Disabled want a rep in Welfare Dept

2009/04/23

Disabled want a rep in Welfare Dept

KUALA LUMPUR: A RM500 monthly payment to all registered disabled and at least one disabled person to be represented in the Welfare Department committee handling them.

These requests were made by a group of disabled that met Women, Family and Community Development Minister Senator Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil yesterday.

Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association president Anthony Siva Balan Thana-sayan, who spoke on behalf of the group, said every disabled person deserved a decent standard of living.

"We hope and pray that you can give us RM500 per month. But there should not be any restrictions.

If the recipients want to spend the money on stupid things, like cigarettes, let them," he said.

Disabled registered with the ministry currently get bet-ween RM150 and RM300. He said owning a television set was no longer a luxury.

"Are you now going to stop giving us money because we have computers or the Internet at home?"Or if we eat Baskin Robbins ice-cream with the money?

"Stanley Anthony, 60, who had a total hip replacement in 1988 after an accident, said he had been appealing for the past two years against the Welfare Department ruling that those disabled having Astro satellite service should not be given aid.

The New Straits Times reported yesterday that this rule applied even if one lived in someone else's house, temporarily or otherwise.

The disabled say TV programmes were the only entertainment they had

‘OKU tak kaya kalau ada TV'

Jumaat, 24 April 2009

‘OKU tak kaya kalau ada TV'

BINCANG...Shahrizat mengadakan rundingan dengan golongan OKU yang mengadakan bantahan, semalam.

KUALA LUMPUR: Tindakan Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat (JKM) menarik semula bantuan kepada orang kurang upaya (OKU) hanya kerana di rumah mereka terdapat televisyen dan Astro disifatkan sebagai satu tindakan keterlaluan.

Berikutan itu, seramai 15 OKU berkumpul di hadapan pejabat Kementerian Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Masyarakat (KPWKM) di sini untuk bertemu Menterinya, Senator Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil bagi meluahkan rasa tidak berpuas hati mereka berhubung tindakan berkenaan.

Dalam kejadian kira-kira jam 3 petang itu, semua peserta bantahan terbabit memegang sepanduk sambil melaungkan ‘kami mahukan pembelaan...jangan tindas kami’ kira-kira 10 minit di hadapan bangunan itu sebelum bergerak masuk.

Pengerusi Persatuan Badan Latihan dan Hidup Berdikari, G Francis Siva, berkata pihaknya amat terkilan dengan tindakan itu dan ia satu diskriminasi kepada mereka yang tidak berupaya.

“Hanya kerana kami memiliki Astro dan televisyen mereka mahu menarik semula bantuan yang disalurkan selama ini. Ini adalah tindakan mengarut dan lebih kepada penindasan.

“Mereka sepatutnya berbincang dengan mana-mana wakil OKU terlebih dulu sebelum mengambil tindakan seumpama itu bagi mengelakkan keadaan menjadi lebih buruk,” katanya ketika ditemui di sini, semalam.

Menurutnya, golongan OKU hanya mampu mendapatkan maklumat dengan menonton televisyen manakala segelintir saja daripada mereka mempunyai Astro bertujuan untuk berhibur. “Semua orang tahu peralatan elektronik kini dijual pada harga murah dan saya yakin pemilikan televisyen dan Astro bukanlah menandakan kami berkemampuan ataupun hidup mewah.

Sebaliknya, kami juga manusia biasa dan punya naluri untuk berhibur dengan cara tersendiri.

“Lagipun fasiliti di negara ini tidak berpihak kepada golongan OKU untuk berhibur seperti menonton wayang. Inilah (televisyen dan Astro) satu-satunya ruang untuk kami berbuat demikian,” katanya.

Sharizat yang ditemui selepas perjumpaan dengan wakil OKU kira-kira lebih 20 minit berkata pihaknya mengalu-alukan maklum balas seumpama itu daripada orang ramai dan berjanji akan mengambil tindakan susulan.

“Tujuan kita bertindak demikian bukanlah untuk menindas mana-mana pihak sebaliknya dilakukan bagi memastikan ketelusan selain bersifat lebih adil kepada mereka yang lebih memerlukan,” katanya.

Peraturan sekat elaun OKU dikaji

Jumaat, 24 April 2009

Peraturan sekat elaun OKU dikaji

SHAHRIZAT bertemu OKU yang tidak puas hati mengenai penarikan semula bantuan kewangan bagi golongan OKU di Kuala Lumpur, semalam.

