on July 4.

Those who received their MyKad were Manorni Malay and Kumaran Rajoo while the nine who received birth certificates were Nor Fitri Syahira Zarzuli, Nor Fitri Amalina Zarzuli, Jessita David, Jamuna David, Dhivashini Kaliyapan, Ubenthiran Kaliyapan, Tharanitaran Rick Clay, Daenise Wong Thiyagarajah and Abdul Sarip.

He said he was happy for the recipients knowing that they would have a peace of mind and able to lead a normal life from now onwards.

“The recipients can go to school, send in applications to receive aid from the Government and other benefits.

“The rest of the applicants will also be able to get their birth certificates and MyKad when we receive them,’’ he said.

Those in Hulu Selangor who are in the same situation can call Kamalanathan’s service centre at 03-6092 5094.

source:  http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2011/7/7/central/9032226&sec=central

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