TRUE enough. A check with the local Jabatan Kebajikan Masyrakat (JKM – Welfare Services Department) reveals the ugly truth: Seeking aid through a standard route can be dreadful.

TRUE enough. A check with the local Jabatan Kebajikan Masyrakat (JKM – Welfare Services Department) reveals the ugly truth: Seeking aid through a standard route can be dreadful.
I had gone ahead and took up the challenge thrown by my editor who wanted to know if I had been a tad too critical of the JKM in my article last week.
I had written how the good JKM people do provide financial assistance for those in need of new wheelchairs and its various parts. However, based on hearsay – according to a friend of a friend grapevine, I had cited the application process as a daunting one that could take up months before any
help materialises.
But nope, hearsay is not my editor’s cup of tea and I was challenged
to ‘go find out for yourself’.
So I did an ‘undercover’ job, just like some real-deal reporters would at some point of their career.
I picked up the phone and began a conversation with one of the officers
on duty.
Yes, applicants are required to go to JKM’s nearest office to fill in a form. Please bear in mind most Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) find
it a trouble just to get from one destination to another without assistance
from anyone.
So after a bit of probing did the officer on the line inform me, that yes, indeed, there was the option – we can retrieve the forms via fax.
Next question – where do I get a fax machine?
Suffice to say not many households own any, let alone PWDs who are mostly an underprivileged lot.
After numerous times being put on hold, finally the inquisition was met
with an ultimate blow – it takes more than two months before our requests
can materialise.
Not satisfied with the answer given, another round of inquiries was given a shot at. The question specifically put forward was what about those in need of items that are deemed as ‘urgent’. By now, the duty officer seemed a bit agitated and to my surprise, I was told to come to the office for ‘more information’ on how I should go about on this ‘extraordinary’ request.
And so we were back to square one – yet again.
The sum total of this whole episode was three sheets of paper being faxed in (to my neighbour who has a home office).
To top this simple saga, there was not a single form that needed any filling in. The faxes were mere lists of approved ‘panel’ suppliers where
one could purchase the needed items from. As much it was fun being an ‘undercover reporter’, it dawns on me that at some stage of my life being a wheelchairuser, these are the procedures I will have to endure.
Worse still, if any of my future woes need imperative attention, unless
I save up for rainy days, it will look like a typhoon is awaiting.
Summing it all up, getting aid for free is never easy and simply too good to be true. Blaming the welfare system would just be a convenient scapegoat – but what choice are we left with?
We could do with having a people’s government administrating our land. The mighty ministers could lend a hand by cutting red tape instead of red ribbons.
When the needy seek assistance, be it financial or essential caliper and
wheelchair parts, trust me, we are for real. Our cases are too genuinely
serious for us to turn cheapskate and save a couple of thousand ringgit
in the process.
In the first place, I doubt most aid-seekers even have a thousand ringgit on them, ever.

• Ahmad Daniel Sharani (kerplunk94@gmail.com) is a committee member of Perwira K9, a support group for people with spinal cord injuries. K9 is the designated ward at Hospital Kuala Lumpur to treat and assist patients in
rehabilitation. ,br>

Source: Malay Mail – July 25, 2008