KUCHING: It is shocking but real. A family of 11 is living in a rundown, two-room wooden house in Kampung Gita Lama here.
The family comprises Puini Jaiman, his blind wife Hayati Yusuf, their six children, their daughter-in-law and two grandchildren.
Five of their children and their daughter-in-law are visually impaired, too.
Hayati said due to their disabilities, five of her children and daughter-in-law were earning their money by working as massage therapists and selling snacks at Medan Satok.
“Visually impaired people like us are hardly hired because of our disabilities.
“My first and second sons work as massage therapists at a small space at Medan Satok. They rent a small outdoor space for RM300 per month.
“The other two are self-employed. Sometimes, they sell snacks or collect cans and sell them to the tin collectors,” she told New Sarawak Tribune in an exclusive interview.
Because of the limited space in their rundown house, most of the family members sleep together in the living room.
The kitchen in Puini’s house is about to collapse and Puini, who is paid daily to take care of Surau Darul Naim, told New Sarawak Tribune that if he had enough cash, it would be good to repair the kitchen.
Because of his advanced age, he said he was unable to do any repair work and could only watch helplessly as his house deteriorated.
The couple’s youngest child, Hamidah, sat for her SPM last year. However, the 18-year-old girl does not know her result.
According to Hayati, Hamidah misplaced a textbook she borrowed from her previous school.
“The school does not allow her to get her SPM result unless she pays for the lost book,” she said.
Although Hamidah looks like any other normal girls physically, she has problems remembering and memorising things.
When New Sarawak Tribune asked her to write down her address, Hamidah could not recall and had to refer to her identity card.
Asked about the electricity and water bills, Hayati explained everyone chipped in to pay.
She added the small television set was donated by neighbours.
“But it did not come along with Astro decoder. That was given out by a political party during an election campaign,” she explained.
Although the family receives a financial aid of RM250 monthly from the state Welfare Department, Hayati said,” Very often, we receive lesser amount. Sometimes, we only got to receive RM50 and many times when we received RM100 or RM150 only.”
She is worried she may not be able to feed her grandchildren with the rising cost of living and the family’s constant shortage of cash.
“There are days when my husband and I do not have enough to eat after feeding our children and grandchildren,” she said.
Earlier, the family received financial aid and food aid under the Kaseh Ramadan Box project of the Tabung Cinta group.
