Help wings its way to mum and daughters on bird farm

Help has been winging its way to a single mother and her two children who were forced to move to a building used to farm swiftlets in the heart of an oil palm plantation in Sitiawan after being evicted from their rented home several years ago.

“People have been calling me and asking how they can help,” Hamidah told MalaysiaNow.

The social welfare department has also paid her a visit to inquire about her situation.

Hamidah, who has lived with her daughters on the ground floor of the grey concrete building for three years now, said most of the assistance had come from members of the public as well as the Perak Council of Islamic Religion and Malay Customs (MAIPk).

“They gave me cash aid of RM500 and basic necessities for the children,” she said.

“They also said they would help arrange rental payments for a new home for us.”

She said her daughters had been overjoyed to learn that they would be able to move out from the “bird house”.

“They are so excited and are dreaming about choosing their own rooms,” she added.

“The help I have received has given me new encouragement and strength to look ahead to the future.”

Help of a more long-term nature has also come in the form of a job offer for Hamidah at the canteen of one of her daughters’ schools.

For Hamidah, who has been scraping together what she can by collecting scrap metal and picking vegetables at a nearby farm, this is one of the best pieces of news she has received in a long time.

She currently makes RM30 a day picking vegetables and perhaps RM70 collecting scrap metal.

MAIPk said in a statement to MalaysiaNow that it had also given school aid of RM400 to each of Hamidah’s daughters as well as monthly cash assistance of RM500.

MAIPk had also given Hamidah school-related assistance of RM400 and Hari Raya aid of RM250 in 2020 and 2021.