Ngu posing with the two young children during his recent visit to the family’s rented room.
BINTULU: It is beyond imagination that a single mother could raise her two young children aged 5 and 6 on only RM250 per month, said Extrameal Bintulu founder Francis Ngu.
In his Facebook post, Ngu said he had received a text message from a woman, Alisa Nuriani Abdullah, requesting Extrameal Bintulu to donate some food to her family. He said the woman had provided some details of her background and their hardship.
As usual after being alerted of such situation, the social activist decided to pay the family a visit on Sunday (Feb 14).
Such activity has become his routine since he started Extrameal Bintulu about six years ago and his charity works transcend boundaries of race and religion as help would be given to any needy group. During the visit, Ngu found out that the woman is a Muslim convert and divorced about four years ago. Her eldest child aged 6 is studying at a kindergarten and her little sister aged 5 follows her mother to work. The place where the mother works provides a special space for her young daughter.
According to Ngu, the family lives in a rented room at Parkcity area for RM400 a month and Alisa works in a restaurant with a salary of RM750 per month.
Ngu said besides paying room rental, Alisa also has to pay a refrigerator loan of RM100 per month. It is understood that Alisa has yet to apply for any welfare aid as she was not aware of such assistance.
“We will forward this case to the relevant agencies, hopefully the family will get appropriate assistance,” said Ngu.
During the visit, Ngu donated some food and other daily necessities to the family.
“We always complain about our financial hardship without realising that there are people out there who are suffering more than us and we should be grateful for what we have,” he added.
The Facebook post has received almost 1,000 likes and has been shared over 100 times by netizens mostly praying for the best for the family.
Alisa, 31, when contacted, said after her plight was shared on social media, representatives from Tabung Baitulmal Sarawak came to see her on Monday.
She said the officer handed out some cash aid for her to buy essential items while waiting for them to process the case.
Alisa who is from Tatau said she and her two daughters had to survive the past seven months on only RM250.
“It was very hard to live with only RM250 per month but just enough for subsistence,” she added.
According to her, she was once engaged to a Malay man in Peninsular Malaysia but the engagement was called off.
“After that I got married to an Iban man from Selangau and I was divorced and I had to look after my two daughters by myself ever since,” said Alisa.
For those who want to help the family, Alisa can be contacted at 011-3343 3776.
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