KUCHING: Sixty recipients on Monday (Nov 1) received an additional RM100 on top of their October monthly assistance from Sarawak Social Welfare Department.
Welfare, Community Well-being, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah said the additional RM100 was presented in conjunction with the upcoming Diwali festivity that would be celebrated by the recipients. 54 of them were from Kuching and six recipients were from Miri.
“Sarawak is the state that properly implements inclusive policies where the minority groups are not marginalised in the plans, policies, programmes and activities that we plan.
“We are the government that walks the talk and we make sure that no one is left behind,” she stressed during “Majlis Sejambak Kasih Deepavali 2021” at Imperial Hotel.
According to her, inclusivity is one of the core practices of the state government.
“Having said that, “Majlis Sejambak Kasih” is organised for various races during their celebration such as the Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, Hari Gawai, Deepavali as well as Christmas.
“This is because we want to ensure that the monthly recipients under the ministry are not marginalised during their own festivities. Hence, they will be given an extra RM100 for that specific month of their festivity,” she disclosed.
Commenting further, Fatimah said there were over 7,000 Indians in the Kuching district. Although they were a minority, her ministry would make sure that their welfare and wellbeing were taken care of.
“With the extra money given, I hope that the recipients are able to use the money for their Deepavali celebration or for their own well-being,” she said.
Fatimah added hat there were 52,025 monthly welfare recipients statewide and that RM182,337,200 was channelled to them accordingly from January to October this year.
She advised those who wanted to further their studies at vocational colleges or training skills centres to apply to the Bantuan Belia-Beliawanis (BBB) scheme.
“With the knowledge and skills obtained, the recipients will be able to generate their own incomes and increase their household incomes.
“We, in the state government, have been helping the children of Sarawak through the endowment fund.
“This is because we believe in building the human capital and the empowerment of our people. Through education and skill training, our society will be able to generate income to help themselves and their families,” she said.
