Take from the poor, give to the helpless?

When I was confirmed as a buddy, one of the first few clients assigned to me was Rose. Rose, a single mother with 3 children, also had cancer of the cervix and her condition then had deteriorated, she definitely couldn’t work. She was already getting monthly welfare aid then. However, at the time when I was assigned to her, I remember it was already March, but Rose had yet to get the monthly aid since beginning of the year. Her children’s school fees had yet to be paid, neither had their bus fares been paid since the beginning of the year. With Rose in and out of the hospital quite often, her children depended on sympathetic neighbours to provide them food.

That being my first time handling a case dealing with the welfare department, I found it hard to believe that the welfare aid would be 2 or 3 months late.

After asking around, I found out that it was quite a norm for welfare aid recipients to get their money late at the beginning of each year. The excuse was that the welfare aid budget for the year for that particular state had not been received yet.

Anyway, since it has become a normal thing, we always tell our clients to expect delay at the beginning of each year.

It is December now, and so welfare aid recipients should be prepared for delays for the coming few months, right?

Well, apparently, the ones we know (am not sure about those from other states) have not been getting their monthly aid for the past month or 2. The year has not even ended yet! Surely the budget for this year has been received, right?

So off our Buddies Clients’ Welfare coordinator went to check with the district JKM, and was told by an officer there that they had used up the funds to help out the recent flood victims, so recipients of the monthly financial aid should expect further delays until they get new funds.

Oh, so take from the poor and give to the helpless, is it?

Ahh… that way there’s no need to bother the rich!

Smart move…

They deserve help, but…

I went to visit Sofie today. It has been a whole month since I last went to visit them – that was when I took the children shopping for their uniforms etc.

Sofie’s eldest son, Azlan, who sat for his PMR last year, got 1A,2B’s, 2C’s and 3D’s. The subject he scored A was for Kemahiran Teknikal. His school teacher and headmaster recommended that he applies for Sekolah Teknik boarding school and while he is reluctant to go (reason being there’d be nobody to take care of his mother at home in case she falls sick again), we are all encouraging him to go if he does indeed get the offer.

Azman, the second child, who had been staying at his school hostel at a nearby semi-residential school since last year, was home for the weekend when I went to visit today. He brought along a letter from the school asking for various fees, including for food. All in all, the total was RM240. Had I not visited them today, Sofie wouldn’t have highlighted the matter to me. To her I have been helping them a lot already and so she was not going to ask for more. Whatever fixed monthly amount that she had been getting she used to pay for workbooks etc. I told her we have a separate fund specifically for schooling needs, so the amount should be covered by this fund, not the monthly pocket money for the children that had been banked in to her account.

Saiful’s and Ika’s fees are not as much as their 2 older brothers’ fees. But these will still be covered by either our Sponsorship or Children Education Fund.

Other than that, Sofie has started looking around for a job. She has improved a whole lot health-wise (those who had been following her story may remember my description of how weak she was when I first met her) and although she still looks fragile, she is at least already capable of not only taking care of herself, but also cooking for her children.

I like her attitude. Unlike some people (I think you know who) who expects help to come in anytime they need it, Sofie on the other hand said, “Takkan sampai bila-bila saya nak tunggu bantuan Kak Afizah je!” OK, actually the bantuan doesn’t come from me, but delivered THROUGH me, but what to do… as the saying goes… “Lembu punya susu, si Pi dapat nama”. Hehehe…

The only problem now is that since the community there are all aware of Sofie’s health history, they are reluctant to give her a job. No, not because she has HIV, but because at one time Sofie’s condition was so bad, they are afraid she may end up like that again. All of them kept asking her, “Larat ke engkau nak kerja? Nanti kalau sakit balik macam mana?” With Sofie still looking rather fragile, so far no luck!

But guess what? Sofie did not give up just like that. She managed to get a “work-at-home” kinda job, inserting wires. For every 500 pieces, she’d be paid RM8. She just brought home the first batch of 500 today and she’s supposed to send them back tomorrow to earn her first RM8. If she feels she can cope, tomorrow she’ll ask to bring home more so she can earn more. With her children helping her out at home, I think she may be able to do more than just 500 a day.

