A week-long dilemma suffered by a husband and wife couple who’ve been living in their car ended with a new house expected for completion before Deepavali celebration this year.
Raja Kumari Jaganathan and Sivagami Selvan Phaciapan, both 45, will be moving to their new house at Jalan Temoh, Kampung Baharin Pinji, Kampar, thanks to contributions from various parties.
“I left it up to fate as we were unable to fix the house left behind by my father,” said Raja Kumari, who suffers from chronic diabetes.
“We returned to our hometown after losing our jobs at a company in Johor due to COVID-19. We’ve no accommodations and the only option for us was to stay in our car for a week at the Petronas Station in Kampar New Town.
“Thankfully, we were aided by Kampar MIC division chief, R. Baratnam, who rented a place for us while we waited for the new house to complete building. This new house is a ‘Satu Malaysia’ house which received assistance from all walks of life. We can’t thank them enough,” she expressed.
The State Executive Councillor for Housing, Local Government and Tourism, Dato’ Nolee Ashilin Mohamed Radzi conveyed her gratitude to MIC Kampar and the public who lent a hand in building the house for the couple who are categorised as extremely poor.
“Some RM20,000 were collected for the house-building materials. We would also like to thank the State Fire and Rescue Department and Kampar District Council in this effort.
“Hopefully, the couple’s life will be made more meaningful, especially since Deepavali is just around the corner,” she told reporters at the location of the new house today.
Meanwhile, director of the State Fire and Rescue Department, Azmi Osman, said that the Jiwa Murni programme is a corporate social responsibility (CSR) which involved 32 staff in the building of the house.
“We’re ready to provide our service and labour to make this programme a success,” he expressed. “We assist all walks of life. Our goal is to redefine the fate of the unfortunate.”
Rosli Mansor
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