Posts Tagged ‘Poverty’

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Kg Pandan Indian Settlement temple and school to remain

September 26th, 2009
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Finally, there’s some news on the fate of the Tamil school and temple in that area. According to Star report:

The Kampung Pandan Indian settlement re-developmnet project involves the building of 480 low-cost units. Each unit will measure 700 sq ft – which is 50 sq ft bigger than other public housing units in the city and it is going to be more stylish.

It will have two 15-storey blocks and is estimated to cost RM47mil. The Hindu temple and the Tamil school in the area will remain.

Anyway, one have to keep the fingers crossed because things can demolished overnight. Just hire some contractors and thugs to “settle” the problem. Projects also can “evolve” overnight, and we have seen many cases where people were cheated of promises. I guess nothing much can be done, other than wait for election times to extract more promises.

Just have to put a bit of trust on the authorities:

“The relocation of squatters in the Kampung Pandan Indian settlement is only a temporary measure. Once their houses are built, they can come back and rent the units and eventually buy them.

“But for now, they must move out to enable the development to start. They have to trust us. This will be the first Indian settlement that is being redeveloped for Indians. We have come this far — just wait for another two years,” Saravanan said.

I hope there will be good news two years down the lane (and none of the stories similar to those mentioned by Samy that government didn’t do much).

Deputy FT Minister Saravanan meanwhile revealed this interesting information:

He added that the redevelopment of the settlement was the best thing that could happen to the residents and that two years was a small price to pay for the future benefits and the quality of life they would eventually enjoy living in a comfortable and clean environment.

“This redevelopment plan was never part of the local plan of Kuala Lumpur, which is why it is not listed in the Draft Kuala Lumpur City Plan 2020.

“When I was appointed deputy minister in 2008, the first notice to relocate had already been given out by the DBKL,” Saravanan said.

“I spoke to the then FT minister Datuk Seri Zulhasnan Rafique and told him of the need for a permanent home for the residents and the government then agreed to provide a more conducive living environment for the residents,” he said.

So, was this place supposed to be left as it is as the rest of KL moved ahead into 21st century? Or was it a development plan minus the existing residents who are expected to vanish into thin air? Interesting indeed.

One of the grouses of the residents (oh yeah, the new term is squatters), is the distance of the temporary housing which is Kg Muhibbah in Puchong. Let’s see the situation and comments of the residents:

Saraswathy Gabriel’s house is falling apart and the makeshift zinc roof constantly leaks after a downpour while the wooden floorboards creak with every step.

The 36-year-old shares a room with her husband and three children, aged 10, eight and six, while the other room in the house is taken up by her husband’s brother and his family.

A few doors away, Letchumi Krishnan, 45, shares a house with her husband, mother and four children. The dark and dingy abode looks gloomy and depressing. The floor boards are broken and damp in many places and the window panes are missing. It was almost a similar scene over at the Nagalingam household, where S. Nagalingam lives with his wife and two children.

When StarMetro visited these families recently, it was discovered that most of these families are living below the poverty line and their biggest concern is being relocated to areas that will burden them financially.

The poverty line income based on the 9th Malaysia Plan considers a family to be poor if it earns below RM720. In the case of Letchumi, the sole bread winner in the family, she works in a garment factory earning RM700 a month.

Her husband is sickly and is unable to keep a job for long. The only reason she is able to survive is because she does not have to pay for rent or transportation. She walks to work while the children attend a school that is 10 minutes away. The situation is similar for Saraswathy and S. Nagalingam who both make about RM700 a month.

At least 80% of the families at the village are making less than RM1,000 a month. Most of them worry what will happen if they are uprooted to Kampung Muhibbah in Puchong, some 20km away. The rent and transport fees alone could cripple them financially. They also argue that the place in Puchong lacks basic facilities like public transport and a government hospital or clinic.

Saravanan said there’s still a chance for some of the really deserving cases (families who had school-going children and those who were sickly and required medical attention) to be allocated units in nearer housing areas, but there are only few units available.  The local MIC branch is helping to find places for these cases.

“They can still appeal as the MIC office in Kampung Pandan is still taking in appeals from those who have valid reasons as to why they cannot move to areas that are far away,” he said.

