SANDAKAN, Sabah and KUALA LUMPUR: Vivian Wong, the Member of Parliament for the port town of Sandakan, Sabah, has received many calls for help this year. In particular, there were mothers who could not afford to feed their babies.
All across the country too, there are stories of hardship as many households struggle to stay afloat because of the pandemic. “Sometimes he could go to sea and sometimes he couldn’t … When he was able to go to sea, he didn’t get that much — around 20 to 30 fish. That’s able to feed us for two days,” says the 50-year-old.She could not go to work either, but she counts herself lucky that she did not lose her job as a cook-cum-cleaner at a children’s learning centre. Her salary came late, however, and the family found it hard to survive.
Sabah halted flights from China as early as Jan 30, in a move to protect its tourism industry, a key economic driver that accounts for 15 per cent of the state’s gross domestic product. But nothing could avert the decline. When unemployment in Malaysia increased to 5.3 per cent in May, it was the highest since 1989. The number of unemployed persons rose by 47,300 to 826,100 individuals. In August, the rate was 4.7 per cent.“We were able to carry out a survey, and we did find that as many as one half … of the workforce suffered a loss of income, and some suffered the loss of their jobs,” cites Merdeka Centre executive director Ibrahim Suffian.
“Before the lockdown, I could earn around RM2,000 . The lowest would be around RM800. But during the lockdown, my income was zero,” he recalls. “The effect was really painful … We didn’t have any prospects for the workshop.” A friend of his then approached the Darul Jariyah Welfare Association about his situation. The organisation delivers aid to people in need, and his case has “moved” the woman who runs it, Jalijah Awang Kenit.“We have a lot of cases like Fakaruddin’s, but mostly they’re single mums … When it comes to husbands who lost their wives, there aren’t many.
And once again, as with Sabah, a conditional MCO has been imposed on Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Selangor from this week.The pressure on low-income households will continue to mount so long as the health crisis prevails. But to help minimise their suffering and keep the economy going, the government has unveiled stimulus packages totalling RM305 billion.
There be more social problems ahead , not only for the poor .... Crimes will go up as well ,
Will be tough for them
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