©The Star (Used&nbs= p;with permission) Sun= day July 20, 2008

Welfare aid only for food

BY JOSEPH LOH

Among the biggest problems= the Social Welfare Department faces is the limited financial and staff resource= s in helping those in poverty.

SINGLE mother R. Kaur earns RM900 a month doing housekeeping work – a salary that has to provide for her family of six children, including three who are still in school while the rest are barely financially self-sufficient.

Her biggest expense is her house rental at RM650, whi= ch leaves her with hardly enough to put food on the table. But after her plight was highlighted in Sunday Star two weeks ago, good Samaritans who re= ad about it called in to offer financial aid.

But what about getting help from the Government? With= the rising cost of food and petrol, would families like hers tottering on the e= dge of poverty qualify for assistance from the welfare department? The answer i= s no as the poverty line is RM700.

“As much as my heart goes out to her, I have no= choice. I have to follow my terms of reference. If I make one exception here, I hav= e to make exceptions for the whole country. This is where NGOs (non-governmental= organisations) can come in. Our net is only up to a limit,” says Family, Women and Community Development Minister Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen in an interview.

She states that Malaysia's welfare policy is = to ensure the needy have enough money to buy food and justifies the guidelines= and current amount given by the Social Welfare Department.

“According to our policy, it is solely for food. This is based on the EPU's assessment on how mu= ch a person needs to spend on food per month. We do not give aid for things like transport and rental.”

Not a welfare state

However, Dr Ng stresses that Malaysia is not a welfare state, therefore financial aid is not available to tho= se who are able to work.

“We do not give welfare to adult Malaysians. Our contention is that there are many jobs available in Malaysia. We want people to w= ork and we have no unemployment here,” she says, adding that there are ab= out two million foreign workers in the country.

When asked if the Welfare Department's policy is too restrictive and the amount given too little, she says, “As a minister= I would love to give to everybody. But there must be very clear policies and a cut-off rate.

“If we were to give to those earning below RM2<= span class=3DGramE>,000, it will cost us RM22bil; if below RM1,500 it is = about RM5bil. Do we take it from the schools? Or development funds?”

However, there have been significant revisions to the department's aid structure, notably the raising of the minimum household in= come limit for the OKU (disabled), senior citizens and school-going children cat= egories to RM1,200 and RM700 for the last two respectively. Additionally, as of Jan= 1 this year, the amount of aid provided was increased by RM100 to RM300 for t= he first two categories. Another new category of aid was also created – family members who stay home to care for the chronically ill are given RM30= 0.

In addition to what the Welfare Department gives out, there are many other avenues for aid – and some from other ministries= .

“Children get free school fees, and they are provided uniforms, books and even food. The Health Ministry provides food baskets for those who are malnourished.

“The Ministry of Housing and Local Government a= lso has urban welfare, where they give subsistence for rental, transportation f= or children, and also dialysis treatment while the Ministry of Rural Affairs g= ives food baskets as well as housing aid,” says Dr Ng.

The Welfare Department provides financial aid for the whole nation, under the federal and respective state governments. General a= id (bantuan am) for the Federal Territory and Labuan comes from the ministry, but for = other states, the amount given is dependent on the state-level welfare office.

One of the biggest problems the ministry faces is tha= t of limited resources in terms of both finances and personnel.

“As the country develops, we talk about building roads, schools and hospitals. This ministry, if you look at the hierarchy, = is the second lowest in its budget financing. We are just above the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage.”

As it is, she explains, 75% of the Ministry's budget = is spent on welfare, together with 75% of its total human resources.

Lack of information

She realises that there n= eeds to be better dissemination of information on the aid that the Welfare Department provides and promotional materials for social welfare should be placed in high-visibility areas such as bus stops.

Dr Ng says that the department's procedures have also been improved – the system has been decentralise= d and the district level can now approve aid instead of only at the federal level.

After someone registers with the department, its offi= cers will make a home visit and prepare a report.

“Previously, there was no time frame – no= w it must be done within one month. It is up to the accountability, credibility = and efficiency of the officer. This will speed things up and cut down the bureaucracy,” she says, adding that the ministry's work is hindered mainly by lack of qualified staff.

“Our coverage needs to be expanded, and I get v= ery concerned when people do not approach the department. If they don’t c= ome, we will not know about them and we do not have the machinery to knock on ev= ery door.

“Right now, each officer handles 360 cases! Ide= ally it should be a ratio of one to 30,” she says and shares plans to star= t a registry for social workers.

Dr Ng states that the Government is not turning its b= ack on those who work but cannot afford to make ends meet.

“The Prime Minister is concerned with the effec= t of rising prices to those families not within the safety net. Some families wo= rk hard but cannot earn above the poverty line. By right they do not fall under us, but we may review this policy.

“I tell my officers not to worry whether there = is enough money but worry instead if they have missed out on any needy person.= ”