KUCHING: In any tragedy, Kuchingnites will show their generosity side in giving assistance, be it in kind or cash to help those with rundown houses, hungry victims or sick victims.
This is the trend whenever a heart-tugging case is highlighted.
However, money collected can be a substantial amount and often, it is the family who will handle the fund themselves.
Unfortunately, in some cases, there were incidents where money donated disappeared due to mismanagement or conned by unscrupulous people.
Tnay Li Ping, Secretary of Batu Kitang SUPP branch led a team from her branch to pay a visit to Tchee Foh Hin whose youngest son was one of the three victims killed in the explosion at CityONE last Tuesday.
Tnay was there to give a donation from her branch. After seeing the plights and living conditions of Tchee, she said it was heartbreaking that there were many people still staying in such conditions in the city.
“Many a time, we only realise how bad things are for a lot of people. If not for the tragedy, no one will know how the family has suffered all these years living in such circumstances.
“The Land and Survey has intention to visit Tchee to see how they can help while other agencies have also stepped in to assist. Tchee hoped for a piece of land to have a roof over his head. The place he is staying in now is not his,” she said.
It is good to see the close knit community in Sarawak and that all races have come forward to help, Tnay said.
“How the money is used and handled, it is up to Tchee himself. As he is not well and not able to work, monetary assistance is helpful for him in the long run.”
When she was the SUPP Women chief, Tnay was involved in a number of charitable organisations. She cited a case how a woman with nine young children was helped out by an association.
As her husband was killed in an accident and she is illiterate, the association set up a trust fund and reimbursed her monthly to help her with the household expenses.
“I think this is a good idea as the money donated to her from some people was in a lump sum and she was not able to comprehend the amount of the donation. This is done in good faith and to ensure that her donation will not fall in the wrong hand,” she said.
Tnay explained that there was a family whose marriage broke up due to a huge amount of donation. She disclosed that there were frequent quarrels over the responsibility of handling the money. It became a daily issue and a few years down the road, the money was all gone as they were cheated to by unscrupulous people.
Although, it is the right of the victims to handle money themselves,Tnay hoped that there comes a day when the association or a clan leader will step in to handle the money.
“It is good to set up a committee to ensure that money will be channelled to the one who really needs it.
She shared a case when there was an association which took over funds donated from members of public. They formed a committee to handle a few cases of sickly people and one baby who is now a few years old.
Tnay said as the child needs long term medical care, the money was bank in monthly to his mother to help him until he reaches 18. This is one of the good ways to manage money but then again, not all donors want associations to manage the money.
