TAIPING, 3 Sept- Urban poor in the state received a kick-start to turn over their life after accepting RM10,000 each of Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020 (ASW) from Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Zambry Abdul Kadir at Taiping Municipal Hall, yesterday. An initiative taken by the Housing and Local Government Ministry, the aid is targeted squarely at the urban poor to improve their livelihood.
Gathered from all over Perak, 192 of the urban poor was grouped and was brought in by the respective local governments in the state to Taiping yesterday to receive the aid.
At a media conference after the ceremony, Dr. Zambry said the RM10,000 of the ASW is for the beneficiaries to use as seed money for turning over their lives.
“They could only withdraw the dividend derived from the principal investment of RM10,000. We realise that if they are allowed to touch the principal amount, some of them might spend all of it unnecessarily,” Dr. Zambry said.
He further added that if that happens, it would defeat the purpose of giving the aid to them on the first place.
A beneficiary met by Peraknews.com was R Asybadi @ Asupathi, 68, of Pokok Assam, Taiping. The retired lance corporal with the Royal Services Corp. of the army was grateful because the aid will help lessen his burden of looking after his extended family. “I have a retarded 39-year old daughter and 33-year old son who had a leg amputated and can’t work. My wife and I also have three more school going children, and on top of that we looking after three of our grandchildren who are also still schooling.
“With the RM760 monthly pension and my retarded daughter’s RM300 disabled allowance from the Welfare Department, we barely get by. The aid I receive today is a godsend,” Asybadi said.
Another beneficiary was Razali Mohd Salleh, 41, of Kampung Nibong, Temerlok. The father of four growing children, he have to do two jobs to get by.
“I am both a rubber tapper and fisherman. If weather permits, I would do both on the same day, but I will only either one if the weather is bad, depending on the time of day.
“Even then, at best I could take home only about RM1,000 per month. Without scholarship or study grants, I have to pay everything for my children’s schooling,” Razali said.
He hopes the ASW could reap good dividend after a year so he could use the money for his children’s studies.
At the same function, 142 urban poor from Taiping received house rent assistance amounting to RM1,488 each. The figure represents RM124 per month for the duration of 12 months.
Out of the 142, 36 of them are hard core poor.