See what I mean when I said I like her attitude? She TRIES to be as independent as she can be! Mrs K and Fuzi could learn a thing or two from her!

Sofie has applied for financial assistance from both Welfare and Baitulmal. Application submitted before Raya last year. So far, nobody has visited her at home to assess her situation. Thank goodness a few of my blog readers are helping the family out while the children's educational needs are covered by either our CEF or Sponsorship Fund. Otherwise by now, Sofie would have already asked her still schooling eldest son to work (she had that in mind when I visited her initially).

On another note, when I visited Sofie today, her sis-in-law (her ex-husband’s younger sister) and children were also there, visiting. Sofie selamba-ly introduced her to me, “Ni adik bekas suami saya. Dia tau lah perangai abang dia macam mana. Akak nak tau, akak tanyalah dia!”

Oh no thank you, I wasn’t there to gossip about her ex-husband. I was there to help them for their future.

Anyway, Sofie’s sis-in-law, Fiza, is also a single mother. Her late husband died 2 years ago, leaving her to fend for her 4 kids. Last year, due to health problems (Fiza has heart problems), she was unable to work, and needed her daughter, then in form 2, to take care of her at home. So the girl missed school for about 2 to 3 months. Her mistake was, she never informed her school. The school sent a show cause letter to Fiza at home, but due to her health problems, she did not respond. The girl didn’t bother to respond either. She just wanted to take care of her mother. Those lazy buggers at her school should have at least attempted to visit her at home to find out what her problem was. But no, they did not. When the show cause letter was not replied, they expelled the girl from school.

When she got a bit better, Fiza went to the school to explain matters and to get her daughter back into school. She asked the teacher in charge to visit them at home to find out for sure about their hardship. She begged the teacher to reconsider her daughter’s case. She told the teacher about her problems, yet all the teacher said was, “Itu masalah awak, bukan masalah saya!” I suppose since Fiza’s daughter isn’t so bright (she can’t even remember her own IC number without looking at her MyKad), maybe the teacher figured the school was better off without her. And maybe too, Fiza, who doesn’t earn much as a rubber tapper, had not been paying her children’s school fees.

So Fiza went to the Pejabat Pendidikan early this week to appeal her daughter’s case. She was told, “Tengoklah puan, kalau ada rezeki anak puan, bolehlah dia sekolah balik. Kalau tidak, taklah.” Like that oso can ah??

The school may have the right to take disciplinary action against errant students (AFTER they investigate the case thoroughly), but that doesn’t mean the children should be deprived of their basic rights to education.

The girl is supposed to be sitting for her PMR this year. I am not sure how long she has to wait to find out the result of her appeal (Fiza was told it may take at least a month), but the girl should be in school NOW.

With her income of about RM200 per month, Fiza’s application for Welfare Aid had been approved (after a few months applying). She’s using the monthly aid to pay for her house rental and utility bills. But I guess nothing much has changed, the monthly welfare aid can be very inconsistent. Fiza had also applied for Baitulmal help but was told that she didn’t qualify because she could still work. Well, she IS working, as a rubber tapper, despite her heart problem, but she doesn’t earn enough lah!

I already have my hands quite tied with all my HIV cases. But I don’t have the heart to buat donno with Fiza’s case. Telling her I can’t help her because she doesn’t have HIV would make me no different than the various agencies with their standard “ini bukan di bawah bidang kuasa kami” line. Hopefully I can help source some kind of help for her.

Sigh...

Fuzi called me up yesterday. She just came back from the welfare office where she finally got her financial aid for the months of June, July and August. Yep, for the past 3 months she didn't get the promised financial aid with all sorts of excuses given. Imagine, if a particular blog reader had not been putting in a certain amount into her account each month, it would have been very difficult for Fuzi and her 5 kids.

