Chandra S/O Sundram

NAME: CHANDRA S/O SUNDRAM

ASSISTANCE NEEDED: SOCSO BENEFIT

NATURE OF THE CASE: Chandra started working in an electrical goods manufacturing company, SANYO Malaysia in 1971. He worked there for almost 30 years. In 2001 he fell down while cleaning the chimney at his work place, hitting a beam and hurting his neck, but when he visited the doctor, he was certified well. As a result of this accident he developed chronic lower back pain and swelling in the neck.

The swelling and the lower back pain increased gradually until he felt numbness in his arms and legs. The time off from work due to his trips to the doctors, despite associated medical certificates, didn’t augur well with company management. His job was terminated based on a report from a specialist doctor from the Ipoh Government Hospital. The doctor reported of a growth in his neck and waist bone (spondyliosis). He gave the letter to the company stating that he would not be able to carry out his normal duties.

As a next course of action, Chandra applied for the SOCSO pension in 2002. He was certified well by the panel doctors even though he provided a report from the specialist.

It was a very stressful period of time for him. Not only was he unemployed, he had to make multiple trips to the doctor and deal with unbearable pain. An overdose of penicillin resulted in his skin turning pale and white. This made matters worse because his skin could not be exposed to the sunlight or an air conditioned environment.

The worst blow for him was when his family alienated themselves from him because of his inability to find a job and his skin condition. He had to resort to begging around for food and money and has been sleeping in temples, verandahs or alleyways.

He made another attempt to obtain the SOCSO benefit in 2004. He was called to appear before an appellate board in 2005. SOCSO was represented by the State Director and he agreed to release the pension on the condition that Chandra provide a new report. He thus had to repeat the entire excruciating process of filing a written report and an MRI report which was previously submitted in June 2005.

This time around; without an apparent reason; he was directed by the Ipoh SOCSO office to attend a review by panel doctors at Taiping office. He reported the same but again he was directed to get a new medical report. Frustrated; he obtained one from the regular Specialist in Ipoh general Hospital.

The panel doctor who viewed his report at Taiping SOCSO office pronounced that he was not suffering from an illness which is normally covered by pension payment.

After that he approached us for guidance. We advised him to resubmit his application and if the decision was not in his favor then we would appeal to the appellate board and get him a council from Malaysian Trade Union to argue his case.

Consequently, there was a review of his case. He has been asked to attend the doctor’s panel in Penang. We have asked Chandra to inform us after attending it for further advice from our part. However we have lost contact with him.

Family of Balasundar A/L Raman

NAME: Balasundar A/L Raman
NAME: Muniammal A/P Krishnan (wife)
NAME: Eswary A/P Krishnan (wife)

ASSISTANCE NEEDED: HEALTHCARE, HOUSEHOLD INCOME, CLOTHING, SUNDRY GOODS

NATURE OF THE CASE: This is a big family with 13 children. Balasundar works as part time construction labourer who earns RM3 per hour. His work is very much dependent on the weather. He brings home about RM300 every two weeks. Both his wives stay at home. His mother-in-law, Thayaramal A/P Subramaniam, who is 70 years old is also staying with the family. She is very sick with swollen legs. The entire family is very malnourished. They desperately need assistance in healthcare and money for the household expenses.

Children : 1) Sivananthini (Secondary School), 13 years old
2) Mohanapriya (Primary School), 11 years old
3) Shree Raman (as above), 10 years old
4) Mohanakrishnan (as above), 10 years old
5) Renuka (as above), 8 years old
6) Sivaranjini (as above), 8 years old
7) Kumuthevani (as above), 7 years old
8) Revathi (Tadika), 5 years old
9) Yugenthiran (as above), 5 years old
10) Vaanisree, 2 years old
11) Kaviyarasan, 2 years old
12) Parameswari, 1 year old
13) Agilan, 1 year old

We have managed to bring in individual donors on and off who have been generous in providing urgent items. We have also contacted the Welfare Department for further help.

Yagathesan A/L Subramaniyan

NAME: YAGATHESAN A/L SUBRAMANIYAN

ASSISTANCE NEEDED: WELFARE AND GENERAL HELP

NATURE OF THE CASE: Mr.Yagathesan met with an accident in 2003. His left leg was amputated due to the accident. He has used up the insurance money received to pay for the flat where the family lives at present. The wife is not working and they have five children aged from one to 15 years old.

The welfare department has been giving him Rm 400. However it has been reduced to
RM100 a while ago. We have highlighted this matter to the department concerned and were told that the matter has been resolved.

We have come to understand that some charitable bodies are assisting the family. We have also informed Mr Yagathesan on the possibility of obtaining a prosthetic leg from a group of Thai doctors in Penang.

Moganasundaram A/L Chelliah

NAME: Moganasundaram A/L Chelliah

ASSISTANCE NEEDED: SOCSO, WELFARE AND GENERAL HELP

NATURE OF THE CASE: Mr Moganasundaram met with an accident on the way back from work at Juru, Penang. His left leg was broken due to the severity of the impact. He was warded at the Loh Guan Lye Specialist Centre before being transferred to General Hospital. He was a diabetic for almost 20 years prior to the accident. The antibiotics given during the treatment while he was warded at the GH had damanged his eyesight almost completely. He underwent laser eye surgery at the Hussein Onn Eye hospital but without success. The doctors were worried the second operation would worsen his condition as he is a diabetic.

He has a wife who is taking care of him at home. Their son is in college and their daughter is preparing to go for teacher's training.

