PUTRAJAYA, June 16 — Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today spent some time to join an interactive video conferencing session with recipients of assistance under the Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package (Prihatin) to get their feedback on the benefit.

The session was held during Muhyiddin’s visit to the Economic Stimulus Implementation and Coordination Unit Between National Agencies (Laksana) at the Finance Ministry here, to get a closer look at its operation as well as the implementation status of measures under the Economic Stimulus Package 2020, Prihatin and National Economic Recovery Plan (Penjana) totalling RM295 billion.

The recipients have expressed their appreciation to the Prime Minister and the government of Malaysia for the assistance.

Among the recipients who joined the interactive session with Muhyiddin were YouTube couple "Sugu Pavithra” from Sungai Siput, Perak, who have previously received contribution of essential items from the Prime Minister to help boost their cooking passion.

Muhyiddin had jokingly asked M. Sugu, 29, and his wife S.Pavithra, 28: "When will you treat me for mutton briyani?”

The recipients of Bantuan Prihatin Nasional (BPN) said the assistance had provided relief to their family especially during the enforcement of the movement control order (MCO).

To date, their YouTube channel has garnered more than 600,000 subscribers and the couple hoped to start their own restaurant in the future.

Rosnizam Ishak, 43, said he had leveraged on the BPN fund to start selling frozen marinated mutton to earn a living after their restaurant, which has been operating since 2015, was badly affected during the MCO and had to close.

"There’s a silver lining in every disaster. Our mutton business received extraordinary feedback from the public and the 100 per cent usage of the social media has helped us revived our economy,” said Rosnizam who hails from Bertam, Penang.

He said the business did not only benefit his family but others as well, as many have registered as their agents and runners to deliver their products to customers, to generate income during the MCO period.

A taxi driver in the Klang Valley, Ahmad Rusdi Mat Daud said the one-off assistance of RM600 for taxi drivers and BPN of RM1,600 has helped cushion the MCO impact on his family.

The 52-year-old said it was hard to even earn RM20 although he had been working for 13 hours.

Another recipient who joined today’s session with the prime minister was Pajan Singh Kirpal Singh, 55, who owns a budget hotel in Kuantan, Pahang, and had received the wage subsidy and bank loan moratorium.

Although his income was affected, he had provided free service for frontliners during the MCO as a sign of appreciation for their sacrifices.

Meanwhile, Michael Lo Vun Leong from Tamparuli, Sabah, who owns a transportation business, had utilised the BSN Micro/i Kredit of RM60,000 as capital injection and paid workers’ salaries.

Lo, 45, had started the business in 2016 but was facing losses as it failed to operate during the MCO.

The 20-minute video conferencing session was also attended by Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, Deputy Finance Minister Mohd Shahar Abdullah as well as the Chief Secretary to the Government Datuk Seri Mohd Zuki Ali. — Bernama