Anyway, while I was happy she finally got her welfare money, I was quite annoyed when I found out that the welfare officer asked her to open up another bank account so that they can bank in her financial aid every month into her account without her having to come all the way to their office.

Now, that would make it easier for Fuzi, right? So, why was I annoyed?

You see, when her welfare application was first approved earlier this year, Fuzi already had a savings account with BSN. The welfare officer then asked her to open up a bank account with BCB (now CIMB), with the promise that they'd bank in the money into that account. OK fine, so Fuzi opened up a BCB savings account. But the money NEVER once went into that bank account. They always come up with all sorts of excuses why they couldn't bank in the money. Amongst others, "Tak ada masa."

OK then, now they say they will bank in the amount into her savings account again. Just give them the same bank account number lah! Kan?

Nope, now they say Fuzi got to open an account with Maybank. Pulak... tak sudah-sudah menyusahkan orang yang dah memang susah!

Sigh...

Today I went to visit Mr. K at the hospital. Mrs. K was there too. Mr. K's EPF withdrawal has gone through and they've already got the money. Alhamdulillah. With Mrs. K having to take so many days of unpaid leave, the timing is just right.

Or is it really?

Remember I said in one of my earlier postings that I was quite concerned about this family getting their EPF money just before raya? Well, since Mr. K was in the hospital when the money got through, I thought it was quite safe.

But just now while I was with them at the hospital, I saw the two of them signalling one another, obviously they wanted to tell me something, but afraid to do so. They looked like typical "guilty" kids trying to admit to their parents something they had done which they knew would not get the parent's approval. Only this time the kids were Mr. and Mrs. K while I was the garang mama.

So what did they do? Mr. K, being the "I wasn't the one who did it as I was in the hospital" one, finally spoke up. Apparently, after being pressured by her kids, especially the 12 year old daughter, Mrs. K had just installed Astro at home. Yeah right, blame it on the kids! All the kids saw was a big amount of money which they probably thought would last a looooong time! And all they saw was just probably the fee for installing the Astro kuali! (Ooops sorry, I am so used to calling that thing a kuali...) What they didn't think about was the monthly fee that needs to be paid. All the while they had been having problems even with their water and electricity bills, now they want to add another monthly bill?! Mrs. K didn't have to give in, did she?

What I was particularly mad about was the fact that I had reminded them to be very careful once they got the money and to spend only on necessities. I can survive without Astro at home, why can't they? I remembered Yah's late husband who spent like a rich man when he got his EPF money, one of the first thing he did was to install Astro at home and then told his wife to pay for the monthly subscription fee! He finished all his money in just 2 weeks! Thank goodness Yah herself is not at all like her late husband. When she got her EPF money recently, she immediately put aside a certain amount into ASB. And the balance of the money, she used them on necessities and long term income generating purposes.

Back to Mrs. K, I gave her my piece of mind. I told her she must spend wisely. Spend on necessities, necessities, necessities!

They promised they'd open up SSPN account for each of their children. I'll make sure the next time I see them to ask if they have done so. Maybe my next visit to their house, I may just lecture the children as well.

Sigh...

Before I left them just now, I said, "Nanti balik jangan lupa beli TV besar 42 inci pulak ya?"

Mrs. K gave a sheepish smile.

Oh, she got my message alright...

LOUD AND CLEAR!

Free education? More help for the poor?

So, the yearly school fees have been abolished. Last year the exam fees were abolished. Text books will be made available to all. And the reports say we now have FREE primary and secondary education.

Really?

I have seen various lists given by various schools to their students at the end of last year and the school fees were only a small fraction of the total amount that the students need to pay. The fact that different amount needs to be paid by students of different schools shows that whatever fees that need to be paid or things that need to be bought are determined by the respective schools.

Let me recall the various items that I’ve seen on the various lists provided by the various schools…

They have PTA fees… tuition fees… computer fees… co-curriculum fees… and whatever else they can think of. In addition, the students must buy exercise books and a whole load of workbooks, some are written as optional, but most are compulsory.

There you go… that’s called FREE education.