He had applied for the SOCSO benefit but unfortunately his application was rejected as the agency maintains that his time card shows that he had already checked out of the premises by 6 pm but the accident took place at about 8 pm. Muniandy stated that he had been recalled by the manager for extra work. Unfortunately by the time the SOCSO application was made, the manager concerned had already been transferred to the HQ in KL. SOCSO asked him to resubmit his request once the manager can verify his story. Currently Moganasundaram is awaiting a response from the manager.

We were informed later that the SOCSO had agreed to pay him the benefits and he is also being given welfare aid. A few charity organizations are also helping him ease the financial burden of taking care of his family.

Muniandy A/L Ponnusamy

NAME: Muniandy A/L Ponnusamy

ASSISTANCE NEEDED: FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR THE FAMILY AND WORK FOR HIS WIFE

NATURE OF THE CASE: Mr Muniandy is married to Mdm Kamala Devi.They have three children; Vikram (12 yrs), Kogilavani (12 yrs) and Meganraj (9 yrs). The children are studying at Sekolah Kebangsaan Mutiara Perdana.

Mr Muniandy recently suffered from a stroke. The left part of his body does not function anymore. He is currently bedridden and needs help to sit upright. His wife is always at his side to attend to his needs while the children are at school.

He has worked in few places before joining the army in the 1980’s. He was discharged from the army in 1986 when he had a health problem and vomited blood while in training. Since then he has never held a permanent job but continued to support his family by doing odd jobs. He was working as a substitute bus driver; the last, before he was taken ill. He was earning about RM50 on a daily basis.

As a result of his illness, his family has lost their only source of income. They are currently renting a unit which costs them RM350; they do not have any savings but instead a 2-month outstanding rent payment yet to be settled. Their daily expenditures exceed RM30 which includes transport to the hospital, medicine, marketing and school expenses for the children.

The family desperately needs financial aid. Kamala is willing to take up any jobs nearby so that she could care for the husband regularly.

We have arranged for a private donor who has handed over some cash to buy immediate essential items for the family. We will be writing to the Welfare Department for further assistance. We have also informed some of our contacts about the need for a job for Kamala.

Nadarajan A/L Devaraju

NAME: Nadarajan A/L Devaraju

ASSISTANCE NEEDED: CASH AND KIND SUPPORT FOR HIS FAMILY

NATURE OF THE CASE:
Mr. Nadarajan who hails from Sungai Petani, Kedah met with a freak accident in Perai in March 2007 while inspecting a busted tyre on a truck. A sudden explosion of the tyre almost caused him his life and left him permanently paralysed. He had just joined his company temporarily in January 2007.

The explosion threw him off to a distance while the impact of the iron rim of the wheel fractured his skull and broke his right wrist. The doctors had to remove part of the right side of his brain due to extensive damage.

At present, his wife is taking care of him on a full time basis; feeding, cleaning and constantly attending to his needs.


FAMILY BACKGROUND AND THE ISSUE AT HAND
Mr. Nadarajan, 34, is the eldest of three siblings. His two younger sisters are both married. Their parents have passed away. He is married to Mdm Shamala and have 4 children.

The eldest is Jivithra, 7 years old attending Standard One at Convent Pulau Tikus Girls' School, second is a son, Liniyesh, 6 years old and the third is a pair of twins, Previnash (Boy) and Previsha (Girl). Both of them are 3 years old.

Mr. Nadarajan’s family, at present, is totally dependent on his second sister, Pramila, who has a family of her own. She has two school going children. Pramila works as a nurse and her husband is in security line. Pramila and her husband with their already small income have to feed an extra 6 people in the family.

Mr. Nadarajan’s application for SOCSO had just been approved in March 2008. He will be getting a monthly payment of RM800.

Listed below is the present income and expenses incurred by the family as a whole.

INCOME
--------------------------------
Husband with OT 1000.00
Wife (Pramila) 1400.00
--------------------------------
Total 2400.00


EXPENDITURE
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House Rental 600.00
Car (To carry brother) 350.00
Marketing 400.00
Groceries 400.00
Tuition (3 kids) 240.00
School bus 150.00
Adult diapers 150.00
Petrol (Twice weekly @ Rm 30) 240.00
Contingency (school fee, stationery, canteen etc) 100.00
------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 2630.00


EXPENSES – INCOME = (230.00)


The above calculation is exclusive of the traditional treatment that Nadarajan is seeking in Malacca in hopes that he will get well soon to care for the family again. Thus, reducing the financial burden on his sister. He is visiting the traditional physician in Malacca once in 3 weeks. The cost of the travel is about Rm 600 per trip. It’s going to be much more expensive for the family now in view of the recent petrol price hike.

Parameswari A/P Raju

NAME: Parameswari A/P Raju

ASSISTANCE NEEDED: SOCSO BENEFITS

NATURE OF THE CASE: Parameswari met with an accident while at work at the factory. Her supervisor had insisted that she handled two machines at once when the incident happened. She was asked to stand in for another employee who was on medical leave that day.

On further investigation, we came to know that the company she was working for had sub-let the work to the driver who had been transporting them to work everyday. That means he had
20 people working for him on any day. The workers were not aware of this.

When Parameswari brought the matter with the company, she was told that nothing else could be done. The driver who is supposed to be her “boss” also could not help her.

We contacted the SOCSO department for advice and was told to submit the company address for further investigation. Since the company was a backyard company, we found it very difficult to locate the address but finally succeeded.

We were later informed that the company was fined and asked to pay the money that was due to the SOCSO department and the company was also asked to compensate the other 20 workers as well. Parameswari was compensated for her injury.