KOTA BARU, April 6 — Abdullah Jusoh, 67, is a former security guard with seven children, aged between 12 and 25.
Having stopped working, the family mostly relied on the income of his wife, who works at an eatery.
However, the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) to curb the spread of COVID-19 affected her income.
So it was no surprise that the family heaved a huge sigh of relief when the government announced the Bantuan Prihatin Nasional (BPN) aid under the Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package (PRIHATIN) to ease their burden.
“I will use the aid to buy daily essentials and pay whatever bills there are… easing our difficulties a little,” said Abdullah, who lives in Pancor.
Another PRIHATIN recipient interviewed at Bank Simpanan Nasional in Pengkalan Chepa here, Abdul Halim Che Ismail, 73, said the aid was meaningful to him as he could no longer work.
“As a retired soldier with no pension and a spouse who’s a housewife, the aid given by the government is very helpful in relieving my burden of managing our daily expenses.
“Otherwise, I just depend on the pocket money given by our three working children,” he said.
Earlier, a Bernama survey found the situation at several banks to be under control and not crowded although many began going to financial institutions to withdraw the BPN aid, which was paid out in stages beginning today.
The public was also seen using face masks and maintaining the one-metre social distancing as recommended by the Health Ministry. — Bernama
