GEORGE TOWN – Emmanuel Joseph John, 28, who is partially blind, has only one wish this year: a job to support his 57-year-old mother K. Selvarani.
He is appealing to elected representatives to help the family find affordable housing with a minimum rental of RM100.
Their plight received attention when they were featured in a report on poverty, which showed them living on tea and bread inside a rented room in Jelutong.
“Our immediate need is a house and a job. My mother is old enough to retire and I want her to rest as she is getting old. I am willing to take up a job,” he said.
K. Selvarani was working as a dishwasher in a food court at Sg Pinang but lost her job after she fainted working on an empty stomach.
Her employer had presumed that the mother had contracted Covid-19 and refused to allow her to continue working.
With their eight-year-old dog Robbie, the duo lives in a tiny partitioned room behind a barber shop in Jalan Tan Sri Teh Ewe Lim, Jelutong.
The room, rented at RM250 a month, has cockroaches and rats.
Emmanuel became partially blind after a road accident eight years ago. He also suffers from fits.
Meanwhile, Selvarani has a speech impediment and is hard of hearing.
She has tried to get work at the nearby wet market to no avail.
Traders told her they cannot afford to hire her even with low wages.
Recently, a tuition teacher, Vimalan Chandrasegaran, who heard about their plight, donated a mattress and comforter, and a week’s worth of food. – The Vibes, November 17, 2020
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