KUALA LUMPUR – The Welfare Department’s Talian Kasih helpline received 12,622 phone calls last month alone, roughly half of the total number of 25,868 calls it received in 2019.
Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rina Harun told RTM talk-show Pesona XY that a majority of the calls were requests for financial assistance and inquiries on the government’s food basket programme.
“In 2013, we had 8,221 calls. In 2016, it went up to 21,283 but went down in 2017 to around 19,000 calls. In 2018, it fell further to about 15,000 calls but in 2019, it rose to 25,868 calls.
“However, 2020 saw a six-fold spike from 2019 to 153,024 phone calls. Obviously, this was influenced by the movement control order (MCO).
“Many of these calls were requests for food baskets. People were panicking,” she said.
“This was an extreme spike in 2020.
“This year, we are receiving a lot of phone calls, too, even though we are still in the first week of February. In January, we had 12,622 calls. That’s in just one month,” said Rina.
Elaborating on the data, Rina said that, out of the 12,622 calls Talian Kasih received, 164 were on children's issues, requests for welfare assistance (3,153), counselling (552) while the rest were on issues concerning the disabled as well as the elderly.
The discussion also touched on the recent death of Zubaidi Amir Qusyairi Abd, 7, who was allegedly abused by his parents. Rina advised the public to be aware of what is going on in their communities and among their neighbours.
She acknowledged that part of Malaysian culture is the reluctance to intrude on other people’s affairs, especially when it comes to other people’s children.
However, she stressed that Malaysians must overcome this as it could help save lives, adding it is not intruding or interfering when a person is concerned, worried or simply caring about the safety of children.
Rina said taking action on such matters is not being a “busybody”, stressing on the concept of #kitajagakita (we take care of our own).
“As neighbours living in a community and with our relatives, we should also practise #kitajagakita.
“For example, if during this MCO period, we see relatives or neighbours not behaving like they usually do, but becoming withdrawn, sullen and depressed because, maybe, they have lost their job, it is something we can clearly see and we can offer to help.
“And, if we believe that a child is being abused, you hear the child crying for help day in, day out – it’s not interfering if we think that something suspicious is going on,” she said.
“We can lodge a report and have the authorities inspect or investigate. You can save lives.” – The Vibes, February 6, 2021
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