Residents of old folks home hit by floods can now sleep easy
GEORGE TOWN: Residents of an old folks home which was formerly located in the floodprone Lengkok P. Ramlee have found a new place to call home in Sungai Ara.
The home’s founder, Peter Tan, said he was grateful that the sleepless nights during rainy days were now a thing of the past.
The home was hit twice by floods in September and November last year.
Tan said he could not close the home as its elderly residents did not have any relatives and had nowhere to go.
“It’s now been nine months since the last floods and we have moved into our new home known as Persatuan Syukur Penyayang Pulau Pinang in Lorong Kenari 3, Sungai Ara,” he said.
“We now have 15 senior citizens, with the oldest being 92.”
Tan added that it took several months to identify a suitable home as he had to take into consideration the location and the rent.
“We finally found this doublestorey bungalow on a 4,000sq ft land, which was affordable at a rental of RM2,100 per month.
“The bigger space can accommodate a maximum of 29 residents compared to 12 at the previous home,” Tan said.
However, the move to the new place means longer travelling time to the Penang Hospital for the residents.
Tan said the home is a nonprofit organisation which takes in senior residents who are alone and without children.
“We look forward to assisting more old people who are without dependents here, as previously we had to turn down many people due to limited space at our previous place.
“We are no longer worried about floods and we can now focus on helping the elderly folks.
“We are grateful that there were kindhearted people who helped us financially over the years, as the expenses for each elderly resident averages at RM1,000 a month.
“We are also thankful to those who reached out to us after the floods,” he said.