Saturday August 30, 2008
Pensioners, the disabled want more benefits
THE National Council of Senior Citizens Organisation Malaysia (Nacscom) president Datuk Lum Kin Tuck said that while the proposal to have a minimum RM720 monthly pension was good, it was still not enough to cope with the rising cost of living.
“While it will help pensioners who have been getting low pensions all along, I feel it should be slightly higher,” he said.
“I think people would be able to cope with the cost of living better if they had a minimum pension of RM900.”
Malaysian Confederation of the Disabled president Mah Hassan said he was happy with the Budget on three points: the RM150 allowance for disabled students, RM200 monthly incentive payment for teaching assistants in special education schools and a higher allowance for caregivers in Rumah Tunas Harapan.
“I must praise the Government for taking all these into consideration,” he said.
“However, on behalf of the disabled community, I must say I am disappointed with the RM150 allowance for the non-working disabled.”
Independent Living and Training Centre president Francis Siva also shared his sentiments.
“At a pre-Budget consultation, we had asked for a RM500 allowance across the board for the disabled.
“What can you do with RM150? I'm very, very sad. There are many severely-disabled people who have no opportunity to find work. How are they going to live on a mere RM150?” he said.
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