We refer to the complaints of “Voluntary Social Worker” concerning Wan Zainun Wan Mohamad (letters, Jan 11).

At no time had Wan Zainun been chased out of the hostel in Petaling Jaya. It is true that the Malaysian Association of the Blind (MAB) was in need of the land on which the hostel was standing for development and therefore, the blind tenants were given quit notice. Alternative housing arrangements had been made for the tenants to obtain PKNS flats in Shah Alam. They did not leave the hostel until after they had received the keys to their new flats.

Subsequently, Wan Zainun decided not to stay in her own flat in Shah Alam, but preferred to stay with her blind friend, Liong Tat Kiong, in his house in Petaling Jaya. Both of them (former tenants of the hostel) had been provided assistance to purchase the PKNS flats for which they each paid RM25,000 from their own funds.

Some years later, Wan Zainun had approached MAB to help her apply to the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to buy a low-cost flat. She was accompanied to the DBKL office by one of our officers. The DBKL authorities informed her that it was not their policy to sell the flats but to rent them out. She was offered a flat for rental but she declined.

Later on, Wan Zainun approached MAB for help with adaptive equipment to help her in her work as a part-time masseuse. We helped her to purchase a special handphone at the cost of RM1,500. She was needed a Deaf- Blind Pacmate costing RM24,000. Much effort has been put in to source for sponsors and the Rotary Club has promised to consider the matter.

Efforts are also being made to find a cheaper model which could meet her needs.

On Wan Zainun’s difficulties in obtaining her incentive allowance from the Welfare Department, firstly a letter had been written to the Selangor Welfare Department.

A letter was written to the Selangor Welfare Department in Shah Alam by our Job Replacement Officer on Sept 24, 2007. This was followed by a letter to the Petaling Welfare Office in Subang Jaya by the MAB Welfare Unit on Sept 27.

Before and after writing these letters, repeated phone calls had been made to the respective Welfare Departments to follow up on her case.

However, as Wan Zainun is quite self-reliant because she has some sight and she wanted to act independently, we felt it best not to patronise her and, therefore agreed to her request for her to take the letter by herself to the Petaling Welfare Officer.

When we did not hear from the Petaling Welfare Department, we made contact with the relevant officer and she told us that Wan Zainun would be getting her allowance soon.

After some delay, we got in touch again with the Welfare Officer and that was when we learned of the miscommunication between the KL and Petaling Welfare Departments and the mix-up regarding Wan Zainun’s address.

We continued to maintain contact with the relevant Welfare Officer so that the matter would be settled soon. However, the complaints concerning Wan Zainun have since appeared in the papers.

On Jan 8, our officers accompanied Wan Zainun to the Petaling Office. There the officer with whom we had been in contact informed us that the matter concerning Wan Zainun’s address had been resolved and that she would be receiving her back-dated allowances of RM1,200 from July to December 2007 plus the allowance of RM300 for this month.

Her future allowances will be credited into her bank account.

If “Voluntary Social Worker” had clarified with MAB regarding the facts of the case, it would have helped to avoid much of the misunderstanding.

George Thomas
Executive Director
Malaysian Association for the Blind

Source: The Sun – January 16, 2008