PEMERKASA PLUS: RM100 CASH AID NOT ENOUGH, SAY B40 SINGLES

1 June 2021

By Wartawan Nabalu News

KOTA KINABALU: "It's not about being ungrateful but RM100 is just not enough," said some single Malaysians from the B40 group on one of the aid packages under the Movement Control Order 3.0 (MCO 3.0) announced by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

In his special message last night, Muhyiddin said singles with monthly income below RM2,500 is eligible to receive RM100 under the Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat (BPR) programme and the payment would be credited to the recipients' accounts at the end of June.

He said this payment is in addition to the final payment phase of the BPR in September.

Taking to Twitter to express disapproval, singles from the B40 reasoned that RM100 is barely enough to put food on the tables.

"We are indeed grateful that the government is giving out cash aid, but with the present-day cost of living, RM100 is barely enough to cover for our losses impacted by the total lockdown.

"I lost my job during the previous MCO so I had to take up odd jobs to survive, but now with the implementation of total lockdown, I would surely not be earning much. I'm really hoping that the government can increase the amount of cash ai," said a Twitter user.

Another user commented that RM100 aid is irrelevant as prices of goods continue to increase, reckoning that the aid could only last an individual a week.

Meanwhile, some individuals in the M40 group also expressed disappointment as the newly announced aids only seem to benefit the B40 group.

"I never received any financial support from the government just because I belong in the M40 group. My family's income has greatly reduced ever since the first MCO... Moratorium or more financial aid will really help ease our situation.

"Trust me, there are so many in the M40 group out there that no longer have enough income and I suggest the government look holistically and layout effective solution. The current government has neglected us (M40) since the beginning," said a user.

One user also opined that the government has always been turning a blind eye to the struggles faced by M40.

"M40 is actually equally affected but the government never seemed to understand that. We are only human who work hard to strive to live, so please at least implement an automatic moratorium for everyone.

"In my opinion, the Parliament has to reconvene immediately so that the government can discuss this with the opposition parties, and be transparent in order to contain the pandemic effectively."

Last night, Muhyiddin also mentioned that households with monthly income below RM2,500 and those earning between RM2,501 and RM5,000 are eligible to receive RM500 and RM300 respectively.

For the B40 group and those affected by loss of jobs as well as micro-enterprises and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that are not allowed to operate during the lockdown period, they can obtain an automatic moratorium approval for three months or a reduction in repayment in instalments of 50 per cent for a period of six months on loans.

This initiative will be implemented from June and is expected to benefit more than five million borrowers with a value of up to RM30 billion.

Malaysia is being placed under the first phase of total lockdown from June 1-14.