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The saying, “The poor
become poorer, and the rich become richer” is hauntingly true. The likelihood
of this abounds. That is why the Welfare Department becomes increasingly relevant
to the needy who are often victims of circumstances and who warrant government
intervention and assistance.
As is fairly well-known, the Welfare Department plays a major role in alleviating
the hardships of needy persons: giving monthly cash assistance; providing institutional
care, protection and rehabilitation; and rendering emergency relief in times of
civil disasters. Not so obvious to the public eye however, is the effort of the
Department to help the needy develop self-reliance through income-generating activities
that will augment their income and enable them to cease receiving government welfare
assistance.
Apart from those already mentioned, the Department also provides launching grant
for individuals, and small project grants for groups of five to ten persons. Under
the launching grant scheme, the Welfare Department has processed a total of sixty-five
(65) cases since its implementation in the 1990s. Not every case was approved
however, as there are certain criteria to be complied with. Of the 65 cases approved,
about 20 have progressed quitesatisfactorily. The hard fact is that there are
more failure stories than successful ones to relate.
The typical welfare recipient is not only without regular source of income, but
also ill-equipped to launch into any kind of income-generating activity. The criteria
for approving launching grants are not stringent, but serve to ensure that those
approved for the grants will have a fighting chance to succeed.
First of all the applicant should already be a beneficiary of the Welfare Department.
Then he is required to prepare a simple working paper which will indicate his
level of competency in terms of knowledge, experience, training, business acumen,
and economic viability of the proposed project.
Based on the working paper and an interview with him, he will be granted either
in part or full amount of the grant, not in cash but in the form of equipment
needed for his project. In 1996, the maximum amount of grant was only RM2,000
per person, but since 2001 this amount has been increased to RM5,000. The majority
of the recipients are single mothers, people with disabilities but still mobile
and functional and knowledgeable in the three Rs, and former trainees of welfare
institutions like the Taman Sri Puteri of Miri and the Sekolah Tunas Bakti of
Kota Samarahan.
In most cases, these three groups also belong to the category of needy or poor
in the community. In cases where the holder of the grant has been successful,
he or she has been encouraged to further expand on the project by applying to
other sources for loans.
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Among the financial institutions they could turn to are: Majlis Amanah Rakyat
(MARA), Unit Pembangunan Usahawan (UPU), Jabatan Belia Persekutuan, Bank Pembangunan,
Bank Rakyat, Tabung Ekonomi Usahawan Negara (TEKUN), Amanah Iktiar Malaysia (AIM),
and Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC).
The projects of the launching grant recipients cover the range of tailoring, hawker
stall for food and drinks, hair-dressing, vegetable gardening, radio and television
repair, fish and poultry-rearing, health massage, making of handicrafts and “pua
kumbu” for sale, making of traditional cakes for sale, food-catering business
for various occasions, and making “parangs” for sale. The projects that
seem to be more successful in generating income are health massage, tailoring,
and handicrafts.
The health massage project merits special mention since it is mainly in the hands
of the visually challenged groups of persons. In Kuching alone, there are 5 groups
which are providing valuable services to the increasing number of stressed persons
in our society today.
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| Poultry rearing ... |
However
the success of each project depends largely on the perseverance and creativity
of each individual, as well as the ability of the grant recipient to market his
products or services.
Apart from the above-mentioned projects of the grant recipients, some other means
of generating income could also be considered. For those who cannot fit into white
collar jobs in the office, depending on their interest and capability, they might
open small tuition classes, provide transportation for children going to school
or adults going to work. There are some women who work fairly hard but manage
to earn sufficient income for family needs by doing ordinary housework like cooking
or washing or cleaning for a few families in their neighbourhood for a few hours
a day.
Some of the men folk have managed to earn very handsome income simply by becoming
regular grasscutters for a number of households a day. The substantial income
gained from such labours is often not obvious nor recorded and hence not subjected
to the scrutiny of the Inland Revenue Department. While tax-avoidance seems to
be the implied privilege here, the actual is not so, as the Department surely
has tacit avenues for reaching out to genuine tax-evaders.
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| Freshwater fish breeding project ... |
Taken as a whole, the opportunities
for income-generation by the poor of our society are not that rare, provided the
job-seekers are not too choosy about jobs and not abashed to venture into untrodden
areas of much-needed services.
Needless to say, they should also be prepared to work hard, uphold integrity and
honesty, as well as maintain good physical and mental health at all times. Yes,
they should also be willing to move to areas where the good cheese is and to start
early to build up the size of the cheese.
In other words, the nuoveux riche who have begun to reap the harvest of their
labours should begin early to store up surpluses and to be prepared for a rainy
day.
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