KUCHING: It was a teary moment when nine children from Sarawak who lost one of their parents due to COVID-19 were called to receive financial assistance from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
The assistance, which is under the Yayasan Keluarga Malaysia (YKM), was presented to them during the last day of the state-level Malaysian Family Aspirations Tour 2022 held at Dataran Perayaan, Petra Jaya here yesterday.
The recipients, who either lost their mother or father, received assistance amounting between RM1,000 to RM4,500.
The YKM assistance was inspired by the prime minister to ensure that no more children of Malaysian families have to go through difficulties alone.
YKM acts as a non-profit institution that helps the children of Keluarga Malaysia (Malaysian Family) who have lost their parents or guardians or both due to the COVID-19 pandemic, accidents or other similar disasters in obtaining support especially from the welfare and education aspects until they reach the age of 18.
Under certain circumstances, YKM can also provide welfare and education assistance up to the higher education or skills level.
YKM is committed to give a one-off donation to the target group aged from birth to Form 3 of RM1,000 and from Form 4 up to Higher Education level of RM1,500.
At the same event, Ismail Sabri handed over laptops to five university students from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) which was an initiative by the university.