OK fine, so some NGOs like mine try to help out by providing financial assistance through our Children Education Fund and the likes…

But just when we thought we settled their schooling needs, after a few months we find out that some of them are required by their class teachers to buy certain other books… not as an optional additional book, but a MUST for them to buy to be used in class. They even get scolded when they don’t buy the book.

I have to admit, there are some dedicated teachers from some schools who’d go out of their way to help the poor students. They visit the students at home if the students don’t turn up in school for a few days. They find out the family’s background if the students don’t pay their fees. But there are also teachers who don’t think of their students’ welfare and simply assume that these students lack discipline.

Speaking of visiting the students at home, it’s not what the teachers are paid to do, right? It’s just a social responsibility. Since the teachers are already burdened with a whole load of other things to do, I shall not say anything further on that.

So let me just move on to another issue… welfare.

Just recently my colleague who’s in charge of client’s welfare, liaised with the Welfare Department, asking about the status of Fuzi’s welfare aid. He was told that Fuzi’s monthly welfare aid (of RM115 per month to feed 5 kids) had been extended for another 6 months. But Fuzi has not been getting the monthly financial aid on a regular basis and I think I’ve highlighted this story a few times already.

What we’re trying to do now is to get Bantuan Kanak-kanak (BKK) for the single mothers like Fuzi instead of Bantuan Am. They’d be able to get more through BKK. My colleague asked the officer why Fuzi was given Bantuan Am instead of BKK. He was instead asked by the officer why Fuzi herself didn’t come to the welfare office to apply. God knows Fuzi had been to the welfare office before. She came in the morning; the officer was not in yet. The other staffs don’t seem to be able to help, only this ONE officer. She waited and waited, and finally she was told to come back after 2 pm. Since it was troublesome for her to go home first, she waited until 2 pm. Still, no sign of the officer-in-charge. Then she was told the officer had a meeting to attend.

When my colleague told this story to the officer he was liaising with, the lady officer asked, “Kenapa dia tak telefon dulu?” Yeah right… my colleague (who is OKU himself) had his own share of making appointments but still end up with disappointments! Most of the time, the officer-in-charge is in a meeting called at the very last minute.

My colleague then asked why the officers from the welfare department can’t visit Fuzi at home instead. Surely they’d need to assess the family instead of just interviewing Fuzi at their office. And guess what was the answer given to my colleague?

“Tak ada masa. Tengah sibuk sangat ni.”

Hmmmph!

So, while I am not complaining about the Budget, I am very, very skeptical about the funds reaching the intended recipients.

Will the hard core poor really benefit? For the moment I will just have to wait and see…

The story of Shila and Laila

Shila has been a client of Buddies ever since before I joined the NGO. Another colleague of mine was assigned as her buddy and they get along quite well.

The first time I got in touch with Shila was when I was trying to arrange for Shila’s and Jah’s transportation to come to Ipoh to join us for our family day trip to Teluk Batik last year. Jah was supposed to get a taxi from her place, stop by to pick Shila on the way and come to Ipoh together in the same taxi.

But just 2 days before the family day, Shila got involved in a minor accident, fell off a motorcycle which got her feet swollen. So she had to back out from the trip, much to the disappointment of her daughter, Laila.

All contacts then were by phone calls or SMS, so we (Jah and I) didn’t get to meet Shila personally.

The next time we planned to meet up was when I arranged for a Hari Raya gathering for the Malay ladies among the PLWHAs. Again, Shila and Laila were excited to come. And again, at the last minute Shila backed out as she was not feeling too well. Not only was Laila again disappointed, so was Jah as she had been looking forward to meeting Shila.

We finally got to meet this year when Shila and little Laila joined me for the International Aids Memorial Day celebration in KL. During the 2 hour trip to KL, Shila told me her story…

When Shila’s husband was first diagnosed HIV positive, he didn’t tell Shila for a few months. Not that he didn’t want to, he just simply didn’t know how to. He was afraid Shila might leave him. Eventually he had to tell because the staff at the HIV clinic insisted he brought his wife and daughter for tests. Thank goodness little Laila was spared but Shila was not as lucky.

