MCA steps in to help old folks home in Rasah

SEREMBAN: MCA will help raise funds for a 56-year-old man who is single-handedly running an old folks home in Taman Rasah that is in danger of closing down.

MCA Youth legal bureau chief Ng Kian Nam said that it would help David Chong, who needs about RM5,500 a month, to register the home with the Registrar of Societies.

It is now registered under the Companies Commission.

“He will be able to apply for financial assistance from the Government once his home is registered with the ROS,” he said, adding that Chong had never applied for BR1M (Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia) for the residents.

“I have asked officers from the Welfare Department as well as those familiar with the home.

“They told me that Chong has been taking care of the old folks, including sick patients and those with mental problems, on his own.

“Since his business is not doing well now, it is time for the public to help him,” he said during a visit to the Tong Shim Old Folks Home here yesterday.

As an interim measure, Ng said the party’s legal and Crisis Relief Squad Malaysia bureaus would help raise funds to help Chong, who runs a funeral parlour.

The Star had previously highlighted that Chong might be forced to close the home, which now has 13 residents, aged between 41 and 85, due to financial constraints.

Paying tribute to Chong, Ng described him as a “good example of a selfless individual”.

In 2004, Chong, together with a group of friends, had decided to run the home together but they left him on his own within months.

“I am touched that some people have come forward to assist me.

“I really hope we can do this together,” he said.

One man, Chong added, had pledged to pay the RM600 rent from January.