On requests whether they could be relocated to Seri Alam public housing sheme, which is only 4km away, Saravanan said Seri Alam is meant for the permanent relocation of squatters.

Meanwhile, Kampung Pandan MIC branch chairman P. Sritharan said he had received about 70 appeals from the residents so far, and out of that number, 15 families were recently given the keys and pledge letters (Surat Aku Janji) by the DBKL to move to nearby units.

“It was not easy selecting these families as priority for units located near Kampung Pandan were given to needy cases like single mothers and those with chronic diseases who require medical attention from nearby government hospitals and clinics,” he said.

Anyway, demolition is expected in October, hopefully after Deepavali. So, time is running out for the families.

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The poor remain poorer

September 18th, 2009
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Low wage earners will be looking forward to the festive season(s) with dread. With meager income in the ever-escalating cost of living cities, its hard to make ends meet. And the alternatives are practically non-existent. Those working as cleaners, security guards, drivers, cashiers, sales persons, etc, especially in small establishments or those that don’t really bother about employee welfare will be hard pressed to celebrate festivals with pomp.

I was surprised to hear that at some organization, the lower level staff ‘s overtime payments were held back.  The workers don’t have much choice as jobs are not easy to find. Make some noise, and you’ll find a foreign worker taking your place.  Not sure if in these kind of  cases, the top management or owners are aware of the predicament of their staff in the lowest rungs. Maybe its some mid-level management or even contract manager who is doing all this. I’m also wondering how much the top management and directors take home, as comparison to the executives and workers in an organization. What’s the point of winning awards and plaudits when own backyard tells a stinking story.

I hope the Human Resource Ministry will conduct spot checks on companies (hint: try the  dozens of IPTS, private  healthcare facilities, etc in Klang Valley) and check their payrolls. Need to be proactive instead of waiting for complaints to fall on their laps.

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Village in Sentul depends on well for water!

September 13th, 2009
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Update on 11.39am 18 sept:

According to follow-up report on Star, the problem with water supply to the village is related to land problem. Batu MP Tian Chua said just received application forms and will meet the villagers “soon”.

So, who is the land owners? Are these people “squatting” on other people’s land or staying with permission? Is it the fault of the land owner now? Why all these while nothing much was done by previous MPs, landowners and the villagers?

SYARIKAT Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) said some of the families in Kampung Sekma Sentul who are still using well water could not apply for piped water because of the land status.

In fact, the private company took it upon themselves to fix a 75mm HDE pipe from Jalan Sentul to Kampung Sekma in 2007 after they took over the water supply distribution.

“The pipe is 850 metres long from the Jalan Sentul Pasar junction till Kampung Sek Mah. The cost of the installation is RM80,000 and it was fully borne by Syabas to ensure the 25 families have clean water,” said Syabas’ corporate coommunications and public affairs general manager Abdul Halem Mat Som.

Syabas was responding to a StarMetro article headlined “Century-old village still waiting for water” on Sept 11 regarding Kampung Sekma folk in Sentul who are still using well water.

However, Halem said out of the 25 families, only 13 have applied for clean water supply while the rest cannot do so due to the land status.

“Most of them cannot apply for their water supply as the land does not belong to them and they need to get the permission of the owner to apply,” he added.

In July 2008, Syabas once again distributed forms to the 12 residents through the MP of the Batu area, Tian Chua. However, they did not receive any reply from the residents and new applications have not been made.

Syabas employees also visit the area on a regular basis and will continue to do so. According to Halem, Syabas was willing to meet the residents once again to sort out the problem.

“The reason they do not have water supply is because they never applied for it, we sincerely ask all residents to apply for clean piped water,” he added.

Halem also urged residents to get approval from their land owners before applying for water supply.

Meanwhile Batu MP, Tian Chua said he received the application forms earlier this week and would meet with the residents soon to resolve the problems.

————————————-

What a pity in the city! This is Sentul where we have mega projects like Sentul East, West etc.  Still have villagers who depend on wells for water. Really shame on city council and the parliamentarians for not being able to work out a solution for last 50 years.