But Shila took it well. Her husband apologized to her for causing her to be infected with the dreadful virus. Shila told him that what was past was over and done with, there was no point bringing up the matter. She told him not to give up hope. Yes, Shila was very supportive of her husband.

Shila was never really accepted by her husband’s family. The family had actually wanted him to marry someone of their choice, so when he instead married Shila, they couldn’t accept Shila into their family. When Shila gave birth to Laila, they accepted Laila as part of their family, but they still could not accept Shila.

When they were both diagnosed HIV positive, both sides of the family didn’t know. Shila and husband were not sure how their families would react so they didn’t tell anyone.

When the husband’s condition worsened and he became so weak, his family accused Shila as being the cause of his illness. Oh no, they didn’t know anything about the HIV, they just accused Shila of using the services of a bomoh to cast a spell on her husband. Oh dear…

Shila couldn’t take it any longer. She decided to call one of her sister-in-laws (the one most open minded compared to the rest) and told her the whole truth. It was only after that Shila’s in-laws began to accept her, especially after knowing that Shila too was infected. They knew of the husband’s drug history and so it wasn’t Shila who caused her husband’s illness. It was in fact the other way round.

Not long after that Shila’s husband died. Shila and Laila now live with Shila’s mother. Shila’s relationship with her in-laws is much better but they seldom get to meet as the in-laws stay in another state.

Shila may not be doing too well financially but she’s willing to do anything for the future of Laila. She applied for Welfare help but it wasn’t approved. Reason given? She had only one child and she had family support (Oh for heaven’s sake, she makes a living helping her mother sell kuih every morning!). She applied for Baitulmal help but had to go through “hell” during the interview. The officer drilled her with all sorts of sensitive questions (particularly on her HIV); Shila broke down and cried in front of the officer. But ahh… Shila’s tears caused the officer’s knees to go wobbly. Her application was approved without much delay…

Well, so far Shila and Laila are doing okay. I must say I admire Shila’s determination. I believe they will be alright.

Update on Fuzi and Yah

My posting on 6th April 2007, "More house visits, more welfare woes", highlighted the financial problems faced by Fuzi and Yah and the kind of excuses they received from some welfare officers.

Here are some updates:

I called Fuzi yesterday and asked if she had received her March financial aid. Fuzi said since it was still not banked in on Thursday, 12th April 2007, she went personally to the welfare office and finally got it there and then. It was almost the middle of April, it was only RM115, and she had to go personally to the welfare office about 25kms away from her house to get the money. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear...

As for Yah, well, the officer did say that she should start getting financial aid in May, so let's just wait and see.

Now for some good news.

After my posting, a couple approached me by email with the intention of giving monthly donations to these 2 families. They will be transferring a fixed monthly donation direct into the bank accounts of the 2 ladies. The couple wish to remain anonymous and I shall not mention the amount, but suffice to say the amount is more than the "Bantuan Am" usually approved by the welfare department. The first round of donation has already been transferred to the bank accounts of both ladies. On behalf of the 2 families, I'd like to thank the couple.

Phew... at least now I don't have to worry too much about Fuzi's and Yah's monthly financial needs, so I can pay more attention to other families who need help.

Of course, I will still contact all my PLWHA clients on a regular basis whether or not they have problems. That means I will still visit Fuzi and Yah from time to time even though somebody is sponsoring their financial needs.

More house visits, more welfare woes

I was at my office on Wednesday afternoon when a call came in on my handphone. It was the general ringtone – meaning the caller’s number is not registered on my phone. Sometimes if I hear that ringtone, when I answer the call, the caller will ask, “Adelyn please?” or “Zul ada?” or “Ms Chong?” Hmmph… wrong number…

But that day, when I answered the call, the girl at the other end of the line said, “Makcik, ni Wina. Susu adik dah habis!”

HUH?? Alamak…

Wina is actually the 12 year old daughter of Fuzi, one of my PLWHA clients. She called from a public phone at her school, which is why the number is not in my handphone. And the “adik” she meant was Iwan, Fuzi’s 10 month old baby boy.

