Too much time, too little space

PETALING JAYA: Children staying at PPR flats are often left to hang around with nothing to do, as their parents are under financial strain or are not well-equipped to care for them.

“These children also lack the space to study and take part in activities, because community halls in the flats are inaccessible due to internal politicking or the building management doesn’t have any social acitivites,” said Jeffrey Phang, chairman of the Friends of Kota Damansara.

“Social ills are quite common in PPR areas as the children lack a sense of direction and activities to engage them.

“Lepak (hanging around), vandalism and drug problems are common. Teenagers start mixing with the wrong company and children are sometimes exploited by their par- ents to buy drugs.”

Phang said his organisation works with its network of partners to run programmes to teach parents to be more supportive of their children and to provide English lessons for the children.

“As parents, we make every effort to feed our children, although the food may lack nutritional value and quality due to financial constraints,” said PPR Section 8 Kota Damansara resident Aida Muhammad, a mother of three.

“My family has help from zakat contributions for our monthly groceries. We have to budget this alongside our income to ensure it was enough to last us through the month.”

The 52-year-old said the PPR community occasionally received food supplies from NGOs to tide them over.