“It’s close to election times already, and usually by now we would have gotten the money. Since I am a retired single mother, with no dependents, I usually get about RM400 – RM450. That BR1M money is a lot for someone like me and it is quite helpful for my expenses.
My husband passed away a while ago, so I had to support my 5 children. I used to work in a kindergarten looking after children and doing house chores. It was quite far away that I had to take two busses. Before there were busses going there, I had to walk almost two hours one way.
Now, I live with my children here in this PPR (Program Perumahan Rakyat or Public Low Cost Housing). I’ve been here for almost 10 years now, and 3 out of my 5 children live here too. I like it here because I have lots of friends.”
———————————————
“Awak tahu mana pejabat BR1M (Bantuan Rakyat 1 Malaysia) paling dekat? Saya nak pergi sana untuk ambil duit BR1M. Pilihan raya pun dah dekat ni, sepatutnya kita boleh dapat dah duit tu. Saya ibu tunggal, tak ada tanggungungan, selalu saya dapat dalam RM400-RM450. Dengan BR1M yang macam tu, untuk orang macam saya, dapatlah membantu untuk menampung perbelanjaan saya.
Suami saya dah meninggal, jadi saya yang jaga 5 orang anak kami. Dulu saya kerja tadika, jaga budak-budak dan buat kerja-kerja rumah. Tapi tempat kerja tu jauh, saya kena naik 2 bas. Masa tak ada bas dulu, saya kena pergi jalan kaki, dalam 2 jam untuk sampai sana.
Sekarang, saya tinggal dengan anak-anak saya di PPR (Program Perumahan Rakyat) sini. Dah masuk 10 tahun kami di sini, dan 3 dari 5 orang anak saya masih tinggal di sini. Saya suka duduk sini sebab saya dapat ramai kawan.”
Seen at PPR Lembah Subang
Photostory by Amalina Davis
Edited by Mushamir Mustafa
Translated by Khairul Ridhwan
Do you have a story? Let us know here: https://forms.gle/ht4HsvbxgSgcKS5h8
(This post was first published on May 4th 2018)