Since Fuzi is not working and she can’t breastfeed her baby, I’d usually visit her on a monthly basis to send some groceries and baby’s necessities. I thought I could wait till next week but looks like they ran out of milk powder earlier than I thought. I promised the girl I’d go visit them the next day.

Then I remembered another lady, Yah, who is also a non-working single mother. She too has a baby, a 9 month old girl. Used to visit her quite regularly, but since her husband died end of last year, Yah and her children moved to her parent’s home further up north – about 130kms away from Ipoh - which makes it rather difficult for me to visit regularly. So I immediately called her up to ask how she’s doing.

As expected, Yah too ran out of milk powder for her baby, so she had no choice but to buy some using the RM160 she gets monthly courtesy of MAC. I asked if there was any news from the Welfare Department as she had already submitted her application personally in early January. Yah said since she did not receive any news from them, she went to the welfare office again some time in February to follow up. Guess what?? She was told they never received her application. Oh dear… then what on earth was she doing in their office in January? Paying them a courtesy visit?!

Yah had no choice but to submit a new application. I asked her for the name of the officer in charge and promised her I’d try to follow up on the matter. I also promised her I’ll try to visit her next weekend as I’ll be away elsewhere this weekend.

Anyway, since Fuzi stays nearer, I went to visit her yesterday. Brought along a whole load of groceries, milk powder, diapers and whatever else I managed to get from various donors. This time I made it a point to drop by a fast food outlet to buy something for the children.

The children were smiling from ear to ear when they saw me… they knew there’d be something for them, not just for their baby brother.

Fuzi’s application for welfare aid had already been approved (of RM115 a month) and she had already received some money in February – handed over by hand. The welfare officers then asked her to open up a bank account so that future financial aid beginning March can be banked in direct. Bank account done in February, and account number submitted to welfare department immediately.

But yesterday was already the 5th of April, and according to Fuzi she has gone to the bank to check, but her financial aid for March was not in yet. Again, I promised Fuzi I’d try to follow up on the matter.

Immediately after visiting Fuzi, I went direct to my NGO centre. A few of the board members would meet there every Thursdays around 4 pm in case there’s anything that needs to be discussed urgently and cannot wait for the monthly board meeting. My colleague who is handling clients’ welfare was there so I told him about the problems of my 2 clients.

He immediately rang up the welfare office. First, for Yah, he had to call the welfare office at the district where Yah stays. Good news… Yah’s application has been approved, and she’s getting RM400 a month under Bantuan Kanak-kanak. Alhamdulillah. But payment is only expected in May. I do hope it won’t be later than that.

Then, another call was made to the welfare office covering the district where Fuzi stays. And the answer we got? The money is there but they are all very busy and nobody has the time yet to channel the money to the various recipients’ bank accounts.

Oh dear me… haven’t they heard of this thing called “system”?

I wonder what their reaction would be if until today their salaries for March is still not in. And what if they enquire the relevant department and the answer they get is “Semua orang busy, tak sempat nak masukkan gaji lagi.” Sure kecoh satu Malaysia!

But since the poor are helpless, such excuses are still being used.

First world facility, third world mentality?

When the poor need help...

Although my NGO’s main objective is to provide moral and emotional support to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), whenever necessary we do take care of their welfare, especially the single mothers amongst the PLWHAs. They are not only poor in monetary terms, they are also poor in terms of education and knowledge. They don’t know where to get help. They don’t know how to get help. So we help them where we can.

One source of financial aid is the Welfare Department. Just to be sure we get things right, we called one of the higher ranking officers from the state welfare department to give us a talk – to explain to us what are the funds available, who qualifies, how to apply and whatever other necessary info.

