BR1M eases household burden
ALOR SETAR: Halimah Dahaman, who is earning RM30 daily by working as a stall assistant in the foothills of Gunung Jerai in Gurun, is thankful that she is getting the 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) payment as she can use it to buy groceries and other essential items for her family.
The 58-year-old woman said the financial aid was indeed a blessing since she had a school-going son in Form 5 and a husband who was unable to work due to health problems.
“For people with money, the BR1M is probably nothing, but for me and my husband, it is indeed a great help. We didn’t even save it, we spent it all to buy groceries and daily essentials,” she said.
Siti Fatimah Yusof, 37, who also works as a stall assistant in the area, said the BR1M payment was helpful in easing her family’s financial burden as her husband is an odd-job worker with no fixed income.
“The BR1M helps alleviate our financial burden when we needed it the most. We are happy to receive it,” said the woman who is pregnant with her second child. Her first child is in kindergarten.
Siti Fatimah said she hoped the BR1M would continue in the future as it was proof of the government’s concern about the people and their problems in dealing with the rising cost of living. Mardiyana Musa, 27, who works at a bookstore, said that although she was single with no family commitments, the BR1M was a ‘savior’ in a time of need.
“I drive to work everyday, and single people like me do need to have the extra money during an emergency,” she said.
“I save half of the BR1M money I get and use the other half for daily expenses,” she said.
A total of RM6.8 billion has been allocated by the government for BR1M this year, involving 7.2 million recipients.
The first round of BRIM payments for this year were made in late February, while the second round will start in June and the third in August.
At the launch of the Barisan Nasional (BN) Manifesto for the 14th General Election (GE14), Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced that the BR1M payment for June and August for households earning RM3,000 and below would be doubled from RM400 to RM800, hence increasing the total payment from RM1,200 to RM2,000.
Meanwhile, for single people with an income of RM2,000 and below who received RM450 in February, the prime minister promised to give an additional RM150 in June bringing the total to RM600. Najib also announced another BR1M category for households earning between RM4,000 and RM5,000 per month. They will receive RM700 in two payments of RM350 respectively in June and August. - Bernama