97 pct of ATM vets who receive BSH aid are non-pensionable
KUALA LUMPUR: Some 97 per cent or 8,730 of the 9,000 Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) veterans who receive the monthly Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH) aid of RM300 are those without pension, the Dewan Rakyat was told yesterday.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said efforts to trace those involved are being actively carried out by the Department of Veteran Affairs (JHEV) of the ATM, especially in Sabah and Sarawak to ensure that their welfare is taken care of.
“The problem is that they did not register with JHEV, that’s why we encourage them to do so and have also asked that ATM veterans’ associations locate and register those who have not yet registered for us to help.
“So far, more than 200,000 ATM veterans have registered. Most of those who have yet to register are in Sabah and Sarawak,” he said during the Questions for Oral Answer session.
He said this in reply to a question from Muhammad Islahuddin Abas (PN-Mersing) on the implementation of the BSH scheme for non-pensionable ATM veterans, especially those in the B40 category.
At the same time, Mohamad said discussions will be held with stakeholders including ATM veteran associations to find a win-win formula for the adjustment of ATM veterans’ pension.
In the meantime, he said the majority of ATM veterans without pensions, especially the young, prefer to find a job with a fixed income rather than venture into business or entrepreneurship.
According to him, although ATM has provided a digital business platform called MyVeteranMall in addition to courses to prepare those who are interested in venturing into the field, it has not received an encouraging response.
“We identified that capital was one of the constraints, despite the fact that it is actually provided by several government agencies such as Tekun Nasional. If they register, we can find an agency that can provide start-up funding and increase business capital.
“So far, only 512 veterans have registered with the application,” he said in response to a supplementary question from Datuk Mohd Isam Mohd Isa (BN-Tampin) who wanted to know why the MyVeteranMall application was not well received by ATM veterans.