SENTUL is now a booming area with posh condominiums, schools and fast food outlets aplenty but nestled a few hundred metres from the hustle and bustle of the main road lies a century-old village with a sad story to tell.

More than three generations have lived in the old wooden houses of Kampung Sekma, which is home to Chinese and Indians.

The land belongs to an unknown individual and there are about 200 houses in the village. On the surface, it looks like any other urban village but listen closely to the conversations of the residents and one will hear the word ‘well’ used often.

Going deep: When the electricity fails, the villagers have to resort to drawing the water by hand.

First timers would be shocked to learn that the village, which is in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, is still reliant on wells as a source of water.

Most houses have two or three wells that are filled by the rain while other houses share wells that are hidden in the bushes.

Several years ago, the villagers were forced to carry buckets of water from the wells but they recently installed a pump to draw the water from the wells to their homes.

However, the villagers’ troubles are far from over.

“Since we installed the pump, it has been easier for us but if there is no electricity then there is no water and we have to resort to drawing the water by hand once again,” V. Nithiyananthan, 41, said.

The water from the wells is only used for washing and the residents travel more than 500 metres to buy fresh, potable water from nearby vending machines.

Dark at night: Even though there is electricity in the village, there are only a few streetlights.

The wells are not well-maintained and the water is murky and filled with algae making it difficult for it to be used for any other purpose.

Nithiyananthan’s sister, V. Yogeswary, 44, who cares for her nieces and nephews, said the children had been admitted to the hospital in the past for food poisoning.

“When it rains, the water is stirred up and this affects the children. My brother’s two-year-old child was admitted to hospital because of this,” she added.

According to her, the doctor treating the children confirmed the cause of the illness was the unhygienic well water.

She added after the incident, they began buying water from the nearby grocery shops. They also boil large pots of water and keep them for a rainy day or a cut in electricity supply.

Cleaning up: Nithiyananthan, 41 using well water to wash his face after a long day’s work

The villages spend about RM5 each day buying water which amounts to RM1,800 a year, which leaves a big dent in their pockets.

Resident Tan Tow See, 70, who has lived in the village since she was born, said it was difficult for her to draw water from the well.

“I’m too old for this. My knees are giving way so it is difficult for me to bend and draw water. I have given up hope on the government,” she said.

According to the residents, they did not have electricity for many years but, in 1982, their pleas were finally heard.

“Once in five years we have visitors. The candidates for the Batu seat come and promise many things but three political parties have come and gone and we still do not have piped in water,” Ng Ho Huat, 62, said.

Ng said even the roads in the village had not been maintained in the 10 years since they were made.

Only for washing: Yogeswary said the water from the wells was used for domestic purposes only.

To make matters worse, the villagers do not have a proper irrigation system and sewerage maintenance, which in turn causes more pollution to the wells.

The drains, which are shallow depressions on the ground, are filled with filth and rubbish.

Even though each house is has electricity supply, there are not many street lights in the area causing difficulty for the villagers.

“We are just a stone’s throw away from the main road but here we are living in prehistoric times,” Nithiyananthan said.

He added their requests were simple. All they want is the basic necessities a human being should have access to.

“All we want is clean water, a basic necessity for human life,” he said.

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Kg Pandan Indian Settlement relocation postponed to October

May 14th, 2009
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An update on the Kampung Pandan Indian Settlement issue posted yesterday:

THE 70-year-old Indian settlement in Kampung Pandan is being redeveloped for the residents of the village.

Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Ahmad Fuad Ismail said the redevelopment project spelt out in the Draft Kuala Lumpur City Plan 2020 (DKLCP2020) was to build 480 low-cost units for the residents.

“There is not going to be anything else there but this project. Once completed, each unit will measure 700 sq ft — which is 50 sq ft extra compared to the other Public Housing Schemes (PPR) in the city and it is going to be more stylish,” Fuad said.

The mayor stressed however that the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) would not be able to start building the low-cost housing unless and until the residents moved out.

The mayor was speaking to reporters at the weekly Meet The Press session at the DBKL headquarters yesterday.