KUALA LUMPUR: Kementerian Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Masyarakat memberi jaminan akan mengkaji semula peraturan menyekat orang kurang upaya (OKU) menerima elaun kebajikan sekiranya mereka memiliki televisyen atau Astro.

Menterinya, Senator Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil memberi jaminan itu selepas berbincang dengan sekumpulan 12 OKU yang mengunjungi pejabatnya di sini, semalam.

"Anda memberitahu saya untuk melihat semula peraturan ini, saya akan melihatnya... saya berasakan permintaan ini adalah wajar dan saya akan melihatnya kembali. Kita akan kembali dengan jawapan yang realistik," kata Shahrizat. Beliau turut menegaskan peraturan itu tidak bertujuan untuk mendiskriminasi OKU.

Shahrizat berkata demikian mengulas laporan akhbar New Straits Times, semalam, bahawa golongan OKU yang memiliki televisyen atau Astro di rumah masing-masing disekat daripada menerima bantuan kebajikan.

Beliau kemudian menjelaskan, peraturan itu hanya dikuatkuasakan terhadap mereka yang tergolong di bawah skim OKU yang tidak mampu bekerja dan diberi bantuan RM150 sebulan.

"Apabila OKU mempunyai kemudahan Astro di rumah mereka... ini ditakrifkan sebagai petanda OKU sudah mampu berbelanja lebih... dalam konteks ini untuk hiburan. "Tindakan menggunakan Astro dianggap sebagai perbelanjaan bulanan tambahan yang mengurangkan penggunaan wang bantuan untuk keperluan asas," katanya.

Bagaimanapun, Shahrizat menegaskan peraturan itu tidak menjejaskan dua lagi skim kebajikan untuk pekerja kurang upaya dan penjaga OKU lumpuh yang menerima bantuan bulanan RM300.

"Mereka yang masih menguat kuasa peraturan ini terhadap dua kategori OKU terbabit boleh diambil tindakan. Bagaimanapun, saya akan mengkaji semula peraturan berkaitan pemilikan Astro dan televisyen," katanya.

Terdahulu, keadaan agak tegang di ruang menunggu kementerian terbabit dengan beberapa individu membawa sepanduk mengutuk peraturan itu tetapi suasana kembali tenang sebaik Shahrizat tiba.

Beliau kemudian berjabat tangan dengan semua OKU yang berada di ruang menunggu kementeriannya sambil bertanya nama dan latar belakang sebelum menarik sebuah kerusi duduk bersama mereka untuk mendengar masalah dibangkitkan.

Disabled folk protest against Astro ruling

Thursday April 23, 2009

Disabled folk protest against Astro ruling

KUALA LUMPUR: About 20 disabled people turned up at the Women, Family and Community Develop-ment Ministry yesterday to protest against the ruling barring those with Astro from receiving welfare aid.

The wheelchair-bound protesters were led by Independent Living and Training Centre president Francis Silva, who urged the ministry to reconsider its ruling. Silva said the ruling was a clear indication of discrimination against the disabled.

“The RM50 subscription fee is minimal. Astro channels have become a source of information and knowledge for our children. We don’t want the Welfare Department to withdraw the allowance which we are entitled to,” he said.

The group later met Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil for 30 minutes.

In a statement, Shahrizat said the aid was meant to assist the poor and needy with basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter.

“Subscribing to Astro for an entertainment channel is considered a monthly expense that would reduce the amount of welfare aid,” she said, adding that there would also be more dialogues and reviews of legislation, policies and regulations to enhance the quality of the lives of the disabled.

Shahrizat to review Astro ruling, brings hopes to disabled

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Shahrizat to review Astro ruling, brings hopes to disabled

Senator Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil meeting with representatives from three organisations for the disabled yesterday. — NST picture by Yazit Razali

Minister meets disabled reps, promises to come up with realistic solutions to meet their needs.

KUALA LUMPUR: The disabled may yet get to enjoy Astro satellite programmes together with Welfare Department aid.

Women, Family and Community Development Minister Senator Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said the department would be reviewing the ruling that bars the disabled from getting aid if they had a television set or Astro service at home.

She said this at a meeting with 12 disabled people who came to see her at her ministry yesterday over the issue.

The disabled, who came in wheelchairs, were from the Disabled Persons Integrated Family Services (KIOKU), Independent Living and Training Centre and the Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association.

