THANKS to the Selangor government for increasing the Skim Mesra Usia Emas (SMUE) payment to RM150 in view of the impending state assembly elections that could occur in a few months’ time.
The state administration is well aware of the fact that senior citizens are mostly ardent voters and take their electoral duty seriously.
Even though it is a welcome move, I would like to highlight the problems with the SMUE payment of RM100 annually to senior citizens, which replaced the death benefit of RM2,500 previously provided to Selangor-born seniors.
Since the death benefit scheme was replaced with a RM100 voucher system for purchases from selected supermarkets, many senior citizens have not been getting their vouchers on their birthdays. This issue has been highlighted before.
Many senior citizens have not received their vouchers since the voucher scheme was started a few years back. Will they receive their arrears or backpay?
The state representative’s office is the main point of inefficiency behind the problem.
All kinds of excuses have been given, ranging from a shortage of staff to not having the necessary data and details of senior citizens in the constituency.
It is time this inefficient system is replaced with a better one.
If the Internal Revenue Department can provide posted notices to millions of B40 citizens nationwide who qualify for Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia and Bantuan Sara Hidup, why can’t the over-staffed Selangor civil service, who receive generous bonuses, implement a similar system, by-passing the assemblyman’s office?
The criteria for selection for the voucher is that the senior citizen must be born in Selangor, which is not a difficult data to find due to the number “10” in the middle of the identity card digits, which differentiates the Selangor-born from those born in other states.
Those born before 1974 in Kuala Lumpur before it became a federal territory can also apply for the SMUE.
There are so many Selangor senior citizens who have not received their vouchers since the birthday payment scheme was implemented a few years ago.
The assemblyman’s office makes it complicated by looking for voter details. The scheme is for senior citizens, not voters in a state constituency, as the name of the scheme implies. Why make life hard for senior citizens? One has to go to the assemblyman’s office to receive the voucher, and the voucher has a deadline within which date the purchase must be made.
Many senior citizens do not drive and have to rely on the Grab service. What do the senior citizens get after deducting transport cost to and back from the assemblyman’s office and the supermarket?
Why is a deadline set and why only selected supermarkets? The supermarkets are not giving the items for free; they are paid for by the Selangor state government.
What does the Selangor government have to say about this? The Selangor government needs to come with an efficient system whereby all senior citizens receive SMUE benefits.
It is discriminatory at present, as only some receive it while many still do not. I suspect that there is a lot of misappropriation in the disbursement of the SMUE.
Another issue is the Peduli Sihat scheme, which was launched by former menteri besar Azmin Ali.
Since current Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari took over the administration, a major purging of the B40 members who qualified for this scheme was implemented.
For a large constituency like Sg Buloh (its state seats being Paya Jaras and Kota Damansara) with 150,000 voters, fewer than 3,000 qualified for the scheme.
A lot of senior citizens lost the Peduli Sihat coverage together with the B40 due to dubious grounds for selection.
Under the Peduli Sihat scheme singles and those with families could get RM200 and RM 500 subsidy coverage respectively when treated at the panel clinics.
The selection of the panel clinics also left a lot to be desired, and now, hardly anyone talks about the Peduli Sihat scheme.
Additionally, the Skim Insurans Peduli Sihat, too, is shrouded in secrecy, as there is very little information about how the people can apply for the scheme.
There is hardly any info on the websites or the posters in the MP or state representative’s office.
The B40 group in Selangor, mostly urban-based, is facing much hardship due to the increasing cost of living and other socio-economic problems. Thus, the medical benefits of the Peduli Sihat scheme would have been very helpful for them.
Selangor, being the richest state, can have more generous schemes to help the people.
One wonders why Selangor, which is also the most developed state in the country, cannot operate the SMUE and the Peduli Sihat schemes efficiently and competently for the benefit of the people.
A look at the SMUE and Peduli Sihat websites, which are hopelessly outdated, shows the need to overhaul the system. There is a need to give clear and uncomplicated information about the two schemes that can easily be understood by the people.
If Selangor cannot operate the two schemes competently, it is better to stop them instead of hoodwinking the people with “assistance schemes”.
What is the point of having so many schemes when very few people know about them and can benefit from them?
Selangor needs to use the media more often to publicise these schemes and subsidies. – The Vibes, January 22, 2023
V. Thomas reads The Vibes
