Wife of late Penang football captain gets aid
GEORGE TOWN: Monetary aid has poured in for the wife of the late Abd Aziz Azizan, the former captain of the Penang football team.
Intan Mulyati Mansor, 36, described the RM5,000 aid from the National Athletes Welfare Foundation (Yakeb) as timely as she prepares for Ramadan with her children.
“The monetary aid came just in time as we are preparing for Ramadan and a kenduri arwah (memorial ceremony) for my late husband on May 15.
“Thanks to the aid, I can also save the extra money for our children’s education,” she said after receiving the money at Komtar.
Intan, a sales adviser, received RM5,000 from Yakeb under its khairat kematian scheme (a fund to assist the next of kin of a deceased person).
Intan, who lives in Bukit Mertajam with her son, Izz Arwiz Airiz, nine, and daughter, Aira Izzara Qadira, seven, said she was the sole caretaker of her family ever since her husband passed away on Jan 16.
Abd Aziz, who was 53, was the captain of the Black Panthers in the 1950s. He also played for Selangor and Kedah while appearing for the national squad as well.
“It was really unexpected of him to leave us just like that because he had always been fit and healthy with no serious medical problems all his life.
“Then, one day, he was hospitalised after feeling dizzy from a veterans’ football match in Balik Pulau. Then, he went into a coma for three days and passed away shortly after that.’
Another recipient, Lim Bak Im, 69, whose late husband Rajendran Balagurusamy, was a hockey player in the national team that won gold at the SEA Games in 1971 and 1973, also received RM5,000 in aid.
Yakeb chairman Datuk Noorul Ariffin Abdul Majeed said the funds were provided under the special aid scheme for ex-athletes.
“To date, the foundation has spent about RM12mil to provide support for former state and national athletes since 2012.
“We hope more ex-athletes will reach out to us and sign themselves up with the foundation so that we can help them.
“Currently, only 3,000 ex-athletes are registered with us throughout Malaysia and we hope to see more,” he said.
State Youth and Sports Committee chairman Soon Lip Chee commended Yakeb for its contributions.