"You are telling me to look at it, which I will. I think it's a reasonable request and I will look at it," she said, adding the ruling did not constitute discrimination against the disabled."

We will come back with realistic answers."Shahrizat was responding to a report in the New Straits Times yesterday on the disabled being barred from getting welfare aid if they had a TV set or Astro at home.

She said the ruling only applied to those under the Disabled Persons Unable to Work scheme, who were being given RM150 per month in aid.

"The underlying principle for welfare aid to the poor and needy is to ensure that their basic needs, such as food, clothing and shelter, are met."As such, the ruling on Astro is applicable because it gives an indication of the affordability of the applicant to spend on something extra, in this case entertainment."

She said Astro was considered a monthly expense that would reduce welfare aid being used for basic needs.

Shahrizat said the ruling did not affect the other two welfare schemes for disabled workers and people caring for a bedridden disabled person, who get RM300 a month.

She said action would be taken against officers who imposed the ruling on people in these two schemes.

Earlier, the mood in the waiting room at the ministry was dark, with the disabled carrying placards condemning the ruling.

But the atmosphere changed when Shahrizat entered and shook hands with them, asked their names and their backgrounds before pulling up a chair to sit with them.

She said she understood the predicament of the disabled, with most lying on a bed the whole day, with nothing to do but stare at empty walls.

Shahrizat said she would also speak to Astro to provide free services to the disabled as part of the company's corporate social responsibility.

There are 28,608 disabled people registered with the ministry.

Got Astro or TV? Sorry, no welfare aid for you

2009/04/22

Got Astro or TV? Sorry, no welfare aid for you

By : Suganthi Suparmaniam

KUALA LUMPUR: The words "disabled, Astro" and "aid" cannot occur in the same sentence, as far as the Welfare Department is concerned.

The department bars the disabled from getting welfare aid if they have Astro or a television set at home.The rule applies even if one lives in someone else's house, temporarily or otherwise.

S. Karupanan, 73, found this out the hard way three months ago when the department cut the RM200 aid to him as he was temporarily staying in a house which "had Astro service".

The department had paid for surgery on one knee and promised to underwrite the cost of the operation on the other knee.

But while awaiting the second surgery, he moved into his daughter's house and his troubles began.

Welfare officers who came to visit him saw red when they chanced upon the Astro connection and immediately withdrew the aid.

For K. Shanmugam, 51, who applied for welfare assistance in 2005 on becoming paralysed, it has been a string of "no's" from the department for aid.

His mistake, he believes, was his honest reply when asked if he had a television set and Astro at home."That's the first question they asked.

When I said I had both, they immediately said that I was not eligible for assistance as there were others poorer than me.

" The former crane driver, who was earning RM2,000 in Singapore when a motorcycle accident four years ago left him paralysed, was baffled by the department's decision.

He said that the bills of the family of six were paid by relatives who realised that he only had Astro to keep him company when the children were out of the house."

I cannot work. The only pleasure in my life now is the Astro service," he said.

Another extreme case is that of a a disabled 40-year-old, paralysed from the neck downwards, who lives with he partly-paralysed mother.

The disabled woman, who declined to be identified, decided against applying for an Astro connection after being warned by a welfare officer that they would cut aid to them if she did so.

What she cannot understand is why they would do so as Astro was the "only" company she and her mother could have at home.

"We cannot leave our house and we live on donations and welfare aid. What's wrong if some people who sympathise want to get us an Astro connection?"

Welfare director-general Datuk Meme Zainal Rashid could not be reached for comment.

A Serious Discussion - Mahumas Sdn Bhd

Not Accessible for the disabled - New Bus Terminal for Rawang

THE new bus and taxi terminal at Pusat Bandar Baru Rawang will begin operations next month not accessible at all for the disabled.


Recently, ILTC visited the newly-completed bus and taxi terminal located along the Federal trunk road was build with poor accessible facility and would be opened in the middle of May.

Last week, we had a serious discussion with the Mahumas Sdn Bhd management. The management willing to up grade all the facilities for the disabled people as soon as possible. In the mean time we will be monitoring the the developer to comply with MS1184 accessible facilities.

NEW MALAYSIAN CABINET APRIL 2009

NEW MALAYSIAN CABINET APRIL 2009

Computer Class For The Term 2009

Computer Class For The Term 2009 Begins From April

A group of fresh disabled members have started their Computer Training Programme for this year 2009 with the help of new computers donated by RENTWISE SDN BHD.