The Chinese New Year ang pow given to 450 poor families residing in flats has turned into an issue as the sum is half of that given in previous years.
At a press conference with ten poor families today, DAP Cheras parliamentarian Tan Kok Wai (far right in photo below ) said that the 21 families renting the government flats in his constituency were taken aback to receive RM150 new year ang pow or 1Malaysia contribution on Feb 5.
He pointed out that in the last decade, the amount distributed by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to these poor families during their respective festivals was RM300.
Tan said that this year around, the DBKL should have at least raised the Ang Pow to RM500, taking inflation into consideration, enabling the families to celebrate with an easy mind.
He said that DBKL's RM 2.18billion budget, being the third highest in the country, has a record of extravagant spending on huge enforcement teams and horse units and so on.
"However, it's not willing to spend RM300 on an Ang Pow or RM135,000 in total for 450 poor families," he added.
Cutting to fit the situation
He said out of the 80,000 flat dwelling families in the capital, 450 Chinese families applied for the contribution.
Tan said he tried to contact the relevant authorities for an explanation, but to no avail.
Meanwhile, DBKL deputy director-general Mohd Amin Nordin Abdul Aziz, in a phone interview with Malaysiakini, explained that since the number of applicants has gone up, what's distributed has to be within the amount remaining in the allocation.
He said DBKL started to distribute the RM150 contribution during Hari Raya and Deepavali periods last year, and has received no complaints so far.
He added that the beneficiaries should not complain, instead they should be satisfied and be grateful.
