Life slowly back to normal for Mazlan and his family

KUCHING: Life is slowly coming back to normal for the family of Mazlan Puzan, 36, the father of two young rabies victims of Kpg Paon Rimu Bakung, near Serian.

They have now settled in their new house which was completed seven days ahead of schedule last month.

When met at the village yesterday, Mazlan was all smiles and hoped things would all go on smoothly from now on.

“We are thankful to everyone who have helped us in one way or another especially the government for building this house for us. We moved here once it was completed on Aug 18,” said Mazlan, a Bidayuh- Selako from Kpg Paon, Sematan.

He said it was sad indeed to lose two of his children to rabies virus on July 4 but vowed to start a new life and bring up his four surviving children properly.

“What had happened had happened and we leave that to God who knows best. But for now I must bring up my four children to the best of my abilities.”

Two of his children, Monica, 6, and her brother Jackson, 4, passed away at Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) due to rabies after they were bitten by rabid dogs towards end of April.

They were so poor they did not even have RM40 to bring the two children to a clinic for proper treatment when they were bitten.

The new house, built under Bantuan Rumah Rakyat Miskin programme at a cost of RM60,000, courtesy of Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has three bedrooms, two bathrooms with one attached to a toilet; a sitting room and a kitchen. It is a far cry from their old house which was a two- room bamboo house with no toilet and bathroom. They also used a stream next to the house for washing.

Their old house is now used as a store.

Mazlan has four other children namely, Gareth, 12; Mechellina,10; Adelina, 8; and Delina nine months’ old.

Meanwhile, Mazlan thanked Total Reliability for employing his wife as an office assistant with a monthly salary of RM920 at their office near Simpang Gedong new township.