Fuad also gave the residents in Kampung Pandan a grace period of until October on a relocation order. They were initially supposed to move out today but the Federal Territories Ministry agreed to postpone their relocation.

The mayor also promised to consider the request from residents who are old and sickly as well as those with large extended families to be moved to closer PPR units.

The residents were told to relocate to PPR Kg Muhibbah in Puchong which is 20km away from their homes.

“If there are empty units nearby, we will accommodate them,” he said, adding that residents only need to provide their medical report.

“I symphathise with the residents but they must learn to trust the DBKL.”

About 255 families are currently residing in the settlement.

When contacted, Kampung Pandan Indian Settlement Action Council head Suresh Kumar said that he was grateful to Fuad and Raja Nong Chik for the extension of the deadline to move but said that the residents want a better guarantee than a “Surat Aku Janji”.

“It is not a legal binding document and we want something more concrete,” Suresh said.

“We also want the DBKL to ensure that priority is given to the Kg Pandan Indian settlement residents to move into the units when completed and this includes those who have already moved out,” he said.

The mayor is asking the residents to trust the DBKL while the residents want a binding blakc and white, not verbal promises or powerless “Aku Janji” forms.  The problem of residents having to relocate far away is still not solved as there’s no info on “available empty unit nearby”.

Still no news about the name being retained or the fate of facilities like tamil school, temple, and madrasah located  there.

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addressing…

May 14th, 2009
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addressing means the work is not complete. Its in progress. No deadlines, no KPIs, no evaluation. So, the work can continue in perpetuity. So, is it a good news when MIC chief Samy Vellu says government is addressing Indian woes?

Let’s look at the level of addressing done so far:

Many thorny issues that has swayed the Indian community from supporting the Barisan Nasional in the last general election are being addressed by the current administration of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, says MIC president S Samy Vellu.

MCPX

He said among the issues were the poor condition of Tamil schools and its status; location and allocation for Hindu temples, job opportunities in the civil service, higher intake into local public universities, share allocations, educational and business loan facilities and more business opportunities/government contracts. [this indicates 7 areas of concentration – 7 KPIs that can be used to evaluate MIC]

He said for Tamil schools, the government has agreed to convert all partially-aided schools into fully-aided schools, while a whopping RM130 million allocation has been set aside for the next two years to rebuild many of the schools. [the actual words were something that said “agreed in principle” to look into conversion of partially-aided schools into fully aided ones. The RM130 million is not for the purpose of conversion, but for repair work. One incident that took place recently comes to my mind – 70 over years old SJKT Ladang Kinrara which was always flooded and being planned to relocate to cemetery area. Readers would remember this case. When DPM Muhyiddin went there on his walkabout, he announced that the school will be relocated to a new .3 ha area (which was actually the cemetery area!). It sounded like something good. But then, what can you build on a 0.3ha area which is next to cemetery? You want students to see  and smell funeral daily or study in class? Where would  the field be?  Currently, there are 93 students there, and the new building expected to cater for 200 students. But in such a small place? The parents are totally unhappy but we see a “caring” DPM announcing a “good news” which was immediately praised by the MIC. So, in my opinion, one has to be careful when receiving good news, because it may not be good at all].

“As for Hindu temples, we have requested the government to increase the annual allocation for temples from the present RM1 million,” he said in a statement. [ increase how much? For which temples? How many temples? Either the journalist didn’t ask or Samy didn’t tell. Note the key word -” requested”. How about the reply? Successful or not? If just request, anyone can send in request la]

On job opportunities in the civil service, the government has set a quota of 7.4 percent for Indians, equal to the number of their population in the country. The intake is being monitored by (Human Resources Minister) Dr S Subramaniam,” Samy Vellu said. [this is more agreeable as there is a target – 7.4% and its being monitored. Can we see the results of the monitoring every 2 or 3 months? What kind of jobs are being offered? Across the board or in selected sector only?]

