©The Star (Used with permission) Sunday July 20, 2008=

Reaching out for help

By JOSEPH LOH and RASHVINJEET S. BEDI

Rising prices have made li= fe more difficult for those in the low-income group. Avenues for assistance are limited while the Government's efforts are not enough.

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SITI* went to a Social Welfare Department (JKM) offic= e to make an application for financial aid on her disabled brother's behalf. However, she found that seeking help was not just a simple matter of fillin= g in some forms. Instead, she was told that she had to bring her brother to the office in person.

With his limited mobility, it was extremely difficult= for Siti to move her brother from their flat to the welfare office. In the end,= she decided that she would have to survive without the department's help.<= /o:p>

A former social welfare worker, who declines to be na= med, believes that the department should have been more understanding.

“The officer should have made arrangements to g= o to the house but it wasn't done. In the end, the lady said she was not going to bother,” she says.

Arutchelvan: Believes that the amount of aid receive= d is insufficient.

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She adds that single mothers face the most problems as they have children to take care of.

One category of financial aid that the department giv= es out is a grant for starting a business, which could vary from RM3,000 to RM5,000.

“But you need to have a file with the JKM to be eligible for the grant. Even if you have a file, it takes a long time to get the money – sometimes up to a year.”

S. Arutchelvan, secretary-general of Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), who champions the cause of squatters and estate workers in = the Klang Valley, comments th= at the amount of aid received from the department is not realistic.

“The poverty line is around RM650 for a family = of five. Besides that, there are many complaints that aid is still given based= on ethnicity and favouritism.

“There are other kinds of aid for single mother= s, the disabled, etc, but that is not enough,” he says.

Jasmine Adaickalam, a ser= vice consultant at Yayasan Stra= tegik Sosial, comments that the procedures at the department have improved but problems of interpretation remain.<= /span>

“In my experience, someone who is very poor will not find it easy to get Social Welfare aid. Many of the poor are not educat= ed, and for them to attain help is very difficult.”

Adaickalam understands that this is done to prevent people from taking advantage = of the system, but the checks and balance should be interpreted properly.=

“The procedure should be more people-friendly a= nd front desk officers must explain it properly to the people.

“For example, families who earn below RM700 are supposed to be eligible to receive aid but some officers still maintain the= old RM400 limit.

“The one thing they know is that they can go to= the Welfare Department for aid – but are they getting the amount they are eligible for?

“Most get RM80 a month, but they do not know th= ey may be entitled to more. The Welfare officers are the ones who give them the money, and they make the decision.”

She reveals that some states do not even use up the financial allocation – and return it to the federal government at the= end of the year.

Arutchelvan says he has also seen cases where the poor are denied aid.<= /span>

“There are families where parents are abandoned= by their working children, but the department will deny them aid because they believe that the family members can support them.

“Some are denied aid because their houses look = fine but they may be burdened by loans and such,” he says.

Whether the amount of financial aid is sufficient, Adaickalam says, “We are not a handout kind of society. Assistance is given to the people but they are expected to do something about their situation.

“There is not one blanket solution for everythi= ng. Each case has its own problems and you have to reach out to each one, which= is time consuming. Sometimes, even NGOs just drop it as it is too much of a bother.”

The onus is on the poor to seek help, says another so= cial worker who has dealings with the JKM.

“You can't sit where you are and expect the department to know about your situation.”

Those who know of the really destitute can also play their part by referring the people to the nearest welfare office by phone, = mail or bring them to the office.

There is a welfare office in every district, while so= me large districts have more than one. After receiving a report, an officer fr= om the department would visit the person's home for a case study.

According to her, the welfare office has a criteria to follow when giving aid.

For example, the disabled who cannot work have to get certification from a doctor on their condition.

Those with children who are able to support them are pushed down the list, unless the children are destitute and unable to work.=

“It depends from case to case,” says the social worker.

So while most look to the Welfare Department for aid,= she says that there are training and development modules to help them secure a = job.

“Unfortunately, people are just not aware of it,” she says.

The department provides training for the disabled and helps them look for jobs. For the poor, training in areas such as sewing, carpentry and gardening is provided.

Arutchelvan says the Government must pump more money into the social welfare syste= m.

“Tax the rich and be strict about it. Malaysia has the second highest income dis= parity in Asia – this is serious. Our inc= ome per capita is high but the wages of our people are low.”

* Name has been changed

· = &nb= sp; For more information = on the services provided by the Social Welfare Department, visit a local offic= e, log onto www.jkm.gov.myor call the Talian Nur hotline at Tel: 15999.Helping hand: The Government has an important role in ensuring the poor receive the necessary aid with food prices on the rise. Arutchelva= n: Believes that the amount of aid received is insufficient.