KUALA LUMPUR – A total of 517,769 individuals nationwide have received assistance from the Social Welfare Department worth RM1.1 billion this year as of May.
Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rina Mohd Harun said current developments were worrying as they showed many were in need of assistance.
“We focus on the hardcore poor first,” she told reporters after visiting and handing over welfare aid to single mothers at the Kerinchi People’s Housing Project flats here today.
Earlier, Rina handed over child financial assistance approval letters to four nominees who will receive financial assistance every month starting from July for one year depending on the number and ages of their dependents.
One of the recipients, Noorlin Abdul Razak, 40, said she would use the RM1,000 monthly aid as best she could to meet the needs of her six children.
Noorlin, who has been selling frozen popiah on a small scale since last year, said she always tried to inculcate the habit of saving in her children, aged three to 11 years.
“After my husband left me early this year, I could not go out to work because my children needed me. By selling frozen popiah, I have an income, albeit a small one, to meet my children’s expenditure. Alhamdulillah, I have never run out of money even though (at times) I have only RM10 left.
“The aid has boosted my spirit as a single mother to rise to the occasion despite facing a difficult situation during the pandemic,” said Noorlin, who also looks after her 66-year-old mother. – Bernama, July 2, 2021