The government has also set a quota of 7.4 percentage for Indians to enter public universities annually, he said, adding that he met Higher Education Minister Khaled Nordin yesterday to seek for more places for Indians to do professional courses in several public universities namely Universiti Malaya. [Back to quota system for Indians. When was the quota set? This year or last year? We have to wait till IPTA intake analysis is done – by course, by uni, by location etc. Intake results for SPM students are out but STPM-leavers not yet. Anyway, this is another KPI that can be used]

Stop complaining and help

Through the effort of the MIC, the government had also recently allocated 15 percent of the recently-launched 3.33 billion units of the Amanah Saham Malaysia shares for Indians worth almost RM500 million. [ Again, a good move, but lacking in implementation, perhaps MIC did not anticipate that many Indians are actually without money in hand to invest. So, having big cars and good jobs doesn’t mean have enough money. Our expenses are more than the privileged community who have many loopholes – avoiding tax, discount on houses, lower loan interest, and higher returns in ASB etc. Both the ASM and ASW is still available, meaning the community has no funds or there’s big gap between the haves and have-nots. So, next we have to see how long until a solution is found and implemented to allow community to invest in the schemes.]

He said MIC had proposed that the government assist the Indians by providing a partial grant or loan to buy the shares through any of its agencies or financial institutions.

“We are also currently discussing with the government to allocate at least 20 to 30 percent of the free Amanah Saham Wawasan shares for Indians,” he said. [Note the word ” currently discussing”. Guess we have to wait till the discussion ends.]

He also said MIC has secured more Public Service Department scholarships for Indian students and was discussing with the government to increase the numbers. [The question arises – why do we need to beg every year? last year 70-odd students got it on own effort before MIC people intervened. This year, will be same story. Next year same story. Not bored ah? If the competition is really tough, then just admit it that Indian students are not good enough. Can we justify giving PSD scholarship to 8A1s Indian student when his 11A1s scoring Chinese friend doesn’t get it? Doesn’t it make us just like the privileged community – 5As also can get scholarship or matriculation place? Our concern should be clear – do we want a quota for scholarship, or we want selection to based on merit/merit+financial/merit+financial+location ? ]

“The government has also introduced many business loan schemes to assist small and medium industries run by Indians and MIC has sought more and bigger amount for Indian entrepreneurs,” he said. [This is good move but misleading. There’s no “schemes”, only scheme as in the TEKUN one which is handled by MIC arm – YSS.  Secondly, where’s the statistics? How many “schemes”, how many applied, how many successful, how many rejected and why rejected. How many require some “recommendation” from MIC people? Another key word – “sought”. Get or not? How much is “more and bigger” amount? ]

He chided certain quarters who kept harping that the government has neglected the Indians and that they were being sidelined while the other races were progressing. [ Well, that’s the reality on the ground. Why is a school being relocated next to cemetery? Why temples only get RM1 million allocation per year? Why Pendidikan Moral is not usable for any course application in university unlike religious subjects which can even be used to apply for IT diploma course? Why we don’t have something like zakat? Why ASM/ASW offer less than ASB? Why got 7% discount for houses even though its a posh semi-dee? Why no ban on samsu and toddy?  Why no news on SJKT Simpang Lima new building until the parents raised funds to build it? Why government can get IOI donate land to relocate Chinese school from Perak to Puchong but Tamil school  on IOI-owned land (in Negeri Sembilan) where sons and daughters of its own employees study is in deplorable condition? So many whys….. And to top it all, Samy Vellu himself admited that the government have not done much in the past. Look at what he saying now. Is this credibility?]

“Instead on harping and bad mouthing the government day in, day out without realising what the government is doing, they should assist the Indians to plug into the system made available by the government and channel their grouses to the proper authority,” he added. [Some of the problems is raised by those who are part of the system. They realise how hard it is to “plug in”. But now, as we can see, the community is daring to come forward and voice out the unfair treatment they get. That’s why there are more issues being raised everyday in papers – from medical negligence to discrimination in schools, everyone got a story to tell.]

I don’t mind if the truth is told, even though it may be painful to hear. Call a spade a spade. Put up the number, don’t just gloss over with ambiguous words. Follow up the talk with proof. Then people can try to believe.

Footnote: One year since last elections, we only had two meetings by the cabinet committee on Indian community. It was supposed to once every few months, ended up once every 6 months. So, what progress did the committee achieve?

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