This officer explained that the PLWHA ladies can qualify for welfare aid because they are single mothers without sufficient income, and not because they have HIV. That’s a fair statement, I thought… until he continued, “Sebab HIV ni penyakit sendiri cari!” (HIV was something they asked for). To which a male colleague of mine quicky responded, “Mana ada encik, perempuan selalu kena pasai dia punya suami tak guna punya orang!” (the ladies usually get it because their husbands are useless)

That aside, the talk enlightened us on quite a number of things. It gave us hope that there are many things our poor PLWHAs are entitled to… bantuan am, bantuan kanak-kanak, etc. We were even told that it is our responsibility as human beings to highlight these cases to the welfare department for further action. “Berdosa kalau kita diamkan” (It’s a sin if we just kept quiet about it), so he said. We were also told that we didn’t have to submit separate applications for the various categories as the welfare officers doing the house visits will assess themselves what kind of financial aid can be given.

Ahh… such high hopes we were given!

However, in reality, whenever we do any follow ups for our PLWHA clients asking about the status of their application, we get asked, “Kenapa dia orang tak telefon sendiri?” (Why didn’t they call us themselves?) Or sometimes if the approval is for bantuan am of a measly RM120 per month when the applicant actually has 5 children and should also qualify for bantuan kanak-kanak, they’ll say, “Dia tak minta pun.” (She didn’t apply for that.) Or the application has been approved a few months ago and the funds are already available, we are told the officers have yet to find the time to hand over the money to the approved applicants… “If they need the money urgently please get them to come to our office.” Yeah right, to go to your office they need money for bus fares. Worse, when they go to your office, the officer in charge is not in and other officers simply cannot help out. Waste of bus fares when they can use the money for food!

However, I do admit there are a few officers from certain districts who are really dedicated and committed. Those whose files are handled by these few officers are lucky indeed.

Another source of funds for the PLWHAs is the EPF withdrawal for permanent disability. Most of the cases we help out for this involve families where the husbands are already too weak to work and the wives have to take over the responsibility as the bread-winner. So, we help them to apply for the husband’s EPF withdrawal. The submission of the form must be accompanied by a form signed by a doctor confirming the nature of illness of the applicant. Of course they’d need that, otherwise anyone can simply apply to withdraw all their EPF savings.

Most of the people trying to withdraw their EPF under this scheme are those who are poor. They get medical treatment from government hospitals because they can’t afford to go to private hospitals or clinics. Great! That means they can just bring the form to the hospital during their next appointment and get the doctor to sign the form, right?

WRONG!

The doctor they see in their next appointment may be a new doctor who doesn’t know their medical history. He/she will have to go through the file before he/she can write the report. Those who need the medical report signed by the doctor need to go through certain procedures.

They now need to go to this specific counter, hand in their application together with copies of their hospital cards etc. The application will then go through the respective clinics where the applicant goes for treatment where their medical records are kept. In a month or so, when the report is ready, the hospital will contact the applicants to come and get their reports. The doctor signing the report has to be answerable if anything goes wrong. OK lah… fair enough. It may take a bit longer but at least the applicant can still easily get their report, right?

WRONG AGAIN!

When they ask for the medical report, they will need to pay RM40 to get the M.O. to sign. And if they want a specialist to sign, (so that later they need not go to EPF panel clinic when their application gets submitted to EPF) they will need to pay RM80.

Oh dear, now they need to pay some money to withdraw some money which in the first place is their own money. (Duh! Am I making sense here?)

For the average person, paying the RM40 or RM80 may not be a problem if they really need to withdraw their EPF savings. But for the poor, every single sen counts! Just 3 weeks ago, one PLWHA called up one of my colleagues seeking help. She was at the hospital, about to submit an application for her husband’s medical report for EPF withdrawal purposes, but she couldn’t afford to pay RM40. My colleague, a lawyer, thinking that maybe this lady had RM40 in hand but may be left with no money if she pays, asked her to pay first and promised he’d go to her house and reimburse the money to her after office hours. Guess what? This lady had no more than RM5 in hand. She had no choice but to come back to the hospital later after she got the RM40.

So, if nobody helps them out, what becomes of these people? DIE lah! (OK… a bit exaggerated there maybe… but